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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 Townsend (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 Townsend. 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 southeast 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 south.

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 south 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.

Townsend is located in San Augustine 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 San Augustine County: Angelina, Jasper, Nacogdoches, Sabine & Shelby.

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

  • San Augustine County     (The home county of Townsend)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Townsend, with the one closest to Townsend listed first.
    • Broaddus
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Zana ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Zana is located in San Augustine County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zana
    • White City
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • White City is located in San Augustine County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White City
    • Denning
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Denning is located in San Augustine County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Denning
    • Maxey Town
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Maxey Town is located in San Augustine County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maxey Town
    • Rebecca
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Rebecca is located in San Augustine County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rebecca
    • San Augustine
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Powell
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Powell is located in San Augustine County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powell
  • Angelina County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Townsend, with the one closest to Townsend listed first.
    • Ora
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Ora is located in Angelina County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ora
    • Boynton
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Boynton is located in Angelina County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boynton
    • Ewing
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Ewing is located in Angelina County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ewing
    • Thomas Crossing
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Thomas Crossing is located in Angelina County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thomas Crossing
    • Oak Flat
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Oak Flat is located in Angelina County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Flat
    • Zavalla
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Alco
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Alco is located in Angelina County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alco
    • Dunagan
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Dunagan is located in Angelina County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunagan
    • Huntington
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Rocky Springs
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Rocky Springs is located in Angelina County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Springs
    • Nancy
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Nancy is located in Angelina County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nancy
    • Parker Point
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Parker Point is located in Angelina County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parker Point
  • Jasper County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Townsend, with the one closest to Townsend listed first.
    • Harveytown
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Harveytown is located in Jasper County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harveytown
    • Browndell
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Browndell is located in Jasper County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Browndell
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 204 people
    • Sam Rayburn
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Nacogdoches County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Townsend, with the one closest to Townsend listed first.
    • Etoile
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Chireno
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Attoyac
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Attoyac is located in Nacogdoches County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Attoyac
    • Woden
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Martinsville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Swift
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Swift is located in Nacogdoches County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swift
    • Nacogdoches
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Appleby
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Appleby is located in Nacogdoches County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Appleby
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 444 people
    • Redfield
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Redfield is located in Nacogdoches County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redfield
  • Sabine County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Townsend, with the one closest to Townsend listed first.
    • Bronson
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Rosevine
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Rosevine is located in Sabine County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosevine
    • Pineland
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Brookeland
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Geneva
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Hemphill
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Milam
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
  • Shelby County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Townsend, with the one closest to Townsend listed first.
    • Choice
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Choice is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Choice
    • Short
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Short is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Short
    • Arcadia
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Arcadia is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arcadia
    • Africa ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Africa is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Africa

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

Cemeteries Near Townsend ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Townsend.

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 Townsend - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Fox Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Sowell Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • St. John Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Lowery Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Smyrna Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Harvey Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Williams Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Broaddus Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Wooten Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Harvy Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Nath Beck Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Macedonia Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (270 more) ...
    • Lee Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Miley Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Blue Spring Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)

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 Townsend in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Townsend.

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

  • Zana ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Zana is located in San Augustine County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zana
  • Etoile
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Ora
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Ora is located in Angelina County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ora
  • Chireno
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Macune
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Macune is located in San Augustine County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Macune
  • Denning
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Denning is located in San Augustine County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Denning
  • Woden
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
  • San Augustine
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Melrose
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Melrose is located in Nacogdoches County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melrose
  • Ironosa
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Ironosa is located in San Augustine County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ironosa
  • Homer
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Homer is located in Angelina County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homer
  • Martinsville
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Swift
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Swift is located in Nacogdoches County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swift
    • Rockland
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Rockland is located in Tyler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockland
    • Brookeland
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)

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

Newspapers Published in Townsend ...

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 66 newspapers that have been published in the area around Townsend.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Townsend, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Townsend.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These professional and volunteer websites 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 Townsend:

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 Townsend, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Townsend) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.