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Welcome to the Hopkins County Genealogical Society!
Sulphur Springs, Texas
On behalf of our board and members, we are delighted to have you visit our site, where history comes alive through our extensive resources and community of passionate genealogists. Whether you are just beginning your family history journey or have years of research experience, our society offers valuable tools, including access to a vast library, unique archival materials, and expert guidance. We invite you to explore our online records, participate in our events, and consider joining our society to connect with fellow researchers and support the preservation of Hopkins County’s rich heritage. Membership brings exclusive benefits, and we look forward to welcoming you to our growing community!
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HCGS is proud to be a Partner Society of the Texas State Genealogical Society. |
You’re Not Locked Out—You’re Locked In!
Mark your calendars for Saturday, July 26, 2025—our beloved annual Lock-In is returning, and we’re pulling out all the stops (and the census records)!
Doors open at 10:00 a.m. and we’ll be sleuthing ‘til 7:00 p.m. Volunteers will be on hand all day to help you chase down those elusive ancestors.
☕ Start your morning with coffee and donuts (because genealogy is best done with sugar and caffeine), and stick around for a light supper at 5:00 p.m. Door prize drawings will happen throughout the day—because what’s better than discovering a 3x-great-grandma and winning a prize?
Come for the snacks, stay for the surnames!
Browse the full collection now on our Bookshop page.
From Hopkins County History
Wednesday, July 29, 1925, page 1 of 4
212 Cars Elbertas Shipped From Hopkins
The Elberta peach harvest of Hopkins county for the present season is about over so far as car load shipments go. A few truck loads and express shipments will wind up the season, which has been one of the best of the last dozen or more years. The total number of cars by rail shipped of Elbertas is 177, as follows: Sulphur Springs 83 cars, Pickton 67 cars, Saltillo 15 cars and Como 12 cars. Both growers and buyers of Elbertas state that something like 35 cars have been expressed and hauled by truck or wagon to the black land during the season, making a total of 212 cars of Elbertas for the county during the year. The returns have been very gratifying to the growers, as the price has remained high, averaging more than $1.25 per bushel and therefore bringing into the county more than $100,000 from this crop alone. The early peach crop was extra good as was also the plum and berry crop. Watermelons are still being sold with no check up of the number of cars shipped from the county so far. Car load shipments continue at both railroad tracks and the public square is literally blocked from day to day with big truck and wagon loads that are carried to the black land.
The fine rain on Wednesday will greatly benefit the late melon crop along with all other fall and summer crops such as potatoes, ribbon cane, etc.
Back Issues of Hopkins County Heritage
We are now offering for sale ALL of the Hopkins County Heritage back issues on a single flash drive!! (Includes every issue from the beginning in 1984 to June 2017). Each flash drive contains two folders – one folder contains individual issue PDFs and one folder contains a single PDF of the complete set. It is word searchable so that you can easily locate surnames or search terms in any single issue or in the complete set! And travels with you easily to libraries or on research trips!
The cost is $50 (plus $4 for shipping and handling) and can be purchased by contacting the HCGS library.
About The HCGS Research Library
Over 8,000 Titles
The HCGS Research Library houses original county records, maps, family collections, scrapbooks, 1000’s of photographs, and numerous original materials. Note, current Saturday hours – open 2nd Saturday of each month from 9:30am to 1:00pm.
Click here for more details about the HCGS Research Library.
FamilySearch.org Affiliate Library
The HCGS Research Library is an affiliate library of the LDS in Salt Lake City, Utah, which houses millions of digitized restricted records covering most counties in the US as well as worldwide. These restricted images, viewable from our computers, allow our patrons to travel to locations and view many records including court house records such as deeds, wills, probate cases, etc. from the convenience of our HCGS library. Use their catalog to discover what records might be of interest. (FamilySearch Help Center topic 55954 helps to explain how to use their catalog.) And if your county/country of interest has not yet been digitized you can contact FamilySearch to request that they digitize specific films. You may request up to 5 rolls of films in one interaction. For specific details on how to do this by phone, chat, or email go to FamilySearch’s Help Center and view help topic 469883.
Hopkins County Texas Research Guide
Professional genealogist and former Hopkins County resident Cyndi Harlin has graciously shared her Hopkins County Texas Research Guide. This expertly created guide gives numerous tips and areas to explore to help aid your research in Hopkins County. Check out this useful and beautiful booklet by clicking here.
Rescue Mission
“Genealogy is a kind of rescue mission, one that often remains hidden. Not everyone can see that our ancestors need to be rescued. Not everyone has the ability or desire to rescue them. But we, as genealogists, see the need and set off on the mission, sure of the merit of our goal. We give voice to our ancestors buried in the silent archives of history. . .”[1]
[1] Margaret R. Fortier and Mary Kircher Roddy, “Editors’ Corner,” National Genealogical Society Quarterly 112 (Dec 2024).