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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 Ward (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 Ward. 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 La Ward ...

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.

Another variation: Laward.

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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

La Ward is located in Jackson 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 Jackson County: Calhoun, Lavaca, Matagorda, Victoria & Wharton.

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

  • Jackson County     (The home county of La Ward)
    • The following are listed by their distance from La Ward, with the one closest to La Ward listed first.
    • Lolita
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lolita have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lolita
      • Lolita is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lolita <2>
    • Francitas
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Francitas have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Francitas
      • Francitas is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Francitas <2>
    • Weedhaven
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weedhaven
      • Weedhaven is located in Jackson County
    • Vanderbilt
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vanderbilt have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vanderbilt
      • Vanderbilt is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Vanderbilt <2>
    • La Salle
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for La Salle have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Salle
      • La Salle is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for La Salle <2>
    • Ganado
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ganado have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ganado
      • Ganado is located in Jackson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,085 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ganado <2>
    • Edna
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Edna have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edna
      • Edna is located in Jackson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,755 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Edna <2>
    • Matilda
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Matilda
      • Matilda is located in Jackson County
    • Morales
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morales
      • Morales is located in Jackson County
  • Calhoun County
    • The following are listed by their distance from La Ward, with the one closest to La Ward listed first.
    • Port Alto
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Port Alto
      • Port Alto is located in Calhoun County
    • Point Comfort
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Point Comfort have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Point Comfort
      • Point Comfort is located in Calhoun County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 652 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Point Comfort <2>
    • Port Lavaca
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Indianola
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Indianola have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indianola
      • Indianola is located in Calhoun County
    • Port O'Connor
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Port O'Connor have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Port O'Connor
      • Port O'Connor is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Port O'Connor <2>
    • Long Mott
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Matagorda County
    • The following are listed by their distance from La Ward, with the one closest to La Ward listed first.
    • Blessing
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Blessing have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blessing
      • Blessing is located in Matagorda County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Blessing <2>
    • Midfield
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Midfield have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midfield
      • Midfield is located in Matagorda County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Midfield <2>
    • Palacios
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Elmaton
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elmaton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmaton
      • Elmaton is located in Matagorda County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elmaton <2>
    • Collegeport
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Collegeport have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Collegeport
      • Collegeport is located in Matagorda County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Collegeport <2>
    • Markham
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Markham have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Markham
      • Markham is located in Matagorda County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Markham <2>
    • Elliott ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Elliott. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elliott
      • Elliott is located in Matagorda County
      • Elliott has also been known as:
      • Elliott's
  • Victoria County
    • The following are listed by their distance from La Ward, with the one closest to La Ward listed first.
    • Inez
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Inez have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Inez
      • Inez is located in Victoria County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Inez <2>
    • Placedo
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Placedo have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Placedo
      • Placedo is located in Victoria County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Placedo <2>
    • Telferner
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Dacosta
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dacosta
      • Dacosta is located in Victoria County
    • Bloomington
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bloomington have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bloomington
      • Bloomington is located in Victoria County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bloomington <2>
  • Wharton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from La Ward, with the one closest to La Ward listed first.
    • Louise
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Danevang
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Danevang have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Danevang
      • Danevang is located in Wharton County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Danevang <2>
    • Hillje
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillje
      • Hillje is located in Wharton County
    • El Campo
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for El Campo have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for El Campo
      • El Campo is located in Wharton County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 11,502 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for El Campo <2>
    • Hahn
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hahn
      • Hahn is located in Wharton County

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

Newspapers Published in La Ward ...

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 32 newspapers that have been published in the area around La Ward.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of La Ward, there are papers which were published within 26 miles [41.8 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for La Ward.

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 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 Ward:

Cemeteries Near La Ward ...

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

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

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

  • Lolita Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lolita Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lolita Cemetery
  • Red Bluff Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Red Bluff Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Red Bluff Cemetery
  • Francitas Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Francitas Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Francitas Cemetery
  • Brackenridge Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Brackenridge Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Brackenridge Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2533 <5>
  • Deutschburg Community Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Sayle Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sayle Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sayle Cemetery
  • Ganado Community Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
  • Assumption Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
  • Ganado Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
  • Blessing Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Blessing Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Blessing Cemetery
  • Prairie City Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Prairie City Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Prairie City Cemetery
  • Gideon Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Gideon Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Gideon Cemetery
  • Continue List   (52 more) ...
    • Six Mile Cemetery
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Six Mile Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Six Mile Cemetery
    • Palacios Cemetery
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Lacy Cemetery
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lacy Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lacy 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.<6>

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

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

  • Ganado
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ganado have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ganado
    • Ganado is located in Jackson County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,085 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ganado <2>
  • Edna
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Edna have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edna
    • Edna is located in Jackson County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,755 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Edna <2>
  • El Toro
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for El Toro have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for El Toro
    • El Toro is located in Jackson County
  • Port Lavaca
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
  • Louise
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
  • Inez
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Inez have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Inez
    • Inez is located in Victoria County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Inez <2>
  • Ashby
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ashby have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashby
    • Ashby is located in Matagorda County
  • Navidad
    (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Navidad have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Navidad
    • Navidad is located in Jackson County
  • Placedo
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Placedo have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Placedo
    • Placedo is located in Victoria County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Placedo <2>
  • Morales
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morales
    • Morales is located in Jackson County
  • Guadalupe
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Guadalupe have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guadalupe
    • Guadalupe is located in Victoria County
  • Elliott ‑ Historic
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Elliott. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elliott
    • Elliott is located in Matagorda County
    • Elliott has also been known as:
    • Elliott's

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

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for La Ward. 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>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<4>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- La Ward) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in La Ward. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 28.8464, Longitude: -96.4649       In this case, the coordinates for La Ward have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>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.
<6>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 Ward, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024