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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 Collin (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 Collin. 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 Collin ...

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.

Collin has also been known as: Collin Colonia.

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

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.

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 and hospitals 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.

Collin is located in Hidalgo 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 Hidalgo County: Brooks, Cameron, Kenedy, Starr & Willacy.

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

  • Hidalgo County     (The home county of Collin)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Collin, with the one closest to Collin listed first.
    • La Blanca
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Elsa
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Elsa is located in Hidalgo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elsa
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,120 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elsa <1>
    • San Carlos
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • San Carlos is located in Hidalgo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for San Carlos
    • Monte Alto
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Edcouch
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Muniz
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Muniz is located in Hidalgo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Muniz
      • Muniz has also been known as:
      • Muniz Colonia
    • Cesar Chavez
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Cesar Chavez is located in Hidalgo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cesar Chavez
    • Doolittle
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Doolittle is located in Hidalgo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doolittle
    • Murillo
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Murillo is located in Hidalgo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Murillo
      • Murillo has also been known as:
      • Murillo Colonia
    • Nurillo
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Nurillo is located in Hidalgo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nurillo
    • Gate City Acres
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Gate City Acres is located in Hidalgo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gate City Acres
      • Gate City Acres has also been known as:
      • Gate City Acres Colonia
    • La Villa
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • La Villa is located in Hidalgo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Villa
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,935 people
    • Edinburg
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Cameron County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Collin, with the one closest to Collin listed first.
    • Santa Rosa
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Tierra Bonita
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Tierra Bonita is located in Cameron County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tierra Bonita
      • Tierra Bonita has also been known as:
      • Tierra Bonita Colonia
    • Yznaga
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Yznaga is located in Cameron County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yznaga
    • Grand Acres
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Grand Acres is located in Cameron County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand Acres
    • Ratamosa
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Ratamosa is located in Cameron County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ratamosa
      • Ratamosa has also been known as:
      • Ratamosa Colonia
    • Bixby
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Bixby is located in Cameron County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bixby
    • La Feria North
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • La Feria North is located in Cameron County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Feria North
    • Solis
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Solis is located in Cameron County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Solis
      • Solis has also been known as:
      • Solis Colonia
    • La Feria
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • North La Feria Village
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • 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
    • Windsong Village
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • 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
    • Primera
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Primera is located in Cameron County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Primera
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,271 people
    • Arroyo Alto
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Arroyo Alto is located in Cameron County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arroyo Alto
  • Willacy County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Collin, with the one closest to Collin listed first.
    • Zapata Ranch
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • 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
    • Lasara
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Sebastian
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Lyford South
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • 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
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Ranchette Estates
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • 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
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Raymondville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Santa Monica
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Santa Monica is located in Willacy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Santa Monica
    • Willamar
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • 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 Collin, see our County-by-County Page for Collin.

Cemeteries Near Collin ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Collin.

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

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

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

  • Cementerio Anahuac Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Old Edinburg Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Cavazos Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Hillcrest Memorial Park
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Restlawn Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Restlawn Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Restlawn Cemetery is located outside and to the northeast of Edinburg.
  • Highland Memorial Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • San Jose Ranch Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Valle De La Paz Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Cibilo Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Cementerio de las Burras Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Palm Valley Memorial Gardens
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • St. Joseph Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (75 more) ...
    • Donna City Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Donna City Cemetery
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Donna City Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Donna.
      • The Donna City Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Donna Cemetery
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #323371 <3>
    • Campacuas Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • El Azadon 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>

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

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

  • Los Angeles
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Los Angeles is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Los Angeles
  • Hidalgo
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Santa Maria
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Havana
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Havana is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Havana

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

Newspapers Published in Collin ...

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 17 newspapers that have been published in the area around Collin.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Collin, there are papers which were published within 7 miles [11.3 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Collin.

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 Collin:

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>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- Collin) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<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 Collin, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.