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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 Maria (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 Maria. 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 Parishes ...

When searching for family records, we have frequently made the mistake of not checking the neighboring parishes.

For example, we have great-grandparents who lived in the northeast corner of their home parish. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next parish to the east. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the parish to the north.

So when searching for records, we had our best success by looking in neighboring parishes instead of the parish in which they lived:  their home parish contained property and probate records; the parish to the east contained birth and death records; the parish to the north contained their burial records. If we hadn't included the neighboring parishes, we would have missed many valuable sources of information.

If you're in a similar situation, we hope that the following information helps.

Maria is located in Saint Mary Parish.

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

The following parishes adjoin and form the boundaries of Saint Mary Parish: Iberia, Saint Martin & Terrebonne.

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

  • Saint Mary Parish     (The home parish of Maria)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Maria, with the one closest to Maria listed first.
    • Centerville
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Bayou Sale
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Bayou Sale is located in Saint Mary Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayou Sale
    • Verdunville
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Verdunville is located in Saint Mary Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Verdunville
    • Ricohoc
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Ricohoc is located in Saint Mary Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ricohoc
    • Todd
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Todd is located in Saint Mary Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Todd
    • Garden City
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Calumet
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Calumet is located in Saint Mary Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calumet
    • Irish Bend
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Irish Bend is located in Saint Mary Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irish Bend
    • Caffery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Caffery is located in Saint Mary Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caffery
    • Franklin
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Sterling
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Sterling is located in Saint Mary Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sterling
    • Midway
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Midway is located in Saint Mary Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midway
  • Assumption Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Maria, with the one closest to Maria listed first.
    • Belle River
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Belle River is located in Assumption Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belle River
    • Attakapas Landing
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Attakapas Landing is located in Assumption Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Attakapas Landing
    • Pierre Part
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Ursa
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Ursa is located in Assumption Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ursa
    • Attakapas Canal
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Attakapas Canal is located in Assumption Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Attakapas Canal
    • Bayou Crab
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Bayou Crab is located in Assumption Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayou Crab
    • Upper Texas
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Upper Texas is located in Assumption Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Upper Texas
    • Dwight Fields
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Dwight Fields is located in Assumption Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dwight Fields
    • Lower Texas
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Lower Texas is located in Assumption Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lower Texas
    • Bellewood
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Bellewood is located in Assumption Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellewood
    • Bayou Corne ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Bayou Corne is located in Assumption Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayou Corne
    • Wildwood
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Wildwood is located in Assumption Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wildwood
  • Iberia Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Maria, with the one closest to Maria listed first.
    • Jeanerette
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Patoutville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Patoutville is located in Iberia Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Patoutville
    • Lydia
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Morbihan
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Morbihan is located in Iberia Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morbihan
    • Loreauville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • New Iberia
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Saint Martin Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Maria, with the one closest to Maria listed first.
    • Stephenville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Stephenville is located in Saint Martin Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stephenville
    • Bayou Geneve
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Bayou Geneve is located in Saint Martin Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayou Geneve
    • Bayou Chene
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Bayou Chene is located in Saint Martin Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayou Chene
  • Terrebonne Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Maria, with the one closest to Maria listed first.
    • Gibson
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Donner
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Chacahoula
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Chacahoula is located in Terrebonne Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chacahoula

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

Cemeteries Near Maria ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Maria.

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

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

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

  • Douglas Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Little Zion Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Shadyside - Fairfax Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Gratt Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • North Bend Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Palo Alto Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Midway Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Stirling Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Perpetual Park Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Franklin Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Iberts Memorial Park
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • St. Joseph Catholic Church Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for St. Joseph Catholic Church Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the St. Joseph Catholic Church Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Patterson.
    • The St. Joseph Catholic Church Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Patterson Catholic Cemetery
    • St. Joseph Catholic Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2143457 <2>
  • Continue List   (42 more) ...

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

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

  • Bayou Sale
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Bayou Sale is located in Saint Mary Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayou Sale
  • Ricohoc
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Ricohoc is located in Saint Mary Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ricohoc
  • Irish Bend
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Irish Bend is located in Saint Mary Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irish Bend
  • Franklin
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Patterson
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Baldwin
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Berwick
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
  • Charenton
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Morgan City
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
  • Sorrel
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Sorrel is located in Saint Mary Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sorrel
  • Glencoe
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Glencoe is located in Saint Mary Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glencoe
  • Ramos
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Ramos is located in Saint Mary Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ramos
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Amelia
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Jeanerette
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Cypremort
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Cypremort is located in Saint Mary Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cypremort

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

Newspapers Published in Maria ...

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 35 newspapers that have been published in the area around Maria.

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

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 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 Maria:

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 Maria, 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Maria) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.