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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 Colony (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 Colony. 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 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.

Colony is located in Fayette County.

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 Fayette County: Austin, Bastrop, Caldwell, Colorado, Gonzales, Lavaca, Lee & Washington.

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

  • Fayette County     (The home county of Colony)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Colony, with the one closest to Colony listed first.
    • Cistern
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Muldoon
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Flatonia
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Stellar
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Stellar. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stellar
      • Stellar is located in Fayette County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Stellar
      • From Colony to Stellar
    • Praha
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Engle
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Freyburg
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Freyburg. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freyburg
      • Freyburg is located in Fayette County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Freyburg
      • From Colony to Freyburg
    • Kirtley
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • West Point
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Hostyn
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Schulenburg
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Plum
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Plum have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plum
      • Plum is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Plum <1>
    • Dubina ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Dubina. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dubina
      • Dubina is located in Fayette County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Dubina
      • From Colony to Dubina
  • Bastrop County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Colony, with the one closest to Colony listed first.
    • Jeddo
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Jeddo. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jeddo
      • Jeddo is located in Bastrop County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Jeddo
      • From Colony to Jeddo
    • Kovar
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Togo
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Rosanky
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Smithville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Smithville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smithville
      • Smithville is located in Bastrop County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,664 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Smithville <1>
    • Upton
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Red Rock
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Bateman
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Bastrop
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bastrop have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bastrop
      • Bastrop is located in Bastrop County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,743 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bastrop <1>
    • Phelan
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Camp Swift
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Cedar Creek
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cedar Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Creek
      • Cedar Creek is located in Bastrop County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cedar Creek <1>
    • Paige
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Paige have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paige
      • Paige is located in Bastrop County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Paige <1>
  • Caldwell County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Colony, with the one closest to Colony listed first.
    • Delhi
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Pettytown
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Pettytown. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pettytown
      • Pettytown is located in Caldwell County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Pettytown
      • From Colony to Pettytown
    • Elm Grove
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Elm Grove. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elm Grove
      • Elm Grove is located in Caldwell County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Elm Grove
      • From Colony to Elm Grove
    • Taylorsville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • McMahan
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for McMahan have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McMahan
      • McMahan is located in Caldwell County
    • Tilmon
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Tilmon. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tilmon
      • Tilmon is located in Caldwell County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Tilmon
      • From Colony to Tilmon
    • McNeil
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Dale
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dale have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dale
      • Dale is located in Caldwell County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dale <1>
    • Brownsboro
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brownsboro have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brownsboro
      • Brownsboro is located in Caldwell County
    • Seawillow
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Seawillow have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seawillow
      • Seawillow is located in Caldwell County
    • Soda Springs
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Saint Johns Colony
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saint Johns Colony have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Johns Colony
      • Saint Johns Colony is located in Caldwell County
    • Luling
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
  • Colorado County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Colony, with the one closest to Colony listed first.
    • Oakland
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Weimar
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • New Bielau ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for New Bielau. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Bielau
      • New Bielau is located in Colorado County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to New Bielau
      • From Colony to New Bielau
    • Borden
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Borden. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Borden
      • Borden is located in Colorado County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Borden
      • From Colony to Borden
  • Gonzales County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Colony, with the one closest to Colony listed first.
    • Waelder
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Sandy Fork
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Harwood
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Kokernot
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Kokernot. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kokernot
      • Kokernot is located in Gonzales County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Kokernot
      • From Colony to Kokernot
    • Gonzales
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Glaze City
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Glaze City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glaze City
      • Glaze City is located in Gonzales County
    • Hamon
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Ottine
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ottine have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ottine
      • Ottine is located in Gonzales County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ottine <1>
    • Oak Forest
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Oak Forest. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Forest
      • Oak Forest is located in Gonzales County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Oak Forest
      • From Colony to Oak Forest
  • Lavaca County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Colony, with the one closest to Colony listed first.
    • Moulton
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Komensky
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Moravia
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Breslau
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Hackberry ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hackberry. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hackberry
      • Hackberry is located in Lavaca County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Hackberry
      • From Colony to Hackberry
    • Shiner
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Wied
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Wied. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wied
      • Wied is located in Lavaca County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Wied
      • From Colony to Wied
    • Hallettsville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Sweet Home
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sweet Home have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sweet Home
      • Sweet Home is located in Lavaca County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sweet Home <1>
    • Sublime
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sublime have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sublime
      • Sublime is located in Lavaca County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sublime <1>
  • Lee County

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

Cemeteries Near Colony ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Colony.

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

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

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.<5>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Colony had a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Cistern
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Flatonia
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Muldoon
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Waelder
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Stellar
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Stellar. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stellar
    • Stellar is located in Fayette County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Stellar
    • From Colony to Stellar
  • Jeddo
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Jeddo. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jeddo
    • Jeddo is located in Bastrop County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Jeddo
    • From Colony to Jeddo
  • Praha
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Engle
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Freyburg
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Freyburg. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freyburg
    • Freyburg is located in Fayette County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Freyburg
    • From Colony to Freyburg
  • O'Quinn
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for O'Quinn have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for O'Quinn
    • O'Quinn is located in Fayette County
  • String Prairie
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for String Prairie have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for String Prairie
    • String Prairie is located in Bastrop County
  • Moulton
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Delhi
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Nickel ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nickel have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nickel
      • Nickel is located in Gonzales County
    • West Point
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)

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

Newspapers Published in Colony ...

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 99 newspapers that have been published in the area around Colony.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Colony, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Colony.

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 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 Colony:

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

The official website for Fayette County: www.co.fayette.tx.us/

The official website for State of Texas: https://texas.gov/

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>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.
<3>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.
<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>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 Colony, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Colony) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Colony. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 29.7692, Longitude: -97.1791       In this case, the coordinates for Colony have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025