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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 El Campo (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 El Campo. 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 hospitals and 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.

El Campo is located in Wharton 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 Wharton County: Austin, Brazoria, Colorado, Fort Bend, Jackson, Lavaca & Matagorda.

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

  • Wharton County     (The home county of El Campo)
    • The following are listed by their distance from El Campo, with the one closest to El Campo listed first.
    • Pierce
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Hillje
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Hillje is located in Wharton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillje
    • Mackay
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Mackay is located in Wharton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mackay
    • Hahn
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Hahn is located in Wharton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hahn
    • Danevang
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Louise
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Glen Flora
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Wharton
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Lane City
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Egypt
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Bonus
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Bonus is located in Wharton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonus
    • Hungerford
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Boling
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
  • Brazoria County
  • Colorado County
    • The following are listed by their distance from El Campo, with the one closest to El Campo listed first.
    • Nada
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Boedecker Junction
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Boedecker Junction is located in Colorado County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boedecker Junction
    • Eldridge
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Eldridge is located in Colorado County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eldridge
    • Garwood
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Matthews
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Matthews is located in Colorado County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Matthews
    • Provident City ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Provident City is located in Colorado County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Provident City
    • Eagle Lake
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Altair
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Rock Island
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Rock Island is located in Colorado County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Island
  • Fort Bend County
    • The following are listed by their distance from El Campo, with the one closest to El Campo listed first.
    • Kendleton
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Powell Point
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Powell Point is located in Fort Bend County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powell Point
    • Four Corners
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Four Corners is located in Fort Bend County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Four Corners
    • Beasley
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Needville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Jackson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from El Campo, with the one closest to El Campo listed first.
    • Ganado
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Francitas
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • La Ward
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Edna
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • 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
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Matilda
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Matilda is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Matilda
    • Morales
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Morales is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morales
  • Lavaca County
  • Matagorda County
    • The following are listed by their distance from El Campo, with the one closest to El Campo listed first.
    • Midfield
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • McCroskey
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • McCroskey is located in Matagorda County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McCroskey
    • Chalmers
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Chalmers is located in Matagorda County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chalmers
    • Markham
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Pledger
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Blessing
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Elmaton
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Elliott ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Elliott is located in Matagorda County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elliott
      • Elliott has also been known as:
      • Elliott's
    • Bay City
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Van Vleck
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Caney
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Caney is located in Matagorda County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caney

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

Cemeteries Near El Campo ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of El Campo.

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 El Campo - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Swedish Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • St. Phillips Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Garden of Memories
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Oaklawn Memorial Park
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • St. John Nepomucene Catholic Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Mackay Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Hahn Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • St. Procopius Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for St. Procopius Cemetery
    • The St. Procopius Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Procopius Cemetery
  • Old Jerusalem Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Camp Zion Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
  • Sandbridge Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
  • Little Zion Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (77 more) ...
    • Nada Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Cornelius Cemetery
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Assumption Cemetery
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)

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 El Campo in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of El Campo.

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

  • Mackay
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Mackay is located in Wharton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mackay
  • Louise
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Wharton
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Ganado
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
  • Hungerford
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
  • Pledger
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
  • Elliott ‑ Historic
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Elliott is located in Matagorda County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elliott
    • Elliott has also been known as:
    • Elliott's
  • Kendleton
    (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
  • Nottawa
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Nottawa is located in Wharton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nottawa
  • Ashby
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Ashby is located in Matagorda County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashby
  • East Bernard
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Edna
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • 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>
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Eagle Lake
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Altair
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Caney
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Caney is located in Matagorda County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caney

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of El Campo ...

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 24 newspapers that have been published in the area around El Campo.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of El Campo. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of El Campo and those printed in the larger area surrounding El Campo.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<2> of El Campo.

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 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 El Campo:

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