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 Gonzales (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 Gonzales. 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 Gonzales ...
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.
Gonzales has also been known as: Gonzales Colonia.
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Gonzales. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Gonzales.
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 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.
Gonzales is located in Cameron 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 Cameron County: Hidalgo & Willacy.
Below are the counties that are near Gonzales. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Gonzales:
- Cameron County (The home county of Gonzales)
- The following are listed by their distance from Gonzales, with the one closest to Gonzales listed first.
- Rangerville
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Rangerville is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rangerville
- Population from the 2010 Census: 289 people
- Rangerville has also been known as:
- Rangerville Colonia
- Harlingen
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- El Camino Angosto
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- El Camino Angosto is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for El Camino Angosto
- El Camino Angosto has also been known as:
- El Camino Angosto Colonia
- San Benito
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Las Palmas - Juarez
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Las Palmas - Juarez is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Las Palmas - Juarez
- Palm Valley
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Palm Valley is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palm Valley
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,231 people
- Carricitos
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Carricitos is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carricitos
- Los Indios
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Windsong Village
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- 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
- La Paloma
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- La Paloma is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Paloma
- Bluetown
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Bluetown is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluetown
- Bluetown has also been known as:
- Blue Town
- Bluetown Colonia
- Arroyo Alto
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Arroyo Alto is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arroyo Alto
- La Feria
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Hidalgo County
- The following are listed by their distance from Gonzales, with the one closest to Gonzales listed first.
- Heidelberg
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Heidelberg is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heidelberg
- Rio Rico
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Rio Rico is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rio Rico
- Mercedes
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Relampago
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Relampago is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Relampago
- Indian Hills
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Indian Hills is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Hills
- Progreso Lakes
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Progreso Lakes is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Progreso Lakes
- Population from the 2020 Census: 270 people
- Progreso
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Llano Grande
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Llano Grande is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Llano Grande
- Mila Doce
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Mila Doce is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mila Doce
- Villa Verde
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Villa Verde is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Villa Verde
- Villa Verde has also been known as:
- Villa Verde Colonia
- Weslaco
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- La Villa
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- La Villa is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Villa
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,935 people
- Edcouch
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Willacy County
- The following are listed by their distance from Gonzales, with the one closest to Gonzales listed first.
- Sebastian
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Zapata Ranch
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- 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
- Santa Monica
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Santa Monica is located in Willacy County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Santa Monica
- Lyford South
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- 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
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Willamar
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Willamar is located in Willacy County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willamar
- Raymondville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Los Angeles Subdivision
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Ranchette Estates
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- 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
- San Perlita
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Lasara
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Gonzales, see our County-by-County Page for Gonzales.
Cemeteries Near Gonzales ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Gonzales.
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 Gonzales - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Gonzales covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Gonzales, with the one closest to Gonzales listed first.
- Harlingan City Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Restlawn Memorial Park
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Longoria Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- San Benito City Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- San Benito Memorial Park Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- La Feria Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Solis Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Zepeda Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zepeda Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Zepeda Cemetery is located 2 miles [3.2 km]<3> to the southeast of La Paloma.
- La Capilla Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Monte Meta Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Ashland Memorial Park
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashland Memorial Park
- The Ashland Memorial Park has also been known as:
- Loma Linda Cemetery
- Los Omales Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Continue List (66 more) ...
- Hinojosa Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- San Rafael Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Rio Hondo City Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
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 Gonzales in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Gonzales.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Gonzales, with the one closest to Gonzales listed first.
- Santa Maria
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Brownsville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Gonzales. See our List of 1890's Communities around Gonzales.
Newspapers Published in Gonzales ...
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 Gonzales.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Gonzales, there are papers which were published within 11 miles [17.7 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Gonzales.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we like to 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 Gonzales:
- Websites specific to Texas
- Pages specific to Cameron County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Hidalgo County
- Willacy County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Texas
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> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Gonzales) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <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 Gonzales, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |