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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 Pronto (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 Pronto. 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 hospitals 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.

Pronto is located in Dona Ana County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Dona Ana County: Luna, Otero, Sierra & El Paso (TX).

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

  • Dona Ana County     (The home county of Pronto)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pronto, with the one closest to Pronto listed first.
    • Afton ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Afton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Afton
      • Afton is located in Dona Ana County
    • Fairacres
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Lanark ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Lanark. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lanark
      • Lanark is located in Dona Ana County
    • Mesilla
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • La Mesa
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Mesilla Park
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Mesquite
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mesquite have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mesquite
      • Mesquite is located in Dona Ana County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mesquite <2>
    • Las Cruces
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • San Ysidro
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for San Ysidro
      • San Ysidro is located in Dona Ana County
    • University Park
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for University Park have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for University Park
      • University Park is located in Dona Ana County
    • Chamberino
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chamberino
      • Chamberino is located in Dona Ana County
    • Dona Ana
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dona Ana have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dona Ana
      • Dona Ana is located in Dona Ana County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dona Ana <2>
  • El Paso County (TX)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pronto, with the one closest to Pronto listed first.
    • Anthony
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Anthony have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anthony
      • Anthony is located in El Paso County (TX)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,257 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Anthony <2>
    • Vinton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vinton have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vinton
      • Vinton is located in El Paso County (TX)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,168 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Vinton <2>
    • Westway
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Westway have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westway
      • Westway is located in El Paso County (TX)
    • Prado Verde
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Prado Verde have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prado Verde
      • Prado Verde is located in El Paso County (TX)

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

Cemeteries Near Pronto ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Pronto.

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

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

  • Hillcrest Memorial Gardens Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hillcrest Memorial Gardens Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hillcrest Memorial Gardens Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • San Albino Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the San Albino Cemetery
    • The San Albino Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Mesilla Valley Cemetery
  • St. Josephs Cemetery
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Josephs Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Josephs Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Tortugas Cemetery
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Tortugas Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Tortugas Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Joseph Cemetery
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Odd Fellow Cemetery
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Odd Fellow Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Odd Fellow Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Chamberino Cemetery
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Chamberino Cemetery
    • The Chamberino Cemetery has also been known as:
    • San Luis Cemetery
  • Dona Ana County Cemetery
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Community Cemetery
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Community Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Community Cemetery is located in Las Cruces.
  • Old Berino Cemetery
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Berino Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Berino Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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.<5>

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

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

  • Aden ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Aden have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aden
    • Aden is located in Dona Ana County
  • Afton ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Afton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Afton
    • Afton is located in Dona Ana County
  • Lanark ‑ Historic
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Lanark. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lanark
    • Lanark is located in Dona Ana County
  • Mesilla
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
  • Mesilla Park
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Mesquite
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mesquite have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mesquite
    • Mesquite is located in Dona Ana County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mesquite <2>
  • Las Cruces
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Dona Ana
    (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dona Ana have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dona Ana
    • Dona Ana is located in Dona Ana County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dona Ana <2>
  • Leasburg ‑ Historic
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Leasburg. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leasburg
    • Leasburg is located in Dona Ana County
  • Strauss ‑ Historic
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Strauss have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Strauss
    • Strauss is located in Dona Ana County
  • Anthony
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)

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

Newspapers Published in Pronto ...

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 56 newspapers that have been published in the area around Pronto.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Pronto, there are papers which were published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Pronto.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 Pronto:

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

The official website for Dona Ana County: www.co.dona-ana.nm.us/

The official website for State of New Mexico: https://www.nm.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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>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.
<5>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 Pronto, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>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- Pronto) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Pronto. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 32.1243, Longitude: -107.0631       In this case, the coordinates for Pronto have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025