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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 Bellville (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 Bellville. 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.

Bellville is located in Austin County and is the County Seat.

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 Austin County: Colorado, Fayette, Fort Bend, Waller, Washington & Wharton.

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

  • Austin County     (The home county of Bellville)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bellville, with the one closest to Bellville listed first.
    • Millheim
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Millheim. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millheim
      • Millheim is located in Austin County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Millheim
      • From Bellville to Millheim
    • Buckhorn
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Kenney
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kenney have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kenney
      • Kenney is located in Austin County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kenney <3>
    • Sempronius ‑ Historic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sempronius have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sempronius
      • Sempronius is located in Austin County
    • Cat Spring
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cat Spring have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cat Spring
      • Cat Spring is located in Austin County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cat Spring <3>
    • New Wehdem
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for New Wehdem. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Wehdem
      • New Wehdem is located in Austin County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to New Wehdem
      • From Bellville to New Wehdem
    • Bleiblerville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bleiblerville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bleiblerville
      • Bleiblerville is located in Austin County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bleiblerville <3>
    • Sealy
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • San Felipe
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Industry
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Industry have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Industry
      • Industry is located in Austin County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 326 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Industry <3>
    • New Ulm
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Rexville ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rexville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rexville
      • Rexville is located in Austin County
  • Burleson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bellville, with the one closest to Bellville listed first.
    • Scofield ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Scofield have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scofield
      • Scofield is located in Burleson County
    • Clay
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clay have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clay
      • Clay is located in Burleson County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clay <3>
  • Colorado County
  • Fayette County
  • Fort Bend County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bellville, with the one closest to Bellville listed first.
    • Simonton
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Simonton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Simonton
      • Simonton is located in Fort Bend County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 884 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Simonton <3>
    • Weston Lakes
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Weston Lakes have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weston Lakes
      • Weston Lakes is located in Fort Bend County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,191 people
    • Fulshear
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Katy
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Katy have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Katy
      • Katy is located in Fort Bend County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 23,889 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Katy <3>
    • Orchard
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Orchard have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orchard
      • Orchard is located in Fort Bend County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 412 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Orchard <3>
    • Pin Oak Village
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pin Oak Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pin Oak Village
      • Pin Oak Village is located in Fort Bend County
  • Harris County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bellville, with the one closest to Bellville listed first.
    • Waller
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Hockley
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hockley have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hockley
      • Hockley is located in Harris County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hockley <3>
  • Waller County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bellville, with the one closest to Bellville listed first.
    • Saint Paul
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saint Paul have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Paul
      • Saint Paul is located in Waller County
    • Hempstead
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Pine Island
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pine Island have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Island
      • Pine Island is located in Waller County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,205 people
    • Prairie View
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Prairie View have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie View
      • Prairie View is located in Waller County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,013 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Prairie View <3>
    • Pattison
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Brookshire
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brookshire have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookshire
      • Brookshire is located in Waller County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,095 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Brookshire <3>
    • Fields Store
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Washington County
  • Wharton County

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

Cemeteries Near Bellville ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Bellville.

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

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

  • Oak Knoll Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oak Knoll Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oak Knoll Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jeff Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Jeff Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Jeff Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Pilgrims Rest Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Atkinson Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Atkinson Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Atkinson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Brast Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Brast Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Brast Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Ueckert Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Coshatte Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Coshatte Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Coshatte Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Menke Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Menke Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Menke Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Pilgrims Rest Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Meyer Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Meyer Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Meyer Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Muery Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Muery Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Muery Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Palm Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Palm Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Palm Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (233 more) ...
    • Keuffel Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Keuffel Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Keuffel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Dethloff Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Dethloff Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Dethloff Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Abel Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Abel Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Abel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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.<6>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Bellville had a population of 807 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Bellville had a population of 4,202 people.

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

  • Millheim
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Millheim. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millheim
    • Millheim is located in Austin County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Millheim
    • From Bellville to Millheim
  • Buckhorn
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Peters
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Peters have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peters
    • Peters is located in Austin County
  • Kenney
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kenney have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kenney
    • Kenney is located in Austin County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kenney <3>
  • Cat Spring
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cat Spring have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cat Spring
    • Cat Spring is located in Austin County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cat Spring <3>
  • Nelsonville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nelsonville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nelsonville
    • Nelsonville is located in Austin County
  • Sempronius ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sempronius have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sempronius
    • Sempronius is located in Austin County
  • Cochran
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cochran have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cochran
    • Cochran is located in Austin County
  • Phillipsburg
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Phillipsburg have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Phillipsburg
    • Phillipsburg is located in Washington County
  • Sunny Side
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sunny Side have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunny Side
    • Sunny Side is located in Waller County
  • Sealy
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Monaville
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Monaville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monaville
    • Monaville is located in Waller County
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Bellville ...

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 53 newspapers that have been published in the area around Bellville.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Bellville. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Bellville and those printed in the larger area surrounding Bellville.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 26 miles [41.8 km]<5> of Bellville.

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 either 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 Bellville:

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

The official website for Austin County: www.austincounty.com/

The official website for State of Texas: https://texas.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>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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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>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- Bellville) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Bellville. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 29.9505, Longitude: -96.2576    
<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 Bellville, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025