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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 Union Center (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 Union Center. 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.

Name Variations for Union Center ...

When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might have occurred.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Union Center: Union Ctr. (or less commonly used: Union Cen., Union Cent. or Union Cntr.)

If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.

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.

Union Center is located in Eastland 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 Eastland County: Brown, Callahan, Comanche, Erath, Palo Pinto, Shackelford & Stephens.

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

  • Eastland County     (The home county of Union Center)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Union Center, with the one closest to Union Center listed first.
    • Okra
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Okra. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Okra
      • Okra is located in Eastland County
    • Rising Star
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Nimrod ‑ Historic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nimrod
      • Nimrod is located in Eastland County
    • Carbon
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Carbon have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carbon
      • Carbon is located in Eastland County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 276 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Carbon <2>
    • Mangum ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mangum have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mangum
      • Mangum is located in Eastland County
    • Cisco
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cisco have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cisco
      • Cisco is located in Eastland County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,850 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cisco <2>
    • Kokomo
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kokomo
      • Kokomo is located in Eastland County
    • Gorman
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gorman have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gorman
      • Gorman is located in Eastland County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,033 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gorman <2>
    • Eastland
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Olden
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Desdemona
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Ranger
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ranger. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ranger
      • Ranger is located in Eastland County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,354 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ranger <2>
  • Brown County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Union Center, with the one closest to Union Center listed first.
    • May
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for May have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for May
      • May is located in Brown County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for May <2>
    • Cross Cut
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cross Cut
      • Cross Cut is located in Brown County
    • Lake Brownwood
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake Brownwood have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Brownwood
      • Lake Brownwood is located in Brown County
    • Blanket
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Fry ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Fry. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fry
      • Fry is located in Brown County
    • Early
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
  • Callahan County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Union Center, with the one closest to Union Center listed first.
    • Cross Plains
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Cottonwood
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottonwood
      • Cottonwood is located in Callahan County
    • Putnam
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Rowden
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rowden
      • Rowden is located in Callahan County
    • Belle Plain ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Belle Plain. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belle Plain
      • Belle Plain is located in Callahan County
    • Baird
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baird
      • Baird is located in Callahan County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,496 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Baird <2>
  • Coleman County
  • Comanche County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Union Center, with the one closest to Union Center listed first.
    • Sipe Springs
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sipe Springs
      • Sipe Springs is located in Comanche County
    • Duster
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Duster. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duster
      • Duster is located in Comanche County
    • Rucker
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rucker
      • Rucker is located in Comanche County
    • Sidney
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sidney have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sidney
      • Sidney is located in Comanche County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sidney <2>
    • De Leon
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Comanche
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Comyn
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Comyn
      • Comyn is located in Comanche County
  • Shackelford County
    • Moran
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Moran have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moran
      • Moran is located in Shackelford County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 260 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Moran <2>
  • Stephens County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Union Center, with the one closest to Union Center listed first.
    • Gunsight ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gunsight
      • Gunsight is located in Stephens County
    • Eureka
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eureka have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eureka
      • Eureka is located in Stephens County

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

Cemeteries Near Union Center ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Union Center.

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 Union Center covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Wayside Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wayside Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wayside Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Salt Tank Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Rising Star Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Elm Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Brown Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Brown Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Brown Cemetery is located 5 miles [8 km]<5> to the north of Carbon.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2602 <4>
  • Center Point Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Center Point Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Center Point Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Pleasant Hill Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pleasant Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pleasant Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Liberty Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Pioneer Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Sabanno Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sabanno Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sabanno Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Haskell Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Haskell Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Haskell Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Sipe Springs Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (75 more) ...
    • Pisgah Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pisgah Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pisgah Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Murray Memorial Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Murray Memorial Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Murray Memorial Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jewel Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Jewel Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Jewel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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.<6>

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

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

  • Romney
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Romney have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Romney
    • Romney is located in Eastland County
  • Rising Star
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Pioneer
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pioneer have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pioneer
    • Pioneer is located in Eastland County
  • Nimrod ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nimrod
    • Nimrod is located in Eastland County
  • Carbon
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Carbon have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carbon
    • Carbon is located in Eastland County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 276 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Carbon <2>
  • Sipe Springs
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sipe Springs
    • Sipe Springs is located in Comanche County
  • Cross Plains
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • Scranton
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Scranton have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scranton
    • Scranton is located in Eastland County
  • Cross Cut
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cross Cut
    • Cross Cut is located in Brown County
  • May
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for May have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for May
    • May is located in Brown County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for May <2>
  • Cisco
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cisco have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cisco
    • Cisco is located in Eastland County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,850 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cisco <2>
  • Cottonwood
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottonwood
    • Cottonwood is located in Callahan County
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Duster
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Duster. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duster
      • Duster is located in Comanche County
    • Gorman
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gorman have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gorman
      • Gorman is located in Eastland County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,033 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gorman <2>
    • Eastland
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)

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

Newspapers Published in Union Center ...

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 62 newspapers that have been published in the area around Union Center.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Union Center, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Union Center.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to 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 Union Center:

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

The official website for Eastland County: www.eastlandcountytexas.com/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<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>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 from Point A (ie- Union Center) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Union Center. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 32.1707, Longitude: -98.9606       In this case, the coordinates for Union Center have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>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 Union Center, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025