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 Arroyo Alto (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 Arroyo Alto. 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.
Arroyo Alto is located in Cameron 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 Cameron County: Hidalgo & Willacy.
Below are the counties that are near Arroyo Alto. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Arroyo Alto:
- Cameron County (The home county of Arroyo Alto)
- The following are listed by their distance from Arroyo Alto, with the one closest to Arroyo Alto listed first.
- La Feria
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- North La Feria Village
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- North La Feria Village is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North La Feria Village
- North La Feria Village has also been known as:
- North La Feria Village Colonia
- La Feria North
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- La Feria North is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Feria North
- Windsong Village
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Windsong Village is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windsong Village
- Windsong Village has also been known as:
- Windsong Village Colonia
- Bixby
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Bixby is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bixby
- Solis
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Solis is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Solis
- Solis has also been known as:
- Solis Colonia
- Ratamosa
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Ratamosa is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ratamosa
- Ratamosa has also been known as:
- Ratamosa Colonia
- Bluetown - Iglesia Antigua
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Bluetown
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Bluetown is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluetown
- Bluetown has also been known as:
- Blue Town
- Bluetown Colonia
- Longoria Townsite
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Longoria Townsite is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longoria Townsite
- Longoria Townsite has also been known as:
- Longoria Townsite Colonia
- Santa Maria
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Rangerville
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Rangerville is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rangerville
- Population from the 2010 Census: 289 people
- Rangerville has also been known as:
- Rangerville Colonia
- Hidalgo County
- The following are listed by their distance from Arroyo Alto, with the one closest to Arroyo Alto listed first.
- Heidelberg
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Heidelberg is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heidelberg
- Mercedes
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Relampago
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Relampago is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Relampago
- Rio Rico
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Rio Rico is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rio Rico
- Indian Hills
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Indian Hills is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Hills
- Progreso
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Progreso Lakes
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Progreso Lakes is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Progreso Lakes
- Population from the 2020 Census: 270 people
- Llano Grande
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Llano Grande is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Llano Grande
- Mila Doce
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Mila Doce is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mila Doce
- Villa Verde
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Villa Verde is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Villa Verde
- Villa Verde has also been known as:
- Villa Verde Colonia
- Weslaco
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- La Villa
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- La Villa is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Villa
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,935 people
- Willacy County
- The following are listed by their distance from Arroyo Alto, with the one closest to Arroyo Alto listed first.
- Sebastian
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Zapata Ranch
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Zapata Ranch is located in Willacy County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zapata Ranch
- Zapata Ranch has also been known as:
- Zapata Ranch Colonia
- Lyford South
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Lyford South is located in Willacy County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyford South
- Lyford South has also been known as:
- Lyford South Colonia
- Lyford
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Santa Monica
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Santa Monica is located in Willacy County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Santa Monica
- Lasara
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Ranchette Estates
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Ranchette Estates is located in Willacy County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ranchette Estates
- Ranchette Estates has also been known as:
- Ranchette Estates Colonia
- Los Angeles Subdivision
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Raymondville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Willamar
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Willamar is located in Willacy County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willamar
- San Perlita
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Arroyo Alto, see our County-by-County Page for Arroyo Alto.
Cemeteries Near Arroyo Alto ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Arroyo Alto.
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 Arroyo Alto - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Arroyo Alto covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Arroyo Alto, with the one closest to Arroyo Alto listed first.
- Restlawn Memorial Park
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- La Feria Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Solis Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Longoria Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- La Capilla Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Anacuitas Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Mercedes Memorial Restlawn Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Ebony Grove Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ebony Grove Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Ebony Grove Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the south of Mercedes.
- The Ebony Grove Cemetery has also been known as:
- Los Ebanos Mercedes Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #3362 <2>
- Hinojosa Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Cementerio Bautista Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery is located outside and to the northwest of Mercedes.
- The Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery has also been known as:
- Emmanuel Cemetery
- Mercedes Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2184663 <2>
- Mercedes Baptist Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mercedes Baptist Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Mercedes Baptist Cemetery is located outside and to the northwest of Mercedes.
- The Mercedes Baptist Cemetery has also been known as:
- Cementerio Bautista
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2827 <2>
- Continue List (71 more) ...
- Mercedes Presbyterian Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mercedes Presbyterian Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Mercedes Presbyterian Cemetery is located outside and to the northwest of Mercedes.
- The Mercedes Presbyterian Cemetery has also been known as:
- Principe de Paz Presbyterian Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2403957 <2>
- Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Cemetery is located outside and to the northwest of Mercedes.
- The Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Cemetery has also been known as:
- Our Lady of Mercy Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #5844 <2>
- Campacuas Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
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.<4>
While we didn't find Arroyo Alto in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Arroyo Alto.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Arroyo Alto, with the one closest to Arroyo Alto listed first.
- Santa Maria
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Brownsville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Hidalgo
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Arroyo Alto. See our List of 1890's Communities around Arroyo Alto.
Newspapers Published in Arroyo Alto ...
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 Arroyo Alto.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Arroyo Alto, there are papers which were published within 11 miles [17.7 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Arroyo Alto.
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 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 Arroyo Alto:
- Websites specific to Texas
- Pages specific to Cameron County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Hidalgo County
- Willacy County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Texas
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> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Arroyo Alto) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <4> | 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 Arroyo Alto, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |