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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 La Leona (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 La Leona. 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 southeast 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 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.

La Leona 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 La Leona. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to La Leona:

  • Cameron County     (The home county of La Leona)
    • The following are listed by their distance from La Leona, with the one closest to La Leona listed first.
    • Arroyo Gardens - La Tina Ranch
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Arroyo City
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Arroyo City is located in Cameron County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arroyo City
    • Lozano
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Rio Hondo
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Villa del Sol
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Villa del Sol is located in Cameron County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Villa del Sol
      • Villa del Sol has also been known as:
      • Villa del Sol Colonia
    • Bayview
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Arroyo Colorado Estates
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Arroyo Colorado Estates is located in Cameron County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arroyo Colorado Estates
      • Arroyo Colorado Estates has also been known as:
      • Arroyo Colorado Estates Colonia
    • Laureles
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Laureles is located in Cameron County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laureles
    • Green Valley Farms
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Green Valley Farms is located in Cameron County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Valley Farms
      • Green Valley Farms has also been known as:
      • Green Valley Farms Colonia
    • Indian Lake
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Indian Lake is located in Cameron County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Lake
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 864 people
    • Chula Vista - Orason
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Chula Vista - Orason is located in Cameron County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chula Vista - Orason
    • Los Fresnos
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
  • Hidalgo County
    • The following are listed by their distance from La Leona, with the one closest to La Leona listed first.
    • Heidelberg
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Heidelberg is located in Hidalgo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heidelberg
    • Indian Hills
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Indian Hills is located in Hidalgo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Hills
    • La Villa
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • La Villa is located in Hidalgo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Villa
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,935 people
    • Mercedes
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Rio Rico
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Rio Rico is located in Hidalgo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rio Rico
  • Willacy County
    • The following are listed by their distance from La Leona, with the one closest to La Leona listed first.
    • Santa Monica
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Santa Monica is located in Willacy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Santa Monica
    • Willamar
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Willamar is located in Willacy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willamar
    • Port Mansfield
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • San Perlita
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Sebastian
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Lyford South
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • 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
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Zapata Ranch
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • 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
    • Raymondville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Los Angeles Subdivision
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Ranchette Estates
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • 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

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

Cemeteries Near La Leona ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of La Leona.

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 La Leona - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • La Leona Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Rio Hondo Community Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rio Hondo Community Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Rio Hondo Community Cemetery is located outside and to the east of Rio Hondo.
    • The Rio Hondo Community Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Jack Carpenter Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2188890 <2>
  • Rio Hondo City Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Cavazos Family Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cavazos Family Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Cavazos Family Cemetery is located 11 miles [17.7 km]<3> to the southeast of San Perlita.
    • The Cavazos Family Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Sabino Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2492338 <2>
  • Monte Meta Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Soldiers Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Tanquesitos Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tanquesitos Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Tanquesitos Cemetery is located less than 2 miles<3> to the south of Santa Monica.
  • San Antonio Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • La Jarita Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Noyola Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • San Benito Memorial Park Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • San Benito City Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (41 more) ...
    • Las Rucias Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Ashland Memorial Park
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashland Memorial Park
      • The Ashland Memorial Park has also been known as:
      • Loma Linda Cemetery
    • Los Omales Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)

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

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

  • Brownsville
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
  • Santa Maria
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)

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

Newspapers Published in La Leona ...

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 14 newspapers that have been published in the area around La Leona.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of La Leona, there are papers which were published within 23 miles [37 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for La Leona.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 La Leona:

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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- La Leona) 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 La Leona, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.