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 Santa Rosa (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 Santa Rosa. 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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.
Santa Rosa is located in Cameron 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 Cameron County: Hidalgo & Willacy.
Below are the counties that are near Santa Rosa. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Santa Rosa:
- Cameron County (The home county of Santa Rosa)
- The following are listed by their distance from Santa Rosa, with the one closest to Santa Rosa listed first.
- Grand Acres
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Grand Acres is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand Acres
- Tierra Bonita
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Tierra Bonita is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tierra Bonita
- Tierra Bonita has also been known as:
- Tierra Bonita Colonia
- Ratamosa
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Ratamosa is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ratamosa
- Ratamosa has also been known as:
- Ratamosa Colonia
- Yznaga
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Yznaga is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yznaga
- La Feria North
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- La Feria North is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Feria North
- Windsong Village
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Windsong Village is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windsong Village
- Windsong Village has also been known as:
- Windsong Village Colonia
- Palm Valley
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Palm Valley is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palm Valley
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,231 people
- Primera
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Primera is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Primera
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,271 people
- Combes
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Combes is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Combes
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,037 people
- Combes has also been known as:
- Combes Colonia
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Combes <1>
- La Feria
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- North La Feria Village
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- North La Feria Village is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North La Feria Village
- North La Feria Village has also been known as:
- North La Feria Village Colonia
- Las Palmas - Juarez
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Las Palmas - Juarez is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Las Palmas - Juarez
- Hidalgo County
- The following are listed by their distance from Santa Rosa, with the one closest to Santa Rosa listed first.
- Heidelberg
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Heidelberg is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heidelberg
- Indian Hills
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Indian Hills is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Hills
- La Villa
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- La Villa is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Villa
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,935 people
- Edcouch
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Mila Doce
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Mila Doce is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mila Doce
- Mercedes
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Elsa
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Olivarez
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Olivarez is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olivarez
- Monte Alto
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Llano Grande
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Llano Grande is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Llano Grande
- Weslaco
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Midway North
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Midway North is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midway North
- Willacy County
- The following are listed by their distance from Santa Rosa, with the one closest to Santa Rosa listed first.
- Sebastian
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Zapata Ranch
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Zapata Ranch is located in Willacy County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zapata Ranch
- Zapata Ranch has also been known as:
- Zapata Ranch Colonia
- Lyford South
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Lyford South is located in Willacy County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyford South
- Lyford South has also been known as:
- Lyford South Colonia
- Lyford
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Lasara
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Ranchette Estates
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Ranchette Estates is located in Willacy County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ranchette Estates
- Ranchette Estates has also been known as:
- Ranchette Estates Colonia
- Raymondville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Santa Monica
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Santa Monica is located in Willacy County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Santa Monica
- Los Angeles Subdivision
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Willamar
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Willamar is located in Willacy County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willamar
- San Perlita
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Santa Rosa, see our County-by-County Page for Santa Rosa.
Cemeteries Near Santa Rosa ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Santa Rosa.
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 Santa Rosa - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Santa Rosa covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Santa Rosa, with the one closest to Santa Rosa listed first.
- Hinojosa Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- La Capilla Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- San Rafael Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- El Azadon Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Santa Rita Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Santa Rita Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Santa Rita Cemetery is located 2 miles [3.2 km]<2> to the west of Sebastian.
- Solis Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- La Feria Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Restlawn Memorial Park
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- San Jose Ranch Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Campacuas Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Cementerio de las Burras Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Anacuitas Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (70 more) ...
- Ashland Memorial Park
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashland Memorial Park
- The Ashland Memorial Park has also been known as:
- Loma Linda Cemetery
- Los Omales Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Cementerio Bautista Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
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 Santa Rosa in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Santa Rosa.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Santa Rosa, with the one closest to Santa Rosa listed first.
- Santa Maria
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Hidalgo
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Los Angeles
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Los Angeles is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Los Angeles
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Santa Rosa. See our List of 1890's Communities around Santa Rosa.
Newspapers Published in Santa Rosa ...
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 19 newspapers that have been published in the area around Santa Rosa.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Santa Rosa, there are papers which were published within 12 miles [19.3 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Santa Rosa.
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 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 Santa Rosa:
- Websites specific to Texas
- Pages specific to Cameron County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Hidalgo County
- Willacy County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Texas
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> | 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 from Point A (ie- Santa Rosa) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <3> | 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. |
| <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 Santa Rosa, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |