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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 Tuscola (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 Tuscola. 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 doctors 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.

Tuscola is located in Taylor 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 Taylor County: Callahan, Coleman, Fisher, Jones, Nolan, Runnels & Shackelford.

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

  • Taylor County     (The home county of Tuscola)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Tuscola, with the one closest to Tuscola listed first.
    • Ovalo
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Buffalo Gap
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Buffalo Gap is located in Taylor County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo Gap
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 582 people
    • Lawn
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Guion
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Guion is located in Taylor County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guion
    • Potosi
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Potosi is located in Taylor County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Potosi
    • Abilene
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Mount Pleasant
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Mount Pleasant is located in Taylor County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Pleasant
    • Tye
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Tye is located in Taylor County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tye
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,341 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tye <1>
    • Impact
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Impact is located in Taylor County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Impact
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 31 people
    • Merkel
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Hamby
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Hamby is located in Taylor County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hamby
    • Trent
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Callahan County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Tuscola, with the one closest to Tuscola listed first.
    • Denton
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Denton is located in Callahan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Denton
      • Denton has also been known as:
      • Denton Valley
    • Eula
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Eula is located in Callahan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eula
    • Clyde
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Clyde is located in Callahan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clyde
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,881 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clyde <1>
    • Belle Plain ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Belle Plain is located in Callahan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belle Plain
    • Rowden
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Rowden is located in Callahan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rowden
    • Baird
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Baird is located in Callahan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baird
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,496 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Baird <1>
  • Coleman County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Tuscola, with the one closest to Tuscola listed first.
    • Goldsboro
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Novice
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Glen Cove
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Glen Cove is located in Coleman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Cove
    • Talpa
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Jones County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Tuscola, with the one closest to Tuscola listed first.
    • Stith
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Stith is located in Jones County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stith
    • Hawley
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Fort Phantom Hill ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Fort Phantom Hill is located in Jones County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Phantom Hill
  • Nolan County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Tuscola, with the one closest to Tuscola listed first.
    • Hylton
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Hylton is located in Nolan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hylton
    • Nolan
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
  • Runnels County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Tuscola, with the one closest to Tuscola listed first.
    • Winters
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Wingate
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Norton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Tuscola ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Tuscola.

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

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

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

  • Lemons Gap Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • McBee Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Buffalo Gap Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Cope Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Dewey Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Iberis Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Drummond Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Tecumseh Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Potosi Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Potosi Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Potosi Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located less than 2 miles<3> to the north of Potosi.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #6134 <2>
  • Counts Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Seaton Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Old Colony Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (46 more) ...
    • Bluff Creek Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Elmwood Memorial Park
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Midway Cemetery
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)

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.<4>

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

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

  • Buffalo Gap
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Buffalo Gap is located in Taylor County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo Gap
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 582 people
  • Guion
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Guion is located in Taylor County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guion
  • Abilene
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
  • Elmdale
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Elmdale is located in Taylor County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmdale
  • Novice
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
  • Winters
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
  • Clyde
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Clyde is located in Callahan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clyde
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,881 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clyde <1>
  • Merkel
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Silver Valley
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Silver Valley is located in Coleman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Valley
  • Hylton
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Hylton is located in Nolan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hylton
  • Glen Cove
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Glen Cove is located in Coleman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Cove
  • Belle Plain ‑ Historic
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Belle Plain is located in Callahan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belle Plain
  • Baird
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Baird is located in Callahan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baird
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,496 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Baird <1>
  • Trent
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Tuscola ...

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 51 newspapers that have been published in the area around Tuscola.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Tuscola. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Tuscola and those printed in the larger area surrounding Tuscola.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<3> of Tuscola.

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 Tuscola:

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