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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 Rock Island (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 Rock Island. 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.

Name Variations for Rock Island ...

When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Rock Island: Rock Is. (in Canada, 'Isld.' is the more common abbreviation.)

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Rock Island. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Rock Island.

If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.

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.

Rock Island is located in Colorado 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 Colorado County: Austin, Fayette, Lavaca & Wharton.

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

  • Colorado County     (The home county of Rock Island)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rock Island, with the one closest to Rock Island listed first.
    • Sheridan
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Altair
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Glidden
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Columbus
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Garwood
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Boedecker Junction
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Boedecker Junction is located in Colorado County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boedecker Junction
    • Eldridge
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Eldridge is located in Colorado County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eldridge
    • Alleyton
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Ramsey
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Ramsey is located in Colorado County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ramsey
    • Borden
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Borden is located in Colorado County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Borden
    • New Bielau ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • New Bielau is located in Colorado County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Bielau
    • Nada
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Eagle Lake
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
  • Austin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rock Island, with the one closest to Rock Island listed first.
    • New Ulm
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Rexville ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Rexville is located in Austin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rexville
    • Cat Spring
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Industry
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
    • Millheim
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Millheim is located in Austin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millheim
    • Sealy
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Fayette County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rock Island, with the one closest to Rock Island listed first.
    • Dubina ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Dubina is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dubina
    • Ellinger
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Schulenburg
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Fayetteville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Joiner
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Joiner is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joiner
    • Freyburg
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Freyburg is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freyburg
    • Halsted
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Halsted is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halsted
    • Engle
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Engle is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Engle
    • Hostyn
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Hostyn is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hostyn
  • Jackson County
    • Morales
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Morales is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morales
  • Lavaca County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rock Island, with the one closest to Rock Island listed first.
    • Sublime
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Hackberry ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Hackberry is located in Lavaca County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hackberry
    • Speaks
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Gleckler
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Gleckler is located in Lavaca County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gleckler
    • Hallettsville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Moravia
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Moravia is located in Lavaca County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moravia
    • Breslau
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Breslau is located in Lavaca County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Breslau
    • Ezzell
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Ezzell is located in Lavaca County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ezzell
    • Komensky
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Komensky is located in Lavaca County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Komensky
    • Wied
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Wied is located in Lavaca County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wied
  • Wharton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rock Island, with the one closest to Rock Island listed first.
    • Bonus
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Bonus is located in Wharton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonus
    • Hahn
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Hahn is located in Wharton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hahn
    • Lissie
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Egypt
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Nottawa
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Nottawa is located in Wharton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nottawa
    • Glen Flora
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • El Campo
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Hillje
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Hillje is located in Wharton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillje
    • East Bernard
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
    • Louise
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
    • Pierce
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)

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

Cemeteries Near Rock Island ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Rock Island.

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 Rock Island - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Myrtle Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Cheetham Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Miller Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Miller Creek Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Ijams Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Garwood Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Garwood Methodist Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Pinchback Obenchain Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Smoothingiron Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Brownson Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Odd Fellows Rest Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • St. Anthony's Catholic Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (148 more) ...
    • Willing Workers Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Shepard Memorial Park
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shepard Memorial Park
      • The Shepard Memorial Park has also been known as:
      • Glidden Cemetery
    • Adams Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)

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.<2>

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

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

  • Altair
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Glidden
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Columbus
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
  • Sublime
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Ramsey
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Ramsey is located in Colorado County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ramsey
  • Alleyton
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Borden
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Borden is located in Colorado County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Borden
  • Eagle Lake
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
  • Vienna
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Vienna is located in Lavaca County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vienna
  • Oakland
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
  • Mentz
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Mentz is located in Colorado County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mentz
  • Hackberry ‑ Historic
    (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Hackberry is located in Lavaca County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hackberry
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Kinkler
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Kinkler is located in Lavaca County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kinkler
    • Dubina ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Dubina is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dubina
    • Gleckler
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Gleckler is located in Lavaca County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gleckler

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

Newspapers Published in Rock Island ...

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 45 newspapers that have been published in the area around Rock Island.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Rock Island, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Rock Island.

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 professional and volunteer 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 Rock Island:

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>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 Rock Island, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Rock Island) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.