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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 Zion Hill (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 Zion Hill. 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 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.

Zion Hill is located in Jasper 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 Jasper County: Angelina, Hardin, Newton, Orange, Sabine, San Augustine & Tyler.

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

  • Jasper County     (The home county of Zion Hill)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Zion Hill, with the one closest to Zion Hill listed first.
    • Jasper
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Beech Grove
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Beech Grove is located in Jasper County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beech Grove
    • Kirbyville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Sam Rayburn
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Call Junction
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Call Junction is located in Jasper County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Call Junction
    • Harveytown
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Harveytown is located in Jasper County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harveytown
    • Browndell
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Browndell is located in Jasper County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Browndell
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 204 people
    • Buna
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Bunker Hill
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Bunker Hill is located in Jasper County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bunker Hill
  • Angelina County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Zion Hill, with the one closest to Zion Hill listed first.
    • Parker Point
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Parker Point is located in Angelina County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parker Point
    • Martin
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Martin is located in Angelina County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martin
  • Newton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Zion Hill, with the one closest to Zion Hill listed first.
    • Newton
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Bleakwood
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Bleakwood is located in Newton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bleakwood
    • Call
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Shanklerville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Shanklerville is located in Newton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shanklerville
    • Wiergate
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Bon Wier
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Hughes ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Hughes is located in Newton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hughes
    • Burkeville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • South Toledo Bend
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • South Toledo Bend is located in Newton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Toledo Bend
  • Sabine County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Zion Hill, with the one closest to Zion Hill listed first.
    • Brookeland
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Pineland
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Fairmount
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Fairmount is located in Sabine County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairmount
    • Mason
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Mason is located in Sabine County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mason
  • San Augustine County
    • Powell
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Powell is located in San Augustine County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powell
  • Tyler County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Zion Hill, with the one closest to Zion Hill listed first.
    • Town Bluff
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Town Bluff is located in Tyler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Town Bluff
    • Spurger
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Fred
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Hillister
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Ivanhoe
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Ivanhoe is located in Tyler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivanhoe
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,438 people
    • Colmesneil
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Doucette
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Woodville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Ivanhoe North
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Ivanhoe North is located in Tyler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivanhoe North
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 538 people
    • Warren
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Beauregard Parish (LA)
    • Merryville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
  • Vernon Parish (LA)

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

Cemeteries Near Zion Hill ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Zion Hill.

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 Zion Hill - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • McLemore Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Dunn Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Smith Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Boyett Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Cole Springs Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Evergreen Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Jasper City Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Kyle Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Gilgal Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Trotti Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Big Spring Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Ryalis Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (132 more) ...
    • Allen Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Good Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Byerly Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)

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.<3>

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

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

  • Erin
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Erin is located in Jasper County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erin
  • Jasper
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Magnolia Springs
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Magnolia Springs is located in Jasper County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magnolia Springs
  • Beech Grove
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Beech Grove is located in Jasper County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beech Grove
  • Town Bluff
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Town Bluff is located in Tyler County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Town Bluff
  • Newton
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
  • Bleakwood
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Bleakwood is located in Newton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bleakwood
  • Farrsville
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Farrsville is located in Newton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farrsville
  • Spurger
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Belgrade
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Belgrade is located in Newton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belgrade
  • Burkeville
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Brookeland
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Hillister
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Rockland
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Rockland is located in Tyler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockland
    • Colmesneil
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)

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

Newspapers Published in Zion Hill ...

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 30 newspapers that have been published in the area around Zion Hill.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Zion Hill, there are papers which were published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Zion Hill.

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 professional and volunteer 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 Zion Hill:

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>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 Zion Hill, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>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- Zion Hill) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.