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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 Underwood (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 Underwood. 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 hospitals and 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.

Underwood is located in Hale 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 Hale County: Castro, Crosby, Floyd, Hockley, Lamb, Lubbock & Swisher.

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

  • Hale County     (The home county of Underwood)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Underwood, with the one closest to Underwood listed first.
    • Hale Center
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Hale City ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Hale City is located in Hale County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hale City
    • Cotton Center
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Cotton Center is located in Hale County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cotton Center
    • Abernathy
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Plainview
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Petersburg
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Seth Ward
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Seth Ward is located in Hale County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seth Ward
    • Edmonson
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
  • Crosby County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Underwood, with the one closest to Underwood listed first.
    • Estacado ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Estacado is located in Crosby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Estacado
    • Farmer
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Farmer is located in Crosby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmer
    • Lorenzo
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Cone
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Floyd County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Underwood, with the one closest to Underwood listed first.
    • Aiken
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Lockney
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Floydada
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Sterley ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Sterley is located in Floyd County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sterley
    • Della Plain ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Della Plain is located in Floyd County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Della Plain
  • Hockley County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Underwood, with the one closest to Underwood listed first.
    • Anton
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Anton is located in Hockley County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,089 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Anton <1>
    • Roundup
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Roundup is located in Hockley County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roundup
  • Lamb County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Underwood, with the one closest to Underwood listed first.
    • Hart Camp ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Hart Camp is located in Lamb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hart Camp
    • Spade
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Spade is located in Lamb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spade
    • Olton
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Fieldton
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Littlefield
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
  • Lubbock County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Underwood, with the one closest to Underwood listed first.
    • New Deal
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • New Deal is located in Lubbock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Deal
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 841 people
    • Becton
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Becton is located in Lubbock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Becton
    • Heckville ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Heckville is located in Lubbock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heckville
    • Shallowater
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Kitalou
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Kitalou is located in Lubbock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kitalou
    • Idalou
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Canyon
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Canyon is located in Lubbock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canyon
    • Lubbock
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Reese Village
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Reese Village is located in Lubbock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reese Village
  • Swisher County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Underwood, with the one closest to Underwood listed first.
    • Kress
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Claytonville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Claytonville is located in Swisher County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Claytonville

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

Cemeteries Near Underwood ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Underwood.

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

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

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

  • Hale Center Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Strip / Pearce Chapel Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Strip / Pearce Chapel Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Strip / Pearce Chapel Cemetery is located 4 miles [6.4 km]<3> to the east of Abernathy.
    • The Strip / Pearce Chapel Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Pearce Chapel Cemetery
    • Strip Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #7115 <2>
  • Center Plains Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Halfway Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
  • Plainview Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Plainview Memorial Park
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
  • IOOF Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Petersburg Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Petersburg Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Petersburg Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the east of Petersburg.
    • The Petersburg Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Veterans Memorial Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #150702 <2>
  • Becton Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
  • Anton Cemetery
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Olton Cemetery
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Estacado Cemetery
    (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (11 more) ...
    • Idalou Cemetery
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Kress Cemetery
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Lorenzo Cemetery
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lorenzo Cemetery
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Lorenzo Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located less than 2 miles<3> to the north of Lorenzo.
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #4943 <2>

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

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

  • Hale City ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Hale City is located in Hale County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hale City
  • Plainview
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Estacado ‑ Historic
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Estacado is located in Crosby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Estacado
  • Lockney
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
  • Lubbock
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
  • Cone
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Floydada
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)

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

Newspapers Published in Underwood ...

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 48 newspapers that have been published in the area around Underwood.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Underwood, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Underwood.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These helpful 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 Underwood:

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 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Underwood) 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 Underwood, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.