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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 Avra (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 Avra. 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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors 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.

Avra is located in Pinal County.

To see how the shape of Arizona's counties have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Pinal County: Gila, Graham, Maricopa & Pima.

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

  • Pinal County     (The home county of Avra)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Avra, with the one closest to Avra listed first.
    • Red Rock
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Sasco ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Sasco. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sasco
      • Sasco is located in Pinal County
    • Picacho
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Eloy
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eloy
      • Eloy is located in Pinal County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 17,279 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Eloy <1>
    • Toltec
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toltec
      • Toltec is located in Pinal County
      • Toltec has also been known as:
      • Toltec City
    • Arizona City
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • La Palma
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Palma
      • La Palma is located in Pinal County
    • Eleven Mile Corner
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Randolph
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Randolph
      • Randolph is located in Pinal County
    • Cactus Forest
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cactus Forest
      • Cactus Forest is located in Pinal County
  • Pima County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Avra, with the one closest to Avra listed first.
    • Avra Valley
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Avra Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avra Valley
      • Avra Valley is located in Pima County
    • Nelson
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nelson
      • Nelson is located in Pima County
    • Marana
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Rillito
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Picture Rocks
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Picture Rocks have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Picture Rocks
      • Picture Rocks is located in Pima County
    • Cortaro
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Tortolita
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Catalina
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Oro Valley
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Casas Adobes
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Flowing Wells
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Flowing Wells have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flowing Wells
      • Flowing Wells is located in Pima County
    • Catalina Foothills
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Catalina Foothills
      • Catalina Foothills is located in Pima County

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

Newspapers Published in Avra ...

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 19 newspapers that have been published in the area around Avra.

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

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 Avra:

Cemeteries Near Avra ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Avra.

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

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

  • Sasco Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sasco Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sasco Cemetery
  • Silver Bell Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Silver Bell Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Silver Bell Cemetery
  • Eloy Memorial Park
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Eloy Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Eloy Memorial Park
  • Desert Rose Memorial Cemetery
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Evergreen Memorial Park
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Evergreen Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Evergreen Memorial Park
  • Holy Hope Cemetery
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Holy Hope Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Holy Hope Cemetery
  • Pima County Cemetery
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Tucson Pioneer Cemetery
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Tucson Pioneer Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Tucson Pioneer Cemetery
  • Binghampton Cemetery
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Binghampton Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Binghampton Cemetery

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 Avra in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Avra.

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

  • Red Rock
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Rillito
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Picacho
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Jaynes
    (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jaynes have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jaynes
    • Jaynes is located in Pima County
  • Toltec
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toltec
    • Toltec is located in Pinal County
    • Toltec has also been known as:
    • Toltec City

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

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

The official website for Pinal County: www.co.pinal.az.us/

The official website for State of Arizona: https://az.gov/

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>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.
<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>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 from Point A (ie- Avra) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Avra. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 32.5520, Longitude: -111.3034       In this case, the coordinates for Avra have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>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.
<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 Avra, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024