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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 Alco (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 Alco. 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.

Alco is located in Angelina County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Angelina County: Cherokee, Houston, Jasper, Nacogdoches, Polk, San Augustine, Trinity & Tyler.

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

  • Angelina County     (The home county of Alco)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alco, with the one closest to Alco listed first.
    • Dunagan
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • Dunagan is located in Angelina County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunagan
    • Thomas Crossing
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Thomas Crossing is located in Angelina County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thomas Crossing
    • Rocky Springs
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Rocky Springs is located in Angelina County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Springs
    • Ewing
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Ewing is located in Angelina County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ewing
    • Platt
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Platt is located in Angelina County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Platt
    • Moffitt
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Moffitt is located in Angelina County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moffitt
    • Huntington
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Homer
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Homer is located in Angelina County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homer
    • Oak Flat
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Oak Flat is located in Angelina County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Flat
    • Herty
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Herty is located in Angelina County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Herty
    • River Crest Estates
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • River Crest Estates is located in Angelina County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River Crest Estates
    • Bald Hill
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Bald Hill is located in Angelina County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bald Hill
  • Cherokee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alco, with the one closest to Alco listed first.
    • Wells
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Forest
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Forest is located in Cherokee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest
  • Houston County
    • Hagerville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Hagerville is located in Houston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hagerville
  • Nacogdoches County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alco, with the one closest to Alco listed first.
    • Etoile
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Woden
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Chireno
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Nacogdoches
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Attoyac
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Attoyac is located in Nacogdoches County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Attoyac
    • Swift
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Swift is located in Nacogdoches County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swift
    • Alazan
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Alazan is located in Nacogdoches County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alazan
    • Martinsville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Redfield
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Redfield is located in Nacogdoches County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redfield
    • Appleby
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Appleby is located in Nacogdoches County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Appleby
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 444 people
    • Douglass
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Nat
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Nat is located in Nacogdoches County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nat
  • Polk County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alco, with the one closest to Alco listed first.
    • Skinner Town
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Skinner Town is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skinner Town
    • Barnum
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Barnum is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barnum
    • Corrigan
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
  • San Augustine County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alco, with the one closest to Alco listed first.
    • Broaddus
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Zana ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Zana is located in San Augustine County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zana
    • White City
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • White City is located in San Augustine County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White City
    • Denning
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Denning is located in San Augustine County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Denning
    • Maxey Town
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Maxey Town is located in San Augustine County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maxey Town
    • San Augustine
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Trinity County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alco, with the one closest to Alco listed first.
    • Apple Springs
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Helmic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Helmic is located in Trinity County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helmic
    • Centralia
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
  • Tyler County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alco, with the one closest to Alco listed first.
    • Peach Tree Village
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Peach Tree Village is located in Tyler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peach Tree Village
    • Chester
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)

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

Cemeteries Near Alco ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Alco.

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

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

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

  • Naren Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Rocky Hill Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Traweek Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Rocky Springs Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Huntington Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Baron Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • McClure Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Jonesville Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Berry Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Fielder Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Homer Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Treadwell Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (203 more) ...
    • Carrell Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Glendale Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Shofner Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)

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

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

  • Homer
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Homer is located in Angelina County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homer
  • Etoile
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Ora
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Ora is located in Angelina County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ora
  • Lufkin
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Lufkin is located in Angelina County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lufkin
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 34,955 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lufkin <1>
  • Woden
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Keltys
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Keltys is located in Angelina County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keltys
  • Clawson
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Clawson is located in Angelina County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clawson
  • Burke
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Burke is located in Angelina County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burke
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 727 people
  • Melrose
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Melrose is located in Nacogdoches County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melrose
  • Chireno
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Nacogdoches
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
  • Pollok
    (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Zana ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Zana is located in San Augustine County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zana
    • Swift
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Swift is located in Nacogdoches County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swift
    • Denning
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Denning is located in San Augustine County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Denning

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

Newspapers Published in Alco ...

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 63 newspapers that have been published in the area around Alco.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Alco, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Alco.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to 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 Alco:

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 Alco, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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- Alco) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.