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

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 Dernal (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 Dernal. 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.

Dernal is located in Victoria 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 Victoria County: Calhoun, DeWitt, Goliad, Jackson, Lavaca & Refugio.

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

  • Victoria County     (The home county of Dernal)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Dernal, with the one closest to Dernal listed first.
    • Dacosta
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Dacosta is located in Victoria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dacosta
    • Hughes ‑ Historic
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Hughes is located in Victoria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hughes
    • Bloomington
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Placedo
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Victoria
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Aloe
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Aloe is located in Victoria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aloe
    • McFaddin
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Telferner
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Coletoville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Coletoville is located in Victoria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coletoville
    • Oak Village
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Oak Village is located in Victoria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Village
    • Inez
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Nursery
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
  • Aransas County
    • Spanish Village
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Spanish Village is located in Aransas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spanish Village
  • Calhoun County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Dernal, with the one closest to Dernal listed first.
    • Heyser
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Heyser is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heyser
    • Kamey
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Kamey is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kamey
    • Long Mott
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Port Lavaca
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Point Comfort
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Seadrift
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Indianola
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Indianola is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indianola
  • DeWitt County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Dernal, with the one closest to Dernal listed first.
    • Thomaston
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Meyersville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Goliad County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Dernal, with the one closest to Dernal listed first.
    • Cologne
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Cologne is located in Goliad County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cologne
      • Former names for Cologne:
      • Centerville
      • Ira Station
      • Perdido
    • Fannin
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Kilgore
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Kilgore is located in Goliad County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kilgore
    • Ander
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Ander is located in Goliad County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ander
    • Goliad
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Weser
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Weser is located in Goliad County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weser
  • Jackson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Dernal, with the one closest to Dernal listed first.
    • La Salle
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Vanderbilt
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Matilda
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Matilda is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Matilda
    • Edna
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Edna is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edna
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,755 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Edna <1>
    • Lolita
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Weedhaven
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Weedhaven is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weedhaven
    • La Ward
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Refugio County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Dernal, with the one closest to Dernal listed first.
    • Tivoli
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Austwell
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)

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

Cemeteries Near Dernal ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Dernal.

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

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

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

  • San Jose Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Joshua Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Jewett Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • McDonald Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Pleasant Green Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Shillerville Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Reeves Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Memorial Park Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Evergreen Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Evergreen Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the west of Victoria.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #3473 <2>
  • Rydolph Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Stiger Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Terrell Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (81 more) ...

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.<3>

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

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

  • Guadalupe
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Guadalupe is located in Victoria County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guadalupe
  • Placedo
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Victoria
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Aloe
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Aloe is located in Victoria County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aloe
  • Inez
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Fannin
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
  • Long Mott
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
  • Nursery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
  • Port Lavaca
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
  • Mission Valley
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Mission Valley is located in Victoria County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mission Valley
  • El Toro
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • El Toro is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for El Toro
  • Seadrift
    (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Thomaston
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Edna
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Edna is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edna
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,755 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Edna <1>
    • Navidad
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Navidad is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Navidad

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

Newspapers Published in Dernal ...

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 44 newspapers that have been published in the area around Dernal.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Dernal, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Dernal.

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 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 Dernal:

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>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 Dernal, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>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- Dernal) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.