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 South Fork (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 South Fork. 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 South Fork ...

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.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might have occurred.

South Fork has also been known as: South Fork Colonia.

• A typical abbreviation for South Fork: S. Fork

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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most 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.

South Fork is located in Jim Hogg 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 Jim Hogg County: Brooks, Duval, Starr, Webb & Zapata.

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

• Jim Hogg County     (The home county of South Fork)
  • The following are listed by their distance from South Fork, with the one closest to South Fork listed first.
  • South Fork Estates
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Fork Estates have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Fork Estates
    • South Fork Estates is located in Jim Hogg County
  • Hebbronville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hebbronville
    • Hebbronville is located in Jim Hogg County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hebbronville <2>
  • Las Lomitas
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Las Lomitas have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Las Lomitas
    • Las Lomitas is located in Jim Hogg County
  • Guerra
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guerra
    • Guerra is located in Jim Hogg County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Guerra <2>
• Duval County
  • The following are listed by their distance from South Fork, with the one closest to South Fork listed first.
  • Realitos
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Realitos have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Realitos
    • Realitos is located in Duval County
    • Realitos has also been known as:
    • Realitos Colonia
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Realitos <2>
  • Concepcion
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Concepcion have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Concepcion
    • Concepcion is located in Duval County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Concepcion <2>
  • Santa Cruz
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Santa Cruz
    • Santa Cruz is located in Duval County
  • Benavides
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Benavides have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benavides
    • Benavides is located in Duval County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,391 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Benavides <2>
  • Rios
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rios
    • Rios is located in Duval County
• Webb County
  • The following are listed by their distance from South Fork, with the one closest to South Fork listed first.
  • Bruni
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bruni have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bruni
    • Bruni is located in Webb County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bruni <2>
  • Los Ojuelos ‑ Historic
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Los Ojuelos have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Los Ojuelos
    • Los Ojuelos is located in Webb County
  • Mirando City Addition
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mirando City Addition have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mirando City Addition
    • Mirando City Addition is located in Webb County
    • Mirando City Addition has also been known as:
    • Mirando City Addition Colonia
  • Mirando City
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mirando City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mirando City
    • Mirando City is located in Webb County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mirando City <2>
  • Oilton
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oilton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oilton
    • Oilton is located in Webb County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oilton <2>

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

Newspapers Published in South Fork ...

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 3 newspapers that have been published in the area around South Fork.

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

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 South Fork:

• Websites specific to Texas
  • Jump to Cyndi's List
  • Jump to Family Search
  • Jump to Genealogy Trails
  • Website for the //www.tsl.texas.gov/

• Pages specific to Jim Hogg County
  • Jump to Cyndi's List
  • Jump to Family Search
  • Jump to Genealogy Trails

• Genealogy information for nearby counties
  • Duval County
    • Jump to Cyndi's List
    • Jump to Family Search
    • Jump to Genealogy Trails
  • Webb County
    • Jump to Cyndi's List
    • Jump to Family Search
    • Jump to Genealogy Trails

• Cemetery Information and Directories for Texas
  • Cemetery Junction: Cemeteries of Texas
  • Cyndi's List
  • Cemeteries of Texas
  • Cemeteries of Jim Hogg County
  • FamilySearch.org: Cemeteries of Texas
  • Find-A-Grave: Home Page
  • Interment.net
  • Cemeteries of Texas

Cemeteries Near South Fork ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of South Fork.

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

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

• New Hebbronville Cemetery
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the New Hebbronville Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the New Hebbronville Cemetery
• Old Hebbronville Cemetery
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Hebbronville Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Hebbronville Cemetery
• Greenhill Cemetery
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Greenhill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Greenhill Cemetery
• Ramirez Cemetery
  (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ramirez Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ramirez Cemetery
• Ramos Cemetery
  (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ramos Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ramos Cemetery
• Vicinity Cemetery
  (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Vicinity Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Vicinity Cemetery
• Ramirez Cemetery
  (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ramirez Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ramirez Cemetery
• Conception Cemetery
  (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Conception Cemetery
• Perez Cemetery
  (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Perez Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Perez Cemetery
• Loma Blanca Cemetery
  (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Loma Blanca Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Loma Blanca Cemetery
• Velas Cemetery
  (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Velas Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Velas Cemetery
• Copita Cemetery
  (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
  • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Copita Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Copita Cemetery
• Continue List   (13 more) ...
  • Gracia Cemetery
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Gracia Cemetery is located 15 miles [24.1 km]<3> to the southwest of Zapata.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Gracia Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2518825 <5>
  • Camaron Cemetery
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Camaron Cemetery is located 15 miles [24.1 km]<3> to the southwest of Zapata.
    • The Camaron Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Cameron Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Camaron Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2717 <5>
  • Billings Cemetery
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Billings Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Billings Cemetery

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

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

• Realitos
  (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Realitos have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Realitos
  • Realitos is located in Duval County
  • Realitos has also been known as:
  • Realitos Colonia
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Realitos <2>
• Conception
  (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Conception have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conception
  • Conception is located in Duval County
• Aguilares
  (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Aguilares have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aguilares
  • Aguilares is located in Webb County
• Benavides
  (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Benavides have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benavides
  • Benavides is located in Duval County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,391 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Benavides <2>

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

Off-the-Road Links ...

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

The official website for State of Texas: https://texas.gov/