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 McMasters (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 McMasters. 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 McMasters ...
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.
McMasters has also been known as: McMasters 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 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.
McMasters is located in Jim Wells 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 Jim Wells County: Brooks, Duval, Kleberg, Live Oak, Nueces & San Patricio.
Below are the counties that are near McMasters. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to McMasters:
- Jim Wells County (The home county of McMasters)
- The following are listed by their distance from McMasters, with the one closest to McMasters listed first.
- Rancho Alegre
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Rancho Alegre is located in Jim Wells County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rancho Alegre
- Alice
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Alice Acres
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Alice Acres is located in Jim Wells County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alice Acres
- Alice Acres has also been known as:
- Alice Acres Colonia
- Coyote Acres
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Coyote Acres is located in Jim Wells County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coyote Acres
- Coyote Acres has also been known as:
- Coyote Acres Colonia
- Ben Bolt
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Loma Linda East
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Loma Linda East is located in Jim Wells County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loma Linda East
- Loma Linda East has also been known as:
- Loma Linda East Colonia
- Water City Estates
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Water City Estates is located in Jim Wells County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Water City Estates
- Water City Estates has also been known as:
- Water City Estates Colonia
- Owl Ranch - Amargosa
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Owl Ranch - Amargosa is located in Jim Wells County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Owl Ranch - Amargosa
- Alfred - South La Paloma
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Orange Grove
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Westdale
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Westdale is located in Jim Wells County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westdale
- K-Bar Ranch
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- K-Bar Ranch is located in Jim Wells County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for K-Bar Ranch
- Duval County
- The following are listed by their distance from McMasters, with the one closest to McMasters listed first.
- San Diego
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Benavides
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Rios
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Rios is located in Duval County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rios
- Santa Cruz
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Santa Cruz is located in Duval County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Santa Cruz
- Concepcion
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Kleberg County
- Kingsville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Nueces County
- The following are listed by their distance from McMasters, with the one closest to McMasters listed first.
- Agua Dulce
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Rancho Banquete
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Rancho Banquete is located in Nueces County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rancho Banquete
- Banquete
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Driscoll
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- La Paloma - Lost Creek
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Bishop
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Spring Garden - Terra Verde
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Bluntzer
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Bluntzer is located in Nueces County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluntzer
- Sandy Hollow - Escondidas
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- North San Pedro
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- North San Pedro is located in Nueces County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North San Pedro
- Robstown
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Petronila
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Petronila is located in Nueces County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Petronila
- Population from the 2020 Census: 112 people
- San Patricio County
- The following are listed by their distance from McMasters, with the one closest to McMasters listed first.
- San Patricio
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- San Patricio is located in San Patricio County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for San Patricio
- Population from the 2020 Census: 366 people
- Lake City
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Lake City is located in San Patricio County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 514 people
- Edgewater - Paisano
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Edgewater - Paisano is located in San Patricio County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgewater - Paisano
- Lakeside
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Lakeside is located in San Patricio County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeside
- Population from the 2020 Census: 303 people
- Paisano
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Paisano is located in San Patricio County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paisano
- Paisano has also been known as:
- Paisano Park Colonia
- Paisano Park
- Mathis
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Edroy
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Lakeshore Gardens - Hidden Acres
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to McMasters, see our County-by-County Page for McMasters.
Cemeteries Near McMasters ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of McMasters.
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 McMasters - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for McMasters covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from McMasters, with the one closest to McMasters listed first.
- Alice Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alice Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Alice Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Alice.
- The Alice Cemetery has also been known as:
- Alice Fraternal Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #318160 <2>
- Fraternal Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Collins Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Lattas Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Rose Lawn Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Calaveras Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Amargosa Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Barrera Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Hinojosa Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Villareal Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Cadenas Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Gonzales Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (66 more) ...
- Ramirez Cemetery
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Saltiero Cemetery
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Adams Cemetery
(13 miles [20.9 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.<3>
While we didn't find McMasters in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of McMasters.
These communities are listed based on their distance from McMasters, with the one closest to McMasters listed first.
- San Diego
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Agua Dulce
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Banquete
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Benavides
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Driscoll
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- San Patricio
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- San Patricio is located in San Patricio County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for San Patricio
- Population from the 2020 Census: 366 people
- Lagarto
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Lagarto is located in Live Oak County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lagarto
- Conception
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Conception is located in Duval County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conception
- Mathis
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around McMasters. See our List of 1890's Communities around McMasters.
Newspapers Published in McMasters ...
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 33 newspapers that have been published in the area around McMasters.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of McMasters, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for McMasters.
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 McMasters:
- Websites specific to Texas
- Pages specific to Jim Wells County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Duval County
- Kleberg County
- Nueces County
- San Patricio 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 McMasters, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 drawn from Point A (ie- McMasters) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |