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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 Waterwood (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 Waterwood. 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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals 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.

Waterwood is located in San Jacinto 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 San Jacinto County: Liberty, Montgomery, Polk, Trinity & Walker.

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

  • San Jacinto County     (The home county of Waterwood)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Waterwood, with the one closest to Waterwood listed first.
    • Point Blank
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Oakhurst
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Laurel Hill
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Laurel Hill is located in San Jacinto County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurel Hill
    • Coldspring
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Evergreen
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Evergreen is located in San Jacinto County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen
    • Magnolia
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Magnolia is located in San Jacinto County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magnolia
    • Shepherd
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Houston County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Waterwood, with the one closest to Waterwood listed first.
    • Holly
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Holly is located in Houston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly
    • Antioch ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Antioch is located in Houston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Antioch
    • Lovelady
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
  • Montgomery County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Waterwood, with the one closest to Waterwood listed first.
    • Danville ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Danville is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Danville
    • Willis
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Willis is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willis
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,122 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Willis <1>
  • Polk County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Waterwood, with the one closest to Waterwood listed first.
    • Onalaska
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Bold Springs
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Bold Springs is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bold Springs
    • West Livingston
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • West Livingston is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Livingston
    • Swartout ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Swartout is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swartout
    • Livingston
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • New Willard
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • New Willard is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Willard
    • Lamont
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Lamont is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lamont
    • Leggett
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Seven Oaks
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Seven Oaks is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seven Oaks
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 131 people
    • Goodrich
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Moscow
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Corrigan
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Trinity County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Waterwood, with the one closest to Waterwood listed first.
    • Carlisle
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Carlisle is located in Trinity County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carlisle
    • Chita
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Chita is located in Trinity County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chita
    • Trinity
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Mill Town
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Mill Town is located in Trinity County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mill Town
    • Glendale
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Glendale is located in Trinity County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glendale
    • Groveton
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Sumpter ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Sumpter is located in Trinity County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sumpter
    • Woodlake
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Woodlake is located in Trinity County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodlake
    • Friday
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Friday is located in Trinity County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friday
    • Lacy
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Lacy is located in Trinity County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lacy
      • Lacy has also been known as:
      • Lacey
    • Pennington
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Helmic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Helmic is located in Trinity County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helmic
  • Walker County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Waterwood, with the one closest to Waterwood listed first.
    • Riverside
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Dodge
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Kittrell
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Kittrell is located in Walker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kittrell
    • Barado
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Barado is located in Walker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barado
    • Huntsville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Elmina
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Elmina is located in Walker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmina
    • New Waverly
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Waterwood ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Waterwood.

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

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

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

  • Mt. Capers Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • McGown Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Liberty Hill Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Community Relief Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Robinson Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Center Hill Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Gospel Hill Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Gospel Hill Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Chapel Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Chapel Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Mt. Zion Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • St. Andrew Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (126 more) ...
    • Hoby Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Harrell Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Cleveland 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.<2>

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

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

  • Point Blank
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Riverside
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Dodge
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Trinity
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Phelps
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Phelps is located in Walker County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Phelps
  • Colita
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Colita is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colita
  • Saron
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Saron is located in Trinity County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saron
  • Evergreen
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Evergreen is located in San Jacinto County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen
  • Coldspring
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
  • Josserand
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Josserand is located in Trinity County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Josserand
  • Groveton
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
  • Huntsville
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Livingston
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Carmona
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Carmona is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carmona
    • Maynard
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Maynard is located in San Jacinto County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maynard

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

Newspapers Published in Waterwood ...

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 57 newspapers that have been published in the area around Waterwood.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Waterwood, 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 Waterwood.

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 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 Waterwood:

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>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 Waterwood, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 from Point A (ie- Waterwood) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.