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Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

We have a couple of goals for our Gazetteer:

  • That it be a tool which helps us with planning our trips.
  • We're trying to shape our Gazetteer as a tool to help us understand the community in which our ancestors lived, the community that was part of their daily lives.
  • On our trips, we try to visit those places where our ancestors left their footprints.

By learning about Thrift (and the surrounding area) during the time that our ancestors lived, we hope to have a better understanding of both their community and its relationship to their lifes. We hope that this tool helps to give us an insight into their world.

As we add data and organize our Gazetteer to help with our family research, we will be adding to this our Genealogical Helper for Thrift. While we don't have information that is specific to any given person or family, we intend to expand our understanding about where and how people lived.

Neighboring Counties ...

When searching for family records, we have frequently made the mistake of not checking the neighboring counties.

For example, we have great-grandparents who lived in the northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the east. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the county to the north.

So when searching for records, we had our best success by looking in neighboring counties instead of the county in which they lived:  their home county contained property and probate records; the county to the east contained birth and death records; the county to the north contained their burial records. If we hadn't included the neighboring counties, we would have missed many valuable sources of information.

If you're in a similar situation, we hope that the following information helps.

Thrift is located in Wichita County.

To see how the shape of Texas' counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Wichita County: Cotton (OK), Tillman (OK), Archer, Clay & Wilbarger.

Below are the counties that are near Thrift. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Thrift:

  • Wichita County     (The home county of Thrift)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Thrift, with the one closest to Thrift listed first.
    • Burkburnett
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Clara
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Clara is located in Wichita County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clara
    • Cashion Community
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Cashion Community is located in Wichita County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cashion Community
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 360 people
    • Iowa Park
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Pleasant Valley
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Pleasant Valley is located in Wichita County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Valley
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 338 people
    • Wichita Falls
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Electra
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Kamay
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Archer County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Thrift, with the one closest to Thrift listed first.
    • Lakeside City
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Lakeside City is located in Archer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeside City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,008 people
    • Holliday
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
  • Clay County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Thrift, with the one closest to Thrift listed first.
    • Thornberry
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Thornberry is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thornberry
    • Dean
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Dean is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dean
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 469 people
    • Petrolia
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Jolly
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Jolly is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jolly
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 164 people
    • Byers
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
  • Wilbarger County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Thrift, with the one closest to Thrift listed first.
    • Harrold
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Elliott
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Elliott is located in Wilbarger County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elliott
    • Oklaunion
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Comanche County (OK)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Thrift, with the one closest to Thrift listed first.
    • Chattanooga
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Faxon
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Faxon is located in Comanche County (OK)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Faxon
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 130 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Faxon <1>
    • Geronimo
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Geronimo is located in Comanche County (OK)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Geronimo
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,225 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Geronimo <1>
  • Cotton County (OK)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Thrift, with the one closest to Thrift listed first.
    • Devol
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Devol is located in Cotton County (OK)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Devol
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 135 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Devol <1>
    • Randlett
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Cookietown
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Cookietown is located in Cotton County (OK)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cookietown
    • Taylor
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Taylor is located in Cotton County (OK)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taylor
    • Temple
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Temple is located in Cotton County (OK)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Temple
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 915 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Temple <1>
    • Walters
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Walters is located in Cotton County (OK)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walters
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,357 people
      • Former name for Walters:
      • Walter
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Walters <1>
  • Jefferson County (OK)
    • Hastings
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Hastings is located in Jefferson County (OK)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hastings
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 131 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hastings <1>
  • Tillman County (OK)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Thrift, with the one closest to Thrift listed first.
    • Grandfield
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Loveland
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Hollister
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Davidson
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Frederick
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)

For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Thrift, see our County-by-County Page for Thrift.

Cemeteries Near Thrift ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Thrift.

This is a new section and is likely to have errors. If you find an error, such as a missing cemetery or we have the wrong name, please let us know. If you know of them, we would also appreciate learning about previous or alternate names.

Although we don't have the information ourselves, if you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our list of websites on our Genealogy Helper Page for Thrift - one of the links might be able to help.

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Thrift covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Thrift, with the one closest to Thrift listed first.

  • Clara Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Burkburnett Memorial Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Devol Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Devol Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Wilkerson Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Eschiti Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Grandfield Memorial Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Spring Valley Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • East Lawn Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Highland Memorial Gardens
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Evart Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Highland Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Highland Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the northeast of Iowa Park.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #4219 <2>
  • Continue List   (45 more) ...
    • Fairview Cemetery of Randlett
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Fairview Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Loveland Cemetery
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)

Nearby Communities in 1895 ...

We've built the following list with information that came from an Atlas published by Rand McNally in 1895. The Atlas had details such as the population of the community (which appears to have come from the 1890 Census) and whether there was a post office and/or railroad service available. We also indicate if the community no longer exists and is now historic.<3>

While we didn't find Thrift in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Thrift.

These communities are listed based on their distance from Thrift, with the one closest to Thrift listed first.

  • Iowa Park
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Thornberry
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Thornberry is located in Clay County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thornberry
  • Wichita Falls
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Charlie
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Charlie is located in Clay County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charlie
  • Holliday
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
  • Jolly
    (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Jolly is located in Clay County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jolly
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 164 people
  • Harrold
    (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
  • Hurnville
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Hurnville is located in Clay County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hurnville
  • Oklaunion
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)

We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Thrift. See our List of 1890's Communities around Thrift.

Newspapers Published in Thrift ...

An ongoing effort between the Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has resulted in the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP).

To share their results, the partnership has created the Chronicling America website. The goal of this partnership is to assemble a database about the current and historic newspapers of the United States. This includes a growing collection of scanned images from selected papers. All of it available to the public on their website.

Using information that we've taken from the Chronicling America website, we've identified 82 newspapers that have been published in the area around Thrift.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Thrift, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Thrift.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These websites either offer the information directly or else point to where you can find it. Their information is open to everyone.

To help you get started, the following links will take you to the pages that are relevant to Thrift:

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>The Find-a-Grave website is an excellent research tool with information about a cemetery's location and interments. They also offer a forum for their members which can provide additional help. More information about Find-a-Grave can be found on their website: findagrave.com.
<3>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Thrift, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Thrift) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.