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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 Castroville (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 Castroville. 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.

Name Variations for Castroville ...

When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.

In past government published Postal Guides, Castroville was referred to as Castroville Courthouse.

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Castroville. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Castroville.

If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.

For more information about how community names might have been affected by the Board of Geographic Names (BGN), see our page about Placename Rules.

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.

Castroville is located in Medina 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 Medina County: Atascosa, Bandera, Bexar, Frio, Uvalde & Zavala.

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

  • Medina County     (The home county of Castroville)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Castroville, with the one closest to Castroville listed first.
    • LaCoste
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • LaCoste is located in Medina County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for LaCoste
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,263 people
      • LaCoste has also been known as:
      • La Coste
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for LaCoste <1>
    • Pearson
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Pearson is located in Medina County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pearson
    • Rio Medina
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Quihi
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Quihi is located in Medina County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quihi
    • Natalia
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • New Fountain
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • New Fountain is located in Medina County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Fountain
    • Mico
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Devine
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Hondo
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Yancey
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • D'Hanis
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
  • Atascosa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Castroville, with the one closest to Castroville listed first.
    • Lytle
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Lytle is located in Atascosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lytle
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,061 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lytle <1>
    • Rossville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Rossville is located in Atascosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rossville
    • Iuka
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Iuka is located in Atascosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iuka
    • Anchorage
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Anchorage is located in Atascosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anchorage
    • Kyote
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Kyote is located in Atascosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kyote
    • Poteet
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Amphion
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Amphion is located in Atascosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amphion
    • Espey
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Espey is located in Atascosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Espey
    • Crown
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Crown is located in Atascosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crown
    • Leming
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Bandera County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Castroville, with the one closest to Castroville listed first.
    • Bandera Falls
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Bandera Falls is located in Bandera County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bandera Falls
    • Lakehills
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Pipe Creek
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Bandera
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Bexar County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Castroville, with the one closest to Castroville listed first.
    • Macdona
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Atascosa
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Lackland City
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Lackland City is located in Bexar County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lackland City
    • Lackland Heights
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Von Ormy
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Westwood Village
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Westwood Village is located in Bexar County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westwood Village
    • Bexar
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Bexar is located in Bexar County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bexar
    • Somerset
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Helotes
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Leon Valley
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Balcones Heights
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Grey Forest
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Grey Forest is located in Bexar County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grey Forest
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 575 people
    • San Antonio
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
  • Frio County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Castroville, with the one closest to Castroville listed first.
    • Bigfoot
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Moore
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)

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

Cemeteries Near Castroville ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Castroville.

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

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

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

  • St. Louis Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Zion Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Lytle Masonic Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • San Isidro Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Lessing Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Tripp Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Arnold Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Schweers Family Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Quihi Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Black Hill Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Becker Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Sociedad Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (113 more) ...
    • Benton City Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Panteon San Lorenzo Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Hermann Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)

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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Castroville had a population of 679 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Castroville had a population of 3,199 people.

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

  • Noonan
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Noonan is located in Medina County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Noonan
  • Lytle
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Lytle is located in Atascosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lytle
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,061 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lytle <1>
  • Atascosa
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Macdona
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • New Fountain
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • New Fountain is located in Medina County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Fountain
  • Von Ormy
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
  • Devine
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Bexar
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Bexar is located in Bexar County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bexar
  • Hondo
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
  • Withers
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Withers is located in Bexar County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Withers
  • Moore
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
  • Bigfoot
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Rossville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Rossville is located in Atascosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rossville
    • Anchorage
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Anchorage is located in Atascosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anchorage
    • San Antonio
      (22 miles [35.4 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 Castroville. See our List of 1890's Communities around Castroville.

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Castroville ...

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 219 newspapers that have been published in the area around Castroville.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Castroville. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Castroville and those printed in the larger area surrounding Castroville.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<3> of Castroville.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we start 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 Castroville:

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 '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- Castroville) 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 Castroville, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.