RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Texas >> Calhoun County >> Olivia >> Genealogy HelperIndex...










Learn About
The Commemorative
Quarter for
Texas

The Commemorative Quarter for Texas





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 Olivia (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 Olivia. 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 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.

Olivia is located in Calhoun 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 Calhoun County: Jackson, Matagorda, Refugio & Victoria.

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

  • Calhoun County     (The home county of Olivia)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Olivia, with the one closest to Olivia listed first.
    • Port Alto
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Port Alto
      • Port Alto is located in Calhoun County
    • Point Comfort
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Point Comfort have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Point Comfort
      • Point Comfort is located in Calhoun County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 652 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Point Comfort <2>
    • Indianola
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Indianola have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indianola
      • Indianola is located in Calhoun County
    • Port Lavaca
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Port O'Connor
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Port O'Connor have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Port O'Connor
      • Port O'Connor is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Port O'Connor <2>
    • Long Mott
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Seadrift
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Seadrift have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seadrift
      • Seadrift is located in Calhoun County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,500 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Seadrift <2>
  • Jackson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Olivia, with the one closest to Olivia listed first.
    • Weedhaven
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weedhaven
      • Weedhaven is located in Jackson County
    • La Ward
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for La Ward have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Ward
      • La Ward is located in Jackson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 233 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for La Ward <2>
    • Lolita
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lolita have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lolita
      • Lolita is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lolita <2>
    • Francitas
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Francitas have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Francitas
      • Francitas is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Francitas <2>
    • La Salle
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for La Salle have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Salle
      • La Salle is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for La Salle <2>
    • Vanderbilt
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vanderbilt have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vanderbilt
      • Vanderbilt is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Vanderbilt <2>
    • Edna
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Edna have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edna
      • Edna is located in Jackson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,755 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Edna <2>
    • Matilda
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Matilda
      • Matilda is located in Jackson County
    • Ganado
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ganado have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ganado
      • Ganado is located in Jackson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,085 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ganado <2>
  • Matagorda County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Olivia, with the one closest to Olivia listed first.
    • Palacios
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Collegeport
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Collegeport have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Collegeport
      • Collegeport is located in Matagorda County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Collegeport <2>
    • Blessing
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Blessing have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blessing
      • Blessing is located in Matagorda County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Blessing <2>
    • Elmaton
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elmaton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmaton
      • Elmaton is located in Matagorda County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elmaton <2>
    • Midfield
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Midfield have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midfield
      • Midfield is located in Matagorda County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Midfield <2>
    • Matagorda
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
  • Refugio County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Olivia, with the one closest to Olivia listed first.
    • Austwell
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Austwell have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Austwell
      • Austwell is located in Refugio County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 144 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Austwell <2>
    • Tivoli
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Victoria County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Olivia, with the one closest to Olivia listed first.
    • Placedo
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Placedo have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Placedo
      • Placedo is located in Victoria County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Placedo <2>
    • Bloomington
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bloomington have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bloomington
      • Bloomington is located in Victoria County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bloomington <2>
    • Dacosta
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dacosta
      • Dacosta is located in Victoria County
    • Inez
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Inez have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Inez
      • Inez is located in Victoria County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Inez <2>
    • Telferner
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)

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

Newspapers Published in Olivia ...

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 38 newspapers that have been published in the area around Olivia.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Olivia, 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 Olivia.

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 websites either 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 Olivia:

Cemeteries Near Olivia ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Olivia.

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

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

  • Old Town Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Town Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Town Cemetery
  • Zimmerman Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Indianola Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Port Lavaca Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Ranger Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ranger Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ranger Cemetery
  • Little Mary's Grave
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • Deutschburg Community Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Palacios Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
  • Lolita Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lolita Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lolita Cemetery
  • Six Mile Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Six Mile Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Six Mile Cemetery
  • Hatch Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
  • Francitas Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Francitas Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Francitas Cemetery
  • Continue List   (35 more) ...
    • Clark Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Clark Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<5>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Clark Cemetery
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2538 <4>
    • Clark Family Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Clark Family Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Clark Family Cemetery
    • Greenlawn Gardens Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)

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

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

  • Port Lavaca
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Long Mott
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Seadrift
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Seadrift have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seadrift
    • Seadrift is located in Calhoun County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,500 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Seadrift <2>
  • Placedo
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Placedo have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Placedo
    • Placedo is located in Victoria County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Placedo <2>
  • Ashby
    (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ashby have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashby
    • Ashby is located in Matagorda County
  • Edna
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Edna have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edna
    • Edna is located in Jackson County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,755 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Edna <2>
  • El Toro
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for El Toro have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for El Toro
    • El Toro is located in Jackson County
  • Inez
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Inez have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Inez
    • Inez is located in Victoria County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Inez <2>
  • Ganado
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ganado have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ganado
    • Ganado is located in Jackson County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,085 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ganado <2>
  • Matagorda
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
  • Guadalupe
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Guadalupe have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guadalupe
    • Guadalupe is located in Victoria County

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

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

The official website for Calhoun County: www.tisd.net/~calhoun/

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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Olivia) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Olivia. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 28.6386, Longitude: -96.4555       In this case, the coordinates for Olivia have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<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>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.
<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 Olivia, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

Copyright 2024
All Rights Reserved

Thank you for visiting our website.

In closing, please keep in mind that we can not guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of the information on this website, so use with care. We encourage you to double-check the information that is critical to you.

If you've found an error or have additional information that you would like to share, please don't hesitate to write: Click here to contact us.

This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024