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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 Austwell (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 Austwell. 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.

Austwell is located in Refugio County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Refugio County: Aransas, Bee, Calhoun, Goliad, San Patricio & Victoria.

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

  • Refugio County     (The home county of Austwell)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Austwell, with the one closest to Austwell listed first.
    • Tivoli
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Refugio
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Bayside
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bayside have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayside
      • Bayside is located in Refugio County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 322 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bayside <1>
  • Aransas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Austwell, with the one closest to Austwell listed first.
    • Spanish Village
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spanish Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spanish Village
      • Spanish Village is located in Aransas County
    • Copano Village
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Copano Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Copano Village
      • Copano Village is located in Aransas County
    • Fulton
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Rockport
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rockport have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockport
      • Rockport is located in Aransas County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,847 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rockport <1>
  • Calhoun County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Austwell, with the one closest to Austwell listed first.
    • Seadrift
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Seadrift have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seadrift
      • Seadrift is located in Calhoun County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,500 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Seadrift <1>
    • Long Mott
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Port Lavaca
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Indianola
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Indianola have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indianola
      • Indianola is located in Calhoun County
    • Point Comfort
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Point Comfort have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Point Comfort
      • Point Comfort is located in Calhoun County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 652 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Point Comfort <1>
    • Port O'Connor
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Port O'Connor have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Port O'Connor
      • Port O'Connor is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Port O'Connor <1>
  • Goliad County
    • Cologne
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cologne
      • Cologne is located in Goliad County
      • Former names for Cologne:
      • Centerville
      • Ira Station
      • Perdido
  • Jackson County
    • La Salle
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for La Salle have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Salle
      • La Salle is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for La Salle <1>
  • Victoria County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Austwell, with the one closest to Austwell listed first.
    • McFaddin
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Bloomington
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bloomington have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bloomington
      • Bloomington is located in Victoria County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bloomington <1>
    • Placedo
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Placedo have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Placedo
      • Placedo is located in Victoria County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Placedo <1>
    • Dacosta
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dacosta
      • Dacosta is located in Victoria County
    • Hughes ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hughes have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hughes
      • Hughes is located in Victoria County
    • Oak Village
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oak Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Village
      • Oak Village is located in Victoria County
    • Victoria
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Austwell ...

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 47 newspapers that have been published in the area around Austwell.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Austwell. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Austwell and those printed in the larger area surrounding Austwell.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3> of Austwell.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These helpful 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 Austwell:

Cemeteries Near Austwell ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Austwell.

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

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

  • Austwell Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Austwell Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Austwell Cemetery
  • St. Marys Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Marys Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Marys Cemetery
  • Jordan Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Jordan Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Jordan Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2420234 <5>
  • Sonneman Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Stiernberg Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Seadrift Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Rydolph Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rydolph Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rydolph Cemetery
  • Nicholas Fagan Memorial Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Nicholas Fagan Memorial Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Nicholas Fagan Memorial Cemetery
  • Stiger Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Stiger Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Stiger Cemetery
  • Hatch Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Clark Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Clark Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Clark Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2538 <5>
  • Clark Family Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Clark Family Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Clark Family Cemetery
  • Continue List   (37 more) ...
    • Greenlawn Gardens Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • O'Connor Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the O'Connor Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the O'Connor Cemetery
    • San Jose Cemetery
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)

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

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

  • Seadrift
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Seadrift have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seadrift
    • Seadrift is located in Calhoun County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,500 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Seadrift <1>
  • Long Mott
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Lamar
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lamar have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lamar
    • Lamar is located in Aransas County
  • Port Lavaca
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Placedo
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Placedo have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Placedo
    • Placedo is located in Victoria County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Placedo <1>
  • Guadalupe
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Guadalupe have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guadalupe
    • Guadalupe is located in Victoria County
  • Fulton
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Refugio
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
  • Rockport
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rockport have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockport
    • Rockport is located in Aransas County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,847 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rockport <1>
  • Aloe
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Aloe have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aloe
    • Aloe is located in Victoria County

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

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

The official website for State of Texas: https://texas.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>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.
<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 from Point A (ie- Austwell) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Austwell. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 28.3911, Longitude: -96.8437       In this case, the coordinates for Austwell have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>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.
<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 Austwell, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024