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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 Monte Alto (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 Monte Alto. 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.

Monte Alto is located in Hidalgo 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 Hidalgo County: Brooks, Cameron, Kenedy, Starr & Willacy.

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

  • Hidalgo County     (The home county of Monte Alto)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Monte Alto, with the one closest to Monte Alto listed first.
    • Hargill
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hargill have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hargill
      • Hargill is located in Hidalgo County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hargill <2>
    • Edcouch
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Edcouch have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edcouch
      • Edcouch is located in Hidalgo County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,277 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Edcouch <2>
    • Elsa
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elsa have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elsa
      • Elsa is located in Hidalgo County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,120 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elsa <2>
    • La Villa
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for La Villa have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Villa
      • La Villa is located in Hidalgo County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,935 people
    • La Blanca
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • San Carlos
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for San Carlos have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for San Carlos
      • San Carlos is located in Hidalgo County
    • Doolittle
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doolittle
      • Doolittle is located in Hidalgo County
    • Mila Doce
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mila Doce have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mila Doce
      • Mila Doce is located in Hidalgo County
    • Olivarez
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Olivarez have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olivarez
      • Olivarez is located in Hidalgo County
    • Cesar Chavez
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cesar Chavez have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cesar Chavez
      • Cesar Chavez is located in Hidalgo County
    • Muniz
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Muniz have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Muniz
      • Muniz is located in Hidalgo County
      • Muniz has also been known as:
      • Muniz Colonia
    • Faysville
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Faysville
      • Faysville is located in Hidalgo County
    • Gate City Acres
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gate City Acres have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gate City Acres
      • Gate City Acres is located in Hidalgo County
      • Gate City Acres has also been known as:
      • Gate City Acres Colonia
  • Cameron County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Monte Alto, with the one closest to Monte Alto listed first.
    • Yznaga
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Yznaga have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yznaga
      • Yznaga is located in Cameron County
    • Tierra Bonita
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tierra Bonita have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tierra Bonita
      • Tierra Bonita is located in Cameron County
      • Tierra Bonita has also been known as:
      • Tierra Bonita Colonia
    • Grand Acres
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grand Acres have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand Acres
      • Grand Acres is located in Cameron County
    • Santa Rosa
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Santa Rosa have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Santa Rosa
      • Santa Rosa is located in Cameron County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,684 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Santa Rosa <2>
    • Ratamosa
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ratamosa have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ratamosa
      • Ratamosa is located in Cameron County
      • Ratamosa has also been known as:
      • Ratamosa Colonia
    • Bixby
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bixby
      • Bixby is located in Cameron County
    • La Feria North
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Feria North
      • La Feria North is located in Cameron County
    • Solis
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Solis have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Solis
      • Solis is located in Cameron County
      • Solis has also been known as:
      • Solis Colonia
    • Windsong Village
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Windsong Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windsong Village
      • Windsong Village is located in Cameron County
      • Windsong Village has also been known as:
      • Windsong Village Colonia
    • Combes
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Combes have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Combes
      • Combes is located in Cameron County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,037 people
      • Combes has also been known as:
      • Combes Colonia
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Combes <2>
    • La Feria
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • North La Feria Village
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North La Feria Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North La Feria Village
      • North La Feria Village is located in Cameron County
      • North La Feria Village has also been known as:
      • North La Feria Village Colonia
    • Palm Valley
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palm Valley
      • Palm Valley is located in Cameron County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,231 people
  • Willacy County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Monte Alto, with the one closest to Monte Alto listed first.
    • Lasara
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lasara have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lasara
      • Lasara is located in Willacy County
      • Lasara has also been known as:
      • La Sara
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lasara <2>
    • Zapata Ranch
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Zapata Ranch have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zapata Ranch
      • Zapata Ranch is located in Willacy County
      • Zapata Ranch has also been known as:
      • Zapata Ranch Colonia
    • Lyford South
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Lyford South. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyford South
      • Lyford South is located in Willacy County
      • Lyford South has also been known as:
      • Lyford South Colonia
    • Lyford
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lyford have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyford
      • Lyford is located in Willacy County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,513 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lyford <2>
    • Sebastian
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Ranchette Estates
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ranchette Estates have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ranchette Estates
      • Ranchette Estates is located in Willacy County
      • Ranchette Estates has also been known as:
      • Ranchette Estates Colonia
    • Raymondville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Los Angeles Subdivision
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Los Angeles Subdivision have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Los Angeles Subdivision
      • Los Angeles Subdivision is located in Willacy County
    • Willamar
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Willamar have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willamar
      • Willamar is located in Willacy County
    • San Perlita
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Santa Monica
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Santa Monica. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Santa Monica
      • Santa Monica is located in Willacy County

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

Cemeteries Near Monte Alto ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Monte Alto.

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 Monte Alto covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Cementerio Anahuac Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cementerio Anahuac Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cementerio Anahuac Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Cementerio de las Burras Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cementerio de las Burras Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cementerio de las Burras Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Valle De La Paz Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Chavez Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Chavez Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Chavez Cemetery is located 2 miles [3.2 km]<5> to the northwest of Lasara.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2882 <4>
  • Cavazos Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cavazos Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cavazos Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • San Jose Ranch Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the San Jose Ranch Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the San Jose Ranch Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • El Azadon Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the El Azadon Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the El Azadon Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • San Martin Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the San Martin Cemetery
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the San Martin Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the San Martin Cemetery is located less than 2 miles<5> to the west of Lasara.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2442435 <4>
  • San Luis Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the San Luis Cemetery
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the San Luis Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the San Luis Cemetery is located less than 2 miles<5> to the northwest of Lasara.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #6714 <4>
  • Garcia Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Garcia Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Garcia Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Garcia Cemetery is located outside and to the east of Lasara.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #3744 <4>
  • Lasara Memorial Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lasara Memorial Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lasara Memorial Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (75 more) ...
    • Cibilo Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cibilo Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cibilo Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Santa Rita Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Santa Rita Cemetery
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Santa Rita Cemetery is located 2 miles [3.2 km]<5> to the east of Sebastian.
    • Old Edinburg Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Edinburg Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Edinburg Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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

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

  • Los Angeles
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Los Angeles have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Los Angeles
    • Los Angeles is located in Hidalgo County
  • Santa Maria
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Santa Maria have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Santa Maria
    • Santa Maria is located in Cameron County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Santa Maria <2>
  • Hidalgo
    (25 miles [40.2 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 Monte Alto. See our List of 1890's Communities around Monte Alto.

Newspapers Published in Monte Alto ...

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 20 newspapers that have been published in the area around Monte Alto.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Monte Alto, there are papers which were published within 12 miles [19.3 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Monte Alto.

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 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 Monte Alto:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Monte Alto. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Hidalgo County: www.co.hidalgo.tx.us/

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>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.
<5>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Monte Alto) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Monte Alto. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 26.3731, Longitude: -97.9717       In this case, the coordinates for Monte Alto have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<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 Monte Alto, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025