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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 Mission Valley (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 Mission Valley. 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 Mission Valley ...

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 Mission Valley: Mission Vly. (or less commonly used: Mission Vally. or Mission Vlly.)

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Mission Valley. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Mission Valley.

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

Mission Valley is located in Victoria 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 Victoria County: Calhoun, DeWitt, Goliad, Jackson, Lavaca & Refugio.

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

  • Victoria County     (The home county of Mission Valley)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mission Valley, with the one closest to Mission Valley listed first.
    • Nursery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Coletoville
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Coletoville is located in Victoria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coletoville
    • Aloe
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Aloe is located in Victoria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aloe
    • Oak Village
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Oak Village is located in Victoria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Village
    • Victoria
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Hughes ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Hughes is located in Victoria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hughes
    • Telferner
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Dacosta
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Dacosta is located in Victoria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dacosta
    • Inez
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Bloomington
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • McFaddin
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Placedo
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Calhoun County
    • Heyser
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Heyser is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heyser
  • DeWitt County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mission Valley, with the one closest to Mission Valley listed first.
    • Thomaston
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Meyersville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Cuero
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Yorktown
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Edgar
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Edgar is located in DeWitt County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgar
    • Terryville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Terryville is located in DeWitt County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Terryville
    • Nordheim
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Yoakum
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Westhoff
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Pearl City
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Pearl City is located in DeWitt County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pearl City
    • Hochheim
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
  • Goliad County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mission Valley, with the one closest to Mission Valley listed first.
    • Ander
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Ander is located in Goliad County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ander
    • Kilgore
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Kilgore is located in Goliad County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kilgore
    • Weser
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Weser is located in Goliad County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weser
    • Cologne
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Cologne is located in Goliad County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cologne
      • Former names for Cologne:
      • Centerville
      • Ira Station
      • Perdido
    • Fannin
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Weesatche
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Goliad
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Angel City
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Angel City is located in Goliad County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Angel City
  • Gonzales County
    • Cheapside
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Cheapside is located in Gonzales County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cheapside
  • Jackson County
    • Morales
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Morales is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morales
  • Lavaca County
    • Hope
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Hope is located in Lavaca County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hope

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

Cemeteries Near Mission Valley ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Mission Valley.

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 Mission Valley - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Guadalupe Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Mission Valley Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Noll Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Woodlawn Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Mistletoe Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Berger Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • De Leon Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Franklin Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Murphy Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Nursery Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Thomaston Community Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Ponteon San Isidro Labrador Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (112 more) ...

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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Mission Valley had a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Nursery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Thomaston
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Arneckeville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Arneckeville is located in DeWitt County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arneckeville
  • Meyersville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Weser
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Weser is located in Goliad County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weser
  • Aloe
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Aloe is located in Victoria County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aloe
  • Victoria
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Fannin
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Cuero
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Weesatche
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
  • Stratton
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Stratton is located in DeWitt County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stratton
  • Guadalupe
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Guadalupe is located in Victoria County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guadalupe
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Yorktown
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Terryville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Terryville is located in DeWitt County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Terryville
    • Edgar
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Edgar is located in DeWitt County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgar

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

Newspapers Published in Mission Valley ...

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 40 newspapers that have been published in the area around Mission Valley.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Mission Valley, there are papers which were published within 26 miles [41.8 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Mission Valley.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to 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 Mission Valley:

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>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- Mission Valley) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<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 Mission Valley, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.