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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 Hilltop (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 Hilltop. 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 Hilltop ...

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.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might have occurred.

Hilltop has also been known as: Hilltop Colonia.

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 northeast 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 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.

Hilltop is located in Frio 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 Frio County: Atascosa, Dimmit, La Salle, McMullen, Medina, Uvalde & Zavala.

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

  • Frio County     (The home county of Hilltop)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hilltop, with the one closest to Hilltop listed first.
    • Dilley
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dilley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dilley
      • Dilley is located in Frio County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,527 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dilley <2>
    • Derby
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Derby
      • Derby is located in Frio County
      • Derby has also been known as:
      • Derby Colonia
    • Divot ‑ Historic
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Divot
      • Divot is located in Frio County
    • Pearsall
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pearsall have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pearsall
      • Pearsall is located in Frio County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,620 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pearsall <2>
    • West Pearsall
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Pearsall have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Pearsall
      • West Pearsall is located in Frio County
    • North Pearsall
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Pearsall have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Pearsall
      • North Pearsall is located in Frio County
    • Frio Town ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Frio Town have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frio Town
      • Frio Town is located in Frio County
    • Moore
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Bigfoot
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Atascosa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hilltop, with the one closest to Hilltop listed first.
    • Hindes
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hindes have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hindes
      • Hindes is located in Atascosa County
    • Davis
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Davis have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Davis
      • Davis is located in Atascosa County
    • Charlotte
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Dimmit County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hilltop, with the one closest to Hilltop listed first.
    • Big Wells
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Big Wells have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Wells
      • Big Wells is located in Dimmit County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 690 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Big Wells <2>
    • Brundage
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brundage have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brundage
      • Brundage is located in Dimmit County
  • La Salle County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hilltop, with the one closest to Hilltop listed first.
    • Millett
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millett
      • Millett is located in La Salle County
    • Woodward ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodward
      • Woodward is located in La Salle County
    • Cotulla
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cotulla have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cotulla
      • Cotulla is located in La Salle County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,133 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cotulla <2>
    • Los Angeles
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Fowlerton
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fowlerton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fowlerton
      • Fowlerton is located in La Salle County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fowlerton <2>
    • Artesia Wells
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
  • McMullen County
    • Zella
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Zella have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zella
      • Zella is located in McMullen County
  • Medina County
    • Yancey
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Yancey have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yancey
      • Yancey is located in Medina County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Yancey <2>

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

Newspapers Published in Hilltop ...

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 6 newspapers that have been published in the area around Hilltop.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Hilltop, there are papers which were published within 18 miles [29 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Hilltop.

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 helpful 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 Hilltop:

Cemeteries Near Hilltop ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Hilltop.

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

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

  • Diller Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Diller Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Diller Cemetery
  • Hugo Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hugo Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hugo Cemetery
  • Derby Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Derby Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Derby Cemetery
  • Covey Chapel Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Buckhorn Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Buckhorn Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Buckhorn Cemetery
  • Pearsall Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
  • Cotulla Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
  • Cotulla East Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
  • Frio Town Cemetery
    (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
  • Big Wells Cemetery
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Big Wells Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Big Wells Cemetery
  • St. Michaels Cemetery
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Michaels Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Michaels Cemetery
  • Miguel Cemetery
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Miguel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Miguel Cemetery
  • Continue List   (10 more) ...
    • Loma Vista Cemetery
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Luna Cemetery
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Moore Cemetery
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Moore Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Moore 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.<5>

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

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

  • Dilley
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dilley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dilley
    • Dilley is located in Frio County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,527 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dilley <2>
  • Derby
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Derby
    • Derby is located in Frio County
    • Derby has also been known as:
    • Derby Colonia
  • Millett
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millett
    • Millett is located in La Salle County
  • Pearsall
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pearsall have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pearsall
    • Pearsall is located in Frio County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,620 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pearsall <2>
  • Cotulla
    (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cotulla have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cotulla
    • Cotulla is located in La Salle County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,133 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cotulla <2>
  • Frio Town ‑ Historic
    (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Frio Town have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frio Town
    • Frio Town is located in Frio County
  • Moore
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)

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

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

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 drawn from Point A (ie- Hilltop) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Hilltop. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 28.6930, Longitude: -99.1759       In this case, the coordinates for Hilltop have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<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 Hilltop, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024