RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Texas >> Hardin County >> Village Mills >> Genealogy HelperIndex...

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 Village Mills (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 Village Mills. 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 Village Mills ...

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 occur.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Village Mills: Village Mls. (or less commonly used: Village Mlls.)

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 southeast 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 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.

Village Mills is located in Hardin 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 Hardin County: Jasper, Jefferson, Liberty, Polk & Tyler.

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

  • Hardin County     (The home county of Village Mills)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Village Mills, with the one closest to Village Mills listed first.
    • Kountze
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Bragg ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Bragg is located in Hardin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bragg
    • Thicket
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Silsbee
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Saratoga
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Votaw
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Lumberton
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Batson
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Pinewood Estates
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Pinewood Estates is located in Hardin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinewood Estates
    • Sour Lake
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Loeb
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Loeb is located in Hardin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loeb
    • Rose Hill Acres
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Rose Hill Acres is located in Hardin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rose Hill Acres
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 435 people
    • Grayburg
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Grayburg is located in Hardin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grayburg
  • Jasper County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Village Mills, with the one closest to Village Mills listed first.
    • Evadale
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Buna
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Bunker Hill
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Bunker Hill is located in Jasper County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bunker Hill
    • Call Junction
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Call Junction is located in Jasper County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Call Junction
    • Beech Grove
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Beech Grove is located in Jasper County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beech Grove
  • Jefferson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Village Mills, with the one closest to Village Mills listed first.
    • Bevil Oaks
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Bevil Oaks is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bevil Oaks
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,209 people
    • Voth
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
  • Liberty County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Village Mills, with the one closest to Village Mills listed first.
    • Fuqua ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Fuqua is located in Liberty County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fuqua
    • Big Thicket Creekmore Village
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Rye
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Romayor
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Coushatta Village
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Coushatta Village is located in Liberty County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coushatta Village
    • Hull
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Mariam
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Mariam is located in Liberty County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mariam
    • Africa ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Africa is located in Liberty County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Africa
    • Daisetta
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Orange County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Village Mills, with the one closest to Village Mills listed first.
    • Pine Forest
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Pine Forest is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Forest
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 516 people
    • Pine Grove
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Pine Grove is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Grove
  • Polk County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Village Mills, with the one closest to Village Mills listed first.
    • Oak Shade
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Oak Shade is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Shade
    • Dallardsville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Indian Springs
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Indian Springs is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Springs
    • Ace
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Schwab City
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Schwab City is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Schwab City
  • Tyler County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Village Mills, with the one closest to Village Mills listed first.
    • Warren
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Hillister
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Ivanhoe
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Ivanhoe is located in Tyler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivanhoe
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,438 people
    • Ivanhoe North
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Ivanhoe North is located in Tyler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivanhoe North
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 538 people
    • Fred
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Spurger
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Woodville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Doucette
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Town Bluff
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Town Bluff is located in Tyler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Town Bluff
    • Colmesneil
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)

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

Cemeteries Near Village Mills ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Village Mills.

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 Village Mills - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Holland Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Village Mills Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • William W. Hart Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • McNeely Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Richardson Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Hester Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Hyatt Community Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hyatt Community Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Hyatt Community Cemetery is located 3 miles [4.8 km]<3> to the south of Warren.
    • The Hyatt Community Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Hyatt Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2484789 <2>
  • Olive Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Gardner Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Sutton Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Brackin Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Warren Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (66 more) ...
    • Fellowship Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Bumstead Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Griffin Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)

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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Village Mills had a population of 316 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service.

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

  • Hyatt
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Hyatt is located in Tyler County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hyatt
  • Warren
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Kountze
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Nona
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Nona is located in Hardin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nona
  • Hillister
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
  • Saratoga
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Dallardsville
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Spurger
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
  • Woodville
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
  • Sour Lake
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
  • Town Bluff
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Town Bluff is located in Tyler County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Town Bluff
  • Magnolia Springs
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Magnolia Springs is located in Jasper County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magnolia Springs
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Rosedale
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Rosedale is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosedale
    • Colmesneil
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Beech Grove
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Beech Grove is located in Jasper County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beech Grove

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

Newspapers Published in Village Mills ...

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 25 newspapers that have been published in the area around Village Mills.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Village Mills, there are papers which were published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Village Mills.

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 Village Mills:

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' (or 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- Village Mills) 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 Village Mills, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.