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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 Plainview (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 Plainview. 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.

Plainview is located in Wharton 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 Wharton County: Austin, Brazoria, Colorado, Fort Bend, Jackson, Lavaca & Matagorda.

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

  • Wharton County     (The home county of Plainview)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Plainview, with the one closest to Plainview listed first.
    • Hillje
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Hillje is located in Wharton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillje
    • Louise
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • El Campo
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Danevang
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Pierce
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Hahn
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Hahn is located in Wharton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hahn
    • Mackay
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Mackay is located in Wharton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mackay
    • Glen Flora
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Lane City
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Wharton
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Egypt
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Bonus
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Bonus is located in Wharton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonus
    • Hungerford
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
  • Brazoria County
  • Colorado County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Plainview, with the one closest to Plainview listed first.
    • Nada
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Provident City ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Provident City is located in Colorado County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Provident City
    • Garwood
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Eldridge
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Eldridge is located in Colorado County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eldridge
    • Boedecker Junction
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Boedecker Junction is located in Colorado County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boedecker Junction
    • Matthews
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Matthews is located in Colorado County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Matthews
  • Fort Bend County
    • Kendleton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Jackson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Plainview, with the one closest to Plainview listed first.
    • Ganado
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Francitas
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • La Ward
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Edna
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Edna is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edna
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,755 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Edna <1>
    • Lolita
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Matilda
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Matilda is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Matilda
    • Vanderbilt
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Morales
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Morales is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morales
    • Weedhaven
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Weedhaven is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weedhaven
    • La Salle
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Lavaca County
  • Matagorda County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Plainview, with the one closest to Plainview listed first.
    • Midfield
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Blessing
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Markham
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Elmaton
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • McCroskey
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • McCroskey is located in Matagorda County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McCroskey
    • Elliott ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Elliott is located in Matagorda County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elliott
      • Elliott has also been known as:
      • Elliott's
    • Chalmers
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Chalmers is located in Matagorda County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chalmers
    • Bay City
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Pledger
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Van Vleck
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Collegeport
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Palacios
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Caney
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Caney is located in Matagorda County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caney

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

Cemeteries Near Plainview ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Plainview.

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 Plainview - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Garden of Memories
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Swedish Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • St. Procopius Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for St. Procopius Cemetery
    • The St. Procopius Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Procopius Cemetery
  • St. Phillips Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Oaklawn Memorial Park
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Hahn Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
  • Assumption Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Ganado Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Ganado Community Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Cornelius Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • St. John Nepomucene Catholic Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
  • Mackay Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (69 more) ...
    • Partain Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Brackenridge Cemetery
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Hawley Cemetery
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)

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

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

  • Louise
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Ganado
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Mackay
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Mackay is located in Wharton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mackay
  • Wharton
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
  • Edna
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Edna is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edna
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,755 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Edna <1>
  • Elliott ‑ Historic
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Elliott is located in Matagorda County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elliott
    • Elliott has also been known as:
    • Elliott's
  • Ashby
    (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Ashby is located in Matagorda County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashby
  • Hungerford
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
  • El Toro
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • El Toro is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for El Toro
  • Pledger
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
  • Morales
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Morales is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morales
  • Navidad
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Navidad is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Navidad

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

Newspapers Published in Plainview ...

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 25 newspapers that have been published in the area around Plainview.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Plainview, there are papers which were published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Plainview.

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 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 Plainview:

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 '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- Plainview) 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 Plainview, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.