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 northwest 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 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.
Monte Alto is located in Hidalgo 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 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)
- Edcouch
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Elsa
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- La Villa
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- La Villa is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Villa
- 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)
- San Carlos is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for San Carlos
- Doolittle
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Doolittle is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doolittle
- Mila Doce
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Mila Doce is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mila Doce
- Olivarez
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Olivarez is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olivarez
- Cesar Chavez
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Cesar Chavez is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cesar Chavez
- Muniz
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Muniz is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Muniz
- Muniz has also been known as:
- Muniz Colonia
- Faysville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Faysville is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Faysville
- Gate City Acres
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Gate City Acres is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gate City Acres
- 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)
- Yznaga is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yznaga
- Tierra Bonita
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Tierra Bonita is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tierra Bonita
- Tierra Bonita has also been known as:
- Tierra Bonita Colonia
- Grand Acres
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Grand Acres is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand Acres
- Santa Rosa
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Ratamosa
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Ratamosa is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ratamosa
- Ratamosa has also been known as:
- Ratamosa Colonia
- Bixby
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Bixby is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bixby
- La Feria North
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- La Feria North is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Feria North
- Solis
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Solis is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Solis
- Solis has also been known as:
- Solis Colonia
- Windsong Village
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Windsong Village is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windsong Village
- Windsong Village has also been known as:
- Windsong Village Colonia
- Combes
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Combes is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Combes
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,037 people
- Combes has also been known as:
- Combes Colonia
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Combes <1>
- La Feria
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- North La Feria Village
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- North La Feria Village is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North La Feria Village
- North La Feria Village has also been known as:
- North La Feria Village Colonia
- Palm Valley
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Palm Valley is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palm Valley
- 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)
- Zapata Ranch
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Zapata Ranch is located in Willacy County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zapata Ranch
- Zapata Ranch has also been known as:
- Zapata Ranch Colonia
- Lyford South
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Lyford South is located in Willacy County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyford South
- Lyford South has also been known as:
- Lyford South Colonia
- Lyford
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Sebastian
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Ranchette Estates
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Ranchette Estates is located in Willacy County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ranchette Estates
- 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)
- Willamar
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Willamar is located in Willacy County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willamar
- San Perlita
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Santa Monica
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Santa Monica is located in Willacy County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Santa Monica
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.
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 Monte Alto - one of the links might be able to help.
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)
- Cementerio de las Burras Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- 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 Chavez Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Chavez Cemetery is located 2 miles [3.2 km]<3> to the southeast of Lasara.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2882 <2>
- Cavazos Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cavazos Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Cavazos Cemetery is located 9 miles [14.5 km]<3> to the northeast of Edinburg.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2793 <2>
- San Jose Ranch Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- El Azadon Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- San Martin Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- San Luis Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for San Luis Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the San Luis Cemetery is located less than 2 miles<3> to the southeast of Lasara.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #6714 <2>
- 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 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 <2>
- Lasara Memorial Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Continue List (75 more) ...
- Cibilo Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Santa Rita Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Santa Rita Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Santa Rita Cemetery is located 2 miles [3.2 km]<3> to the west of Sebastian.
- Old Edinburg Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
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 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)
- Los Angeles is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Los Angeles
- Santa Maria
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- 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]<3>. 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 begin 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 Monte Alto:
- Websites specific to Texas
- Pages specific to Hidalgo County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Cameron County
- Willacy 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> | 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- Monte Alto) 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 Monte Alto, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |