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 Jamaica Beach (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 Jamaica Beach. 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 Jamaica Beach ...
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 occur.
For example, a typical abbreviation for Jamaica Beach: Jamaica Bch.
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.
Jamaica Beach is located in Galveston 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 Galveston County: Brazoria & Harris.
Below are the counties that are near Jamaica Beach. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Jamaica Beach:
- Galveston County (The home county of Jamaica Beach)
- The following are listed by their distance from Jamaica Beach, with the one closest to Jamaica Beach listed first.
- Tiki Island
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Tiki Island is located in Galveston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tiki Island
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,072 people
- Tiki Island has also been known as:
- Village of Tiki Island
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tiki Island <1>
- Bayou Vista
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Bayou Vista is located in Galveston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayou Vista
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,637 people
- Texas City Terminal Junction
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Hitchcock
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Texas City Junction
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Texas City Junction is located in Galveston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Texas City Junction
- La Marque
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Galveston
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Texas City
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Arcadia
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Arcadia is located in Galveston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arcadia
- Santa Fe
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Dickinson
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Port Bolivar
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Brazoria County
- The following are listed by their distance from Jamaica Beach, with the one closest to Jamaica Beach listed first.
- San Luis ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- San Luis is located in Brazoria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for San Luis
- Liverpool
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Hillcrest
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Hillcrest is located in Brazoria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillcrest
- Population from the 2020 Census: 706 people
- Alvin
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Danbury
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Oyster Creek
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Oyster Creek is located in Brazoria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oyster Creek
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,212 people
- Surfside Beach
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Bastrop Beach
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Bastrop Beach is located in Brazoria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bastrop Beach
- Quintana
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Clute
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Angleton
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Richwood
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Chambers County
- The following are listed by their distance from Jamaica Beach, with the one closest to Jamaica Beach listed first.
- Seabrook
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Smith Point
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Smith Point is located in Chambers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smith Point
- Shoreacres
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Shoreacres is located in Chambers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shoreacres
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,578 people
- Harris County
- The following are listed by their distance from Jamaica Beach, with the one closest to Jamaica Beach listed first.
- Webster
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Nassau Bay
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Baybrook Village
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Baybrook Village is located in Harris County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baybrook Village
- Clear Lake City
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- El Lago
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Mystic Village
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Mystic Village is located in Harris County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mystic Village
- Taylor Lake Village
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Gateway Village
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Gateway Village is located in Harris County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gateway Village
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Jamaica Beach, see our County-by-County Page for Jamaica Beach.
Cemeteries Near Jamaica Beach ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Jamaica Beach.
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 Jamaica Beach - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Jamaica Beach covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Jamaica Beach, with the one closest to Jamaica Beach listed first.
- Galveston Municipal Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Lakeview Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Memorial Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Beth Jacob Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Calvary Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Greek Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Municipal Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Serbian Orthodox Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Serbian Orthodox Cemetery
- The Serbian Orthodox Cemetery has also been known as:
- Serbian Cemetery
- Mainland Memorial Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Galveston Memorial Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Hitchcock Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Grace Memorial Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Continue List (34 more) ...
- Evergreen Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Alta Loma Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- La Marque Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
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 Jamaica Beach in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Jamaica Beach.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Jamaica Beach, with the one closest to Jamaica Beach listed first.
- Virginia Point
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Virginia Point is located in Galveston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virginia Point
- Galveston
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- La Marque
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Arcadia
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Arcadia is located in Galveston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arcadia
- Dickinson
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Liverpool
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Alvin
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Oyster Creek
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Oyster Creek is located in Brazoria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oyster Creek
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,212 people
- Quintana
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Velasco
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Velasco is located in Brazoria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Velasco
- Smith Point
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Smith Point is located in Chambers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smith Point
- Bonney
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Bonney is located in Brazoria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonney
- Population from the 2020 Census: 380 people
- Chenango
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Chenango is located in Brazoria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chenango
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Jamaica Beach. See our List of 1890's Communities around Jamaica Beach.
Newspapers Published in Jamaica Beach ...
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 208 newspapers that have been published in the area around Jamaica Beach.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Jamaica Beach, there are papers which were published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Jamaica Beach.
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 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 Jamaica Beach:
- Websites specific to Texas
- Pages specific to Galveston County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Brazoria County
- Chambers County
- Harris 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> | 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 Jamaica Beach, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Jamaica Beach) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |