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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 Old Santa Elena (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 Old Santa Elena. 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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors 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.

Old Santa Elena is located in Starr 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 Starr County: Brooks, Hidalgo, Jim Hogg & Zapata.

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

  • Starr County     (The home county of Old Santa Elena)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Old Santa Elena, with the one closest to Old Santa Elena listed first.
    • San Isidro
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for San Isidro have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for San Isidro
      • San Isidro is located in Starr County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for San Isidro <2>
    • Santa Elena
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Santa Elena have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Santa Elena
      • Santa Elena is located in Starr County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Santa Elena <2>
    • Arkansas City
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Arkansas City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arkansas City
      • Arkansas City is located in Starr County
    • Delmita
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • La Carla
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Carla
      • La Carla is located in Starr County
      • La Carla has also been known as:
      • La Carla Colonia
    • La Victoria
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Victoria
      • La Victoria is located in Starr County
    • Alto Bonito
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alto Bonito
      • Alto Bonito is located in Starr County
      • Alto Bonito has also been known as:
      • Alto Bonito Colonia
    • West Alto Bonito
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Alto Bonito
      • West Alto Bonito is located in Starr County
      • West Alto Bonito has also been known as:
      • West Alto Bonito Colonia
    • Garciasville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
    • La Puerta
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Puerta
      • La Puerta is located in Starr County
    • Las Lomas
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Las Lomas
      • Las Lomas is located in Starr County
  • Brooks County
  • Hidalgo County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Old Santa Elena, with the one closest to Old Santa Elena listed first.
    • McCook
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Laguna Seca
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laguna Seca
      • Laguna Seca is located in Hidalgo County
    • Linn
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • San Manuel
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for San Manuel
      • San Manuel is located in Hidalgo County
    • Monte Christo ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Monte Christo have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monte Christo
      • Monte Christo is located in Hidalgo County
    • Citrus City
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Citrus City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Citrus City
      • Citrus City is located in Hidalgo County
    • Faysville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Faysville
      • Faysville is located in Hidalgo County
  • Jim Hogg County

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

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 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 Old Santa Elena:

Cemeteries Near Old Santa Elena ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Old Santa Elena.

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 Old Santa Elena covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Montalvo Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Montalvo Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Montalvo Cemetery
  • Santa Elena Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Santa Elena Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Santa Elena Cemetery
  • Rancho Viejo Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rancho Viejo Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rancho Viejo Cemetery
  • Juarez Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Juarez Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Juarez Cemetery
  • Naranja Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Naranja Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Naranja Cemetery
  • La Paz Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the La Paz Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the La Paz Cemetery
  • San Jose Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the San Jose Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the San Jose Cemetery
  • Rojas Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rojas Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rojas Cemetery
  • Soledad Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Soledad Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Soledad Cemetery
  • Olivares Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Olivares Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Olivares Cemetery
  • Santa Cruz Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Santa Cruz Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Santa Cruz Cemetery
  • Gonzales Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Gonzales Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Gonzales Cemetery
  • Continue List   (27 more) ...
    • Tangue Allegre Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Tangue Allegre Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Tangue Allegre Cemetery
    • Coyote Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Coyote Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Coyote Cemetery
    • Santa Maria Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Santa Maria Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Santa Maria Cemetery

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

  • Los Angeles
    (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • 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

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

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

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>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 Old Santa Elena, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024