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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 Rio Rico (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 Rio Rico. 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 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.

Rio Rico 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 Rio Rico. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Rio Rico:

  • Hidalgo County     (The home county of Rio Rico)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rio Rico, with the one closest to Rio Rico listed first.
    • Relampago
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Relampago have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Relampago
      • Relampago is located in Hidalgo County
    • Progreso
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Progreso have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Progreso
      • Progreso is located in Hidalgo County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,979 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Progreso <2>
    • Progreso Lakes
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Progreso Lakes have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Progreso Lakes
      • Progreso Lakes is located in Hidalgo County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 270 people
    • Mercedes
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Llano Grande
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Llano Grande have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Llano Grande
      • Llano Grande is located in Hidalgo County
    • Villa Verde
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Villa Verde have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Villa Verde
      • Villa Verde is located in Hidalgo County
      • Villa Verde has also been known as:
      • Villa Verde Colonia
    • Heidelberg
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Heidelberg have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heidelberg
      • Heidelberg is located in Hidalgo County
    • Weslaco
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Indian Hills
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Midway South
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Midway Village
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Midway Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midway Village
      • Midway Village is located in Hidalgo County
      • Midway Village has also been known as:
      • Midway Village Colonia
    • Midway North
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Cameron County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rio Rico, with the one closest to Rio Rico listed first.
    • Longoria Townsite
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Longoria Townsite have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longoria Townsite
      • Longoria Townsite is located in Cameron County
      • Longoria Townsite has also been known as:
      • Longoria Townsite Colonia
    • Santa Maria
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • 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>
    • Bluetown - Iglesia Antigua
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Bluetown
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Bixby
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Arroyo Alto
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Arroyo Alto have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arroyo Alto
      • Arroyo Alto is located in Cameron County
    • Solis
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • 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
    • North La Feria Village
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • 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
    • La Feria North
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • La Feria
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Windsong Village
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • 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
    • Los Indios
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Los Indios have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Los Indios
      • Los Indios is located in Cameron County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,058 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Los Indios <2>
  • Willacy County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rio Rico, with the one closest to Rio Rico listed first.
    • Sebastian
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Zapata Ranch
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • 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
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • 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
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Lyford South
      • From Rio Rico to Lyford South
    • Lyford
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • 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>
    • Santa Monica
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Lasara
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • 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>
    • Ranchette Estates
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • 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
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Los Angeles Subdivision
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • 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

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

Cemeteries Near Rio Rico ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Rio Rico.

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

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

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.<5>

While we didn't find Rio Rico in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Rio Rico.

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

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

Newspapers Published in Rio Rico ...

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 12 newspapers that have been published in the area around Rio Rico.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Rio Rico, there are papers which were published within 12 miles [19.3 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Rio Rico.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we 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 Rio Rico:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Rio Rico. 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>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 Rio Rico, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>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- Rio Rico) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Rio Rico. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 26.0582, Longitude: -97.8896    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025