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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 Stafford (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 Stafford. 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 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.

Stafford is primarily located in Fort Bend County. A portion of Stafford extends into Harris 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 Fort Bend County: Austin, Brazoria, Harris, Waller & Wharton.

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

  • Fort Bend County     (The home county of Stafford)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Stafford, with the one closest to Stafford listed first.
    • Missouri City Estates
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Missouri City Estates have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Missouri City Estates
      • Missouri City Estates is located in Fort Bend County
    • Fifth Street
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fifth Street have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fifth Street
      • Fifth Street is located in Fort Bend County
    • Meadows Place
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Meadows Place have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadows Place
      • Meadows Place is located in Fort Bend County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,813 people
    • Meadows
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Meadows came from an uncertain source and they still need to be verified:<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadows
      • Meadows is located in Fort Bend County
    • Missouri City
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Missouri City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Missouri City
      • Missouri City is located in Fort Bend County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 76,643 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Missouri City <3>
    • Dewalt
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • First Colony
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for First Colony have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for First Colony
      • First Colony is located in Fort Bend County
    • Sugar Land
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Town West
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Town West have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Town West
      • Town West is located in Fort Bend County
    • Trammels
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Mission Bend
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mission Bend have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mission Bend
      • Mission Bend is located in Fort Bend County
    • New Territory
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Territory have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Territory
      • New Territory is located in Fort Bend County
    • Booth
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Austin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Stafford, with the one closest to Stafford listed first.
    • Brazos Country
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brazos Country have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brazos Country
      • Brazos Country is located in Austin County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 472 people
    • Wallis
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Brazoria County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Stafford, with the one closest to Stafford listed first.
    • Fairway Village
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fairway Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairway Village
      • Fairway Village is located in Brazoria County
    • Iowa Colony
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Iowa Colony have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iowa Colony
      • Iowa Colony is located in Brazoria County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,888 people
    • Brookside Village
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brookside Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookside Village
      • Brookside Village is located in Brazoria County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,582 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Brookside Village <3>
    • West Oaks Village
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Oaks Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Oaks Village
      • West Oaks Village is located in Brazoria County
    • Manvel
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Manvel have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manvel
      • Manvel is located in Brazoria County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 13,867 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Manvel <3>
    • Pearland
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Westwood Village
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Westwood Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westwood Village
      • Westwood Village is located in Brazoria County
    • Sandy Point
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Lochridge
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Woodcreek
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Rosharon
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Bonney
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bonney. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonney
      • Bonney is located in Brazoria County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 380 people
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Bonney
      • From Stafford to Bonney
    • Alvin
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alvin have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alvin
      • Alvin is located in Brazoria County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 27,140 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Alvin <3>
  • Galveston County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Stafford, with the one closest to Stafford listed first.
    • Friendswood
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Friendswood have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friendswood
      • Friendswood is located in Galveston County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 40,011 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Friendswood <3>
    • Quaker Village
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Quaker Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quaker Village
      • Quaker Village is located in Galveston County
    • Carmel Village
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Carmel Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carmel Village
      • Carmel Village is located in Galveston County
    • Parkwood Village
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Parkwood Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkwood Village
      • Parkwood Village is located in Galveston County
    • League City
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
  • Harris County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Stafford, with the one closest to Stafford listed first.
    • Cambridge Village
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cambridge Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cambridge Village
      • Cambridge Village is located in Harris County
    • Post Oak Village
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Post Oak Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Post Oak Village
      • Post Oak Village is located in Harris County
    • Alief
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alief have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alief
      • Alief is located in Harris County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Alief <3>
    • Brays Village East
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brays Village East have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brays Village East
      • Brays Village East is located in Harris County
    • Catalina Village
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Catalina Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Catalina Village
      • Catalina Village is located in Harris County
    • Bellaire
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bellaire have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellaire
      • Bellaire is located in Harris County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 18,906 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bellaire <3>
    • Ashford Village
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ashford Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashford Village
      • Ashford Village is located in Harris County
    • Westpark Village
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Westpark Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westpark Village
      • Westpark Village is located in Harris County
    • Canterbury Village
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Canterbury Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canterbury Village
      • Canterbury Village is located in Harris County
    • Southside Place
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Bunker Hill Village
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bunker Hill Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bunker Hill Village
      • Bunker Hill Village is located in Harris County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,901 people
    • Piney Point Village
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Parkway Villages
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Parkway Villages have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkway Villages
      • Parkway Villages is located in Harris County
  • Waller County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Stafford, with the one closest to Stafford listed first.
    • Brookshire
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brookshire have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookshire
      • Brookshire is located in Waller County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,095 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Brookshire <3>
    • Pattison
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Stafford ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Stafford.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Stafford, with the one closest to Stafford 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.<6>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Stafford had a population of 57 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Stafford had a population of 17,052 people.

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

  • Sugar Land
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Jeanetta
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jeanetta have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jeanetta
    • Jeanetta is located in Harris County
  • Duke
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Duke have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duke
    • Duke is located in Fort Bend County
  • Thompsons
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Thompsons have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thompsons
    • Thompsons is located in Fort Bend County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 367 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Thompsons <3>
  • Arcola
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Arcola have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arcola
    • Arcola is located in Fort Bend County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,775 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Arcola <3>
  • Arcola Junction
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Arcola Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arcola Junction
    • Arcola Junction is located in Fort Bend County
  • Harlem
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Harlem. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harlem
    • Harlem is located in Fort Bend County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Harlem
    • From Stafford to Harlem
  • Crabb
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crabb have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crabb
    • Crabb is located in Fort Bend County
  • Pierce Junction
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pierce Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pierce Junction
    • Pierce Junction is located in Harris County
  • Piney Point Village
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Clodine
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Richmond
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Richmond have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richmond
    • Richmond is located in Fort Bend County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 12,483 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Richmond <3>
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Addicks
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Houston
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Rosenberg
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rosenberg have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosenberg
      • Rosenberg is located in Fort Bend County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 39,350 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rosenberg <3>

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Stafford ...

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 Stafford.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Stafford. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Stafford and those printed in the larger area surrounding Stafford.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 4 miles [6.4 km]<7> of Stafford.

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 Stafford:

The official website for Stafford: www.cityofstafford.com/

The official website for Fort Bend County: www.co.fort-bend.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>If we found a location and have questions about the accuracy of our information, we will simply say that the marker is 'in the vicinity'. We are not confident about the location and the position of our marker is only a rough guide. If we have too many doubts about the location, we will not include it in our database.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>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.
<5>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.
<6>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 Stafford, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<7>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- Stafford) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Stafford. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 29.6160, Longitude: -95.5568    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025