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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 Mecca (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 Mecca. 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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and 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.

Mecca is located in Madison 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 Madison County: Brazos, Grimes, Houston, Leon, Robertson & Walker.

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

  • Madison County     (The home county of Mecca)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mecca, with the one closest to Mecca listed first.
    • George
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • George is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for George
    • North Zulch
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Zulch ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Zulch is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zulch
    • Madisonville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Midway
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
  • Brazos County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mecca, with the one closest to Mecca listed first.
    • Edge
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Edge is located in Brazos County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edge
    • Kurten
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Wixon Valley
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Wixon Valley is located in Brazos County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wixon Valley
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 254 people
    • Tabor
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Tabor is located in Brazos County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tabor
    • Boonville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Boonville is located in Brazos County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boonville
    • Bryan
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Bryan is located in Brazos County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bryan
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 88,165 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bryan <1>
    • College Station
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Rye ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Rye is located in Brazos County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rye
  • Grimes County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mecca, with the one closest to Mecca listed first.
    • Iola
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Bedias
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Shiro
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Roans Prairie
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
  • Houston County
    • Austonio
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Austonio is located in Houston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Austonio
  • Leon County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mecca, with the one closest to Mecca listed first.
    • Normangee
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Wealthy
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Wealthy is located in Leon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wealthy
    • Hilltop Lakes
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Flynn
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Leona
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Middleton
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Middleton is located in Leon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middleton
    • Centerville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Concord
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Marquez
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Centerview
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Centerview is located in Leon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerview
    • Jewett
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Newby
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Newby is located in Leon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newby
    • Russell
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Russell is located in Leon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Russell
  • Robertson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mecca, with the one closest to Mecca listed first.
    • Ridge
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Ridge is located in Robertson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridge
    • Wheelock
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • New Baden
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Franklin
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Bald Prairie
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Bald Prairie is located in Robertson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bald Prairie
    • Owensville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Owensville is located in Robertson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Owensville
    • Benchley
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Benchley is located in Robertson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benchley
    • Seale
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Seale is located in Robertson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seale
    • Elliot
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Elliot is located in Robertson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elliot
  • Walker County
    • Wesley Grove
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Wesley Grove is located in Walker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wesley Grove

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

Cemeteries Near Mecca ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Mecca.

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 Mecca - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Tenmile Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Randolph Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Sand Prairie Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Rodgers Prairie Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • High Prairie Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Normangee Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Keefer Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Nash Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Oxford Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Plainview Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plainview Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Plainview Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #6036 <2>
  • Willow Hole Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Hole Cemetery
    • The Willow Hole Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Willow Hole Church Cemetery
    • Willowhole Cemetery
    • Willowhole Chapel Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #290864 <2>
  • Greenbriar Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (156 more) ...
    • Greer Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Burns Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Bethel Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)

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

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

  • Zulch ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Zulch is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zulch
  • Madisonville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Leona
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Iola
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Bedias
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Connor
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Connor is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Connor
  • Kurten
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Middleton
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Middleton is located in Leon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middleton
  • Midway
    (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
  • Concord
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
  • Centerville
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
  • Wheelock
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Marquez
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Guys Store
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Guys Store is located in Leon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guys Store
    • New Baden
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)

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

Newspapers Published in Mecca ...

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 47 newspapers that have been published in the area around Mecca.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Mecca, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Mecca.

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 Mecca:

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 '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- Mecca) 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 Mecca, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.