RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Texas >> Colorado County >> Columbus >> Genealogy HelperIndex...










Learn About
The Commemorative
Quarter for
Texas

The Commemorative Quarter for Texas





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 Columbus (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 Columbus. 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 northeast 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 north.

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 north 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.

Columbus is located in Colorado 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 Colorado County: Austin, Fayette, Lavaca & Wharton.

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

  • Colorado County     (The home county of Columbus)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Columbus, with the one closest to Columbus listed first.
    • Glidden
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Glidden have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glidden
      • Glidden is located in Colorado County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Glidden <2>
    • Alleyton
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Hillcrest
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillcrest
      • Hillcrest is located in Colorado County
    • Ramsey
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ramsey have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ramsey
      • Ramsey is located in Colorado County
    • Borden
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Borden have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Borden
      • Borden is located in Colorado County
    • Altair
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Altair have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Altair
      • Altair is located in Colorado County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Altair <2>
    • Frelsburg
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frelsburg
      • Frelsburg is located in Colorado County
    • Rock Island
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rock Island have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Island
      • Rock Island is located in Colorado County
    • Pisek ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pisek have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pisek
      • Pisek is located in Colorado County
    • New Bielau ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Bielau have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Bielau
      • New Bielau is located in Colorado County
    • Weimar
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Eagle Lake
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Austin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Columbus, with the one closest to Columbus listed first.
    • New Ulm
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Cat Spring
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cat Spring have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
    • Industry
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Industry have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
    • Rexville ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rexville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rexville
      • Rexville is located in Austin County
    • Bleiblerville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bleiblerville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
    • Millheim
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Millheim have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millheim
      • Millheim is located in Austin County
    • Shelby
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shelby have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shelby
      • Shelby is located in Austin County
    • Sealy
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sealy have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sealy
      • Sealy is located in Austin County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,443 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sealy <2>
    • Bellville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Kenney
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kenney have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
    • Frydek
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frydek
      • Frydek is located in Austin County
    • New Wehdem
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Wehdem have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Wehdem
      • New Wehdem is located in Austin County
  • Fayette County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Columbus, with the one closest to Columbus listed first.
    • Ellinger
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Fayetteville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fayetteville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fayetteville
      • Fayetteville is located in Fayette County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 257 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fayetteville <2>
    • Dubina ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dubina have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dubina
      • Dubina is located in Fayette County
    • Halsted
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halsted
      • Halsted is located in Fayette County
    • Joiner
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Joiner have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joiner
      • Joiner is located in Fayette County
    • Roznov
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roznov
      • Roznov is located in Fayette County
    • Schulenburg
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Rutersville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rutersville
      • Rutersville is located in Fayette County
    • La Grange
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Hostyn
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hostyn
      • Hostyn is located in Fayette County
    • Warrenton
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Freyburg
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Freyburg have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freyburg
      • Freyburg is located in Fayette County
  • Lavaca County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Columbus, with the one closest to Columbus listed first.
    • Hackberry ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hackberry have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hackberry
      • Hackberry is located in Lavaca County
    • Sublime
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sublime have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
    • Moravia
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moravia
      • Moravia is located in Lavaca County
    • Breslau
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Breslau
      • Breslau is located in Lavaca County
    • Hallettsville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Washington County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Columbus, with the one closest to Columbus listed first.
    • Wesley
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wesley
      • Wesley is located in Washington County
    • La Bahia
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Bahia
      • La Bahia is located in Washington County
  • Wharton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Columbus, with the one closest to Columbus listed first.
    • Lissie
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Bonus
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonus
      • Bonus is located in Wharton County
    • Nottawa
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nottawa
      • Nottawa is located in Wharton County
    • Egypt
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Hahn
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hahn
      • Hahn is located in Wharton County

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Columbus ...

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 67 newspapers that have been published in the area around Columbus.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Columbus. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Columbus and those printed in the larger area surrounding Columbus.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<3> of Columbus.

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 Columbus:

Cemeteries Near Columbus ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Columbus.

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

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

  • Columbus City Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • St. Anthony's Catholic Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Willing Workers Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Odd Fellows Rest Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Shepard Memorial Park
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Gay Hill Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Gay Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Gay Hill Cemetery
  • Halyard Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Pinchback Obenchain Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pinchback Obenchain Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pinchback Obenchain Cemetery
  • Brune Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Ijams Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Alley Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Alley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Alley Cemetery
  • Allen Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Allen Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Allen Cemetery
  • Continue List   (208 more) ...
    • Grewe Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Grewe Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Grewe Cemetery
    • Sommerlotte Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sommerlotte Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sommerlotte Cemetery
    • Kansteiner Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Kansteiner Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Kansteiner Cemetery

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 Columbus had a population of 2,199 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Columbus had a population of 3,699 people.

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

  • Glidden
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Glidden have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glidden
    • Glidden is located in Colorado County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Glidden <2>
  • Alleyton
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Mentz
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mentz have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mentz
    • Mentz is located in Colorado County
  • Ramsey
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ramsey have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ramsey
    • Ramsey is located in Colorado County
  • Borden
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Borden have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Borden
    • Borden is located in Colorado County
  • Altair
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Altair have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Altair
    • Altair is located in Colorado County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Altair <2>
  • Frelsburg
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frelsburg
    • Frelsburg is located in Colorado County
  • New Ulm
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
  • Ellinger
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Eagle Lake
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Fayetteville
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fayetteville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fayetteville
    • Fayetteville is located in Fayette County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 257 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fayetteville <2>
  • Cat Spring
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cat Spring have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Dubina ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dubina have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dubina
      • Dubina is located in Fayette County
    • Oakland
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Industry
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Industry have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>

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

The official website for Columbus: www.columbustexas.net/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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- Columbus) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Columbus. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 29.7064, Longitude: -96.5469    
<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 Columbus, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

Copyright 2024
All Rights Reserved

Thank you for visiting our website.

In closing, please keep in mind that we can not guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of the information on this website, so use with care. We encourage you to double-check the information that is critical to you.

If you've found an error or have additional information that you would like to share, please don't hesitate to write: Click here to contact us.

This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024