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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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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 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)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Broaddus have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Broaddus
      • Broaddus is located in San Augustine County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 201 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Broaddus <2>
    • Zana ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Zana. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zana
      • Zana is located in San Augustine County
    • White City
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for White City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White City
      • White City is located in San Augustine County
    • Denning
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Denning
      • Denning is located in San Augustine County
    • Maxey Town
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maxey Town have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maxey Town
      • Maxey Town is located in San Augustine County
    • Rebecca
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rebecca
      • Rebecca is located in San Augustine County
    • San Augustine
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Powell
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powell
      • Powell is located in San Augustine County
  • 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)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ora. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ora
      • Ora is located in Angelina County
    • Boynton
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Boynton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boynton
      • Boynton is located in Angelina County
    • Ewing
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ewing. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ewing
      • Ewing is located in Angelina County
    • Thomas Crossing
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Thomas Crossing have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thomas Crossing
      • Thomas Crossing is located in Angelina County
    • Oak Flat
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oak Flat have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Flat
      • Oak Flat is located in Angelina County
    • Zavalla
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Alco
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alco have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alco
      • Alco is located in Angelina County
    • Dunagan
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Dunagan. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunagan
      • Dunagan is located in Angelina County
    • Huntington
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Huntington have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huntington
      • Huntington is located in Angelina County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,079 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Huntington <2>
    • Rocky Springs
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Rocky Springs. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Springs
      • Rocky Springs is located in Angelina County
    • Nancy
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nancy
      • Nancy is located in Angelina County
    • Parker Point
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Parker Point have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parker Point
      • Parker Point is located in Angelina County
    • Platt
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Platt have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Platt
      • Platt is located in Angelina County
  • 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)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harveytown
      • Harveytown is located in Jasper County
    • Browndell
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Browndell have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Browndell
      • Browndell is located in Jasper County
      • 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)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Attoyac
      • Attoyac is located in Nacogdoches County
    • 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)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Swift. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swift
      • Swift is located in Nacogdoches County
    • Nacogdoches
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Appleby
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Appleby
      • Appleby is located in Nacogdoches County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 444 people
    • Redfield
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redfield
      • Redfield is located in Nacogdoches County
  • 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)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bronson have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bronson
      • Bronson is located in Sabine County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bronson <2>
    • Rosevine
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosevine
      • Rosevine is located in Sabine County
    • Pineland
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Brookeland
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brookeland have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookeland
      • Brookeland is located in Sabine County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Brookeland <2>
    • Geneva
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Hemphill
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hemphill have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hemphill
      • Hemphill is located in Sabine County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,211 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hemphill <2>
    • Milam
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Milam have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milam
      • Milam is located in Sabine County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Milam <2>
  • 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)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Choice
      • Choice is located in Shelby County
    • Short
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Short. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Short
      • Short is located in Shelby County
    • Arcadia
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arcadia
      • Arcadia is located in Shelby County
    • Africa ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Africa. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Africa
      • Africa is located in Shelby County

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.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

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)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fox Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fox Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Sowell Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sowell Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sowell Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. John Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. John Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. John Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Lowery Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lowery Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lowery Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Smyrna Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Smyrna Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Smyrna Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Harvey Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Harvey Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Harvey Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Williams Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Williams Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Williams Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Broaddus Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Broaddus Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Broaddus Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Wooten Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Harvy Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Harvy Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Harvy Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Nath Beck Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Nath Beck Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Nath Beck Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Macedonia Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Macedonia Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Macedonia Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (270 more) ...
    • Lee Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lee Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lee Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Miley Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Miley Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Miley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Blue Spring Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Blue Spring Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Blue Spring Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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.<5>

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)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Zana. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zana
    • Zana is located in San Augustine County
  • Etoile
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Ora
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ora. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ora
    • Ora is located in Angelina County
  • Chireno
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Macune
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Macune have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Macune
    • Macune is located in San Augustine County
  • Denning
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Denning
    • Denning is located in San Augustine County
  • 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)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Melrose have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melrose
    • Melrose is located in Nacogdoches County
  • Ironosa
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ironosa have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ironosa
    • Ironosa is located in San Augustine County
  • Homer
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Homer. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homer
    • Homer is located in Angelina County
  • Martinsville
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Swift
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Swift. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swift
      • Swift is located in Nacogdoches County
    • Rockland
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rockland have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockland
      • Rockland is located in Tyler County
    • Brookeland
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brookeland have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookeland
      • Brookeland is located in Sabine County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Brookeland <2>

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]<6>. 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 start with 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 Townsend:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Townsend. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for State of Texas: https://texas.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<4>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.
<5>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.
<6>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 from Point A (ie- Townsend) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Townsend. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.3510, Longitude: -94.3119       In this case, the coordinates for Townsend have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025