RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Texas >> Hidalgo County >> Tropicana Colonia >> Genealogy HelperIndex...

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 Tropicana Colonia (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 Tropicana Colonia. 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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals 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.

Tropicana Colonia is located in Hidalgo 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 Hidalgo County: Brooks, Cameron, Kenedy, Starr & Willacy.

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

  • Hidalgo County     (The home county of Tropicana Colonia)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Tropicana Colonia, with the one closest to Tropicana Colonia listed first.
    • La Blanca
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Elsa
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Elsa is located in Hidalgo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elsa
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,120 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elsa <1>
    • San Carlos
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • San Carlos is located in Hidalgo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for San Carlos
    • Edcouch
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Muniz
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Muniz is located in Hidalgo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Muniz
      • Muniz has also been known as:
      • Muniz Colonia
    • Cesar Chavez
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Cesar Chavez is located in Hidalgo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cesar Chavez
    • Olivarez
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Olivarez is located in Hidalgo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olivarez
    • Murillo
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Murillo is located in Hidalgo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Murillo
      • Murillo has also been known as:
      • Murillo Colonia
    • Nurillo
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Nurillo is located in Hidalgo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nurillo
    • Gate City Acres
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Gate City Acres is located in Hidalgo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gate City Acres
      • Gate City Acres has also been known as:
      • Gate City Acres Colonia
    • Monte Alto
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Doolittle
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Doolittle is located in Hidalgo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doolittle
    • Edinburg
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Cameron County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Tropicana Colonia, with the one closest to Tropicana Colonia listed first.
    • Grand Acres
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Grand Acres is located in Cameron County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand Acres
    • Santa Rosa
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Tierra Bonita
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • 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
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Ratamosa is located in Cameron County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ratamosa
      • Ratamosa has also been known as:
      • Ratamosa Colonia
    • Yznaga
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Yznaga is located in Cameron County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yznaga
    • Bixby
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Bixby is located in Cameron County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bixby
    • Solis
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Solis is located in Cameron County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Solis
      • Solis has also been known as:
      • Solis Colonia
    • La Feria North
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • La Feria North is located in Cameron County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Feria North
    • La Feria
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • North La Feria Village
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • 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
    • Windsong Village
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • 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
    • Arroyo Alto
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Arroyo Alto is located in Cameron County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arroyo Alto
    • Palm Valley
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Palm Valley is located in Cameron County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palm Valley
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,231 people
  • Willacy County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Tropicana Colonia, with the one closest to Tropicana Colonia listed first.
    • Zapata Ranch
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • 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
    • Lasara
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Sebastian
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Lyford South
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • 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
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Ranchette Estates
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • 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
    • Los Angeles Subdivision
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Raymondville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Santa Monica
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Santa Monica is located in Willacy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Santa Monica
    • San Perlita
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Willamar
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Willamar is located in Willacy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willamar

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

Cemeteries Near Tropicana Colonia ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Tropicana Colonia.

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 Tropicana Colonia - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Cementerio Anahuac Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Old Edinburg Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Highland Memorial Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Restlawn Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Restlawn Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Restlawn Cemetery is located outside and to the northeast of Edinburg.
  • Hillcrest Memorial Park
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Cavazos Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • San Jose Ranch Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Cementerio de las Burras Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Cibilo Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • St. Joseph Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Donna City Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Donna City Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Donna City Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Donna.
    • The Donna City Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Donna Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #323371 <2>
  • Valle De La Paz Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (74 more) ...

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

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

  • Hidalgo
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
  • Los Angeles
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Los Angeles is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Los Angeles
  • Santa Maria
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
  • Havana
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Havana is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Havana

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

Newspapers Published in Tropicana Colonia ...

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 17 newspapers that have been published in the area around Tropicana Colonia.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Tropicana Colonia, there are papers which were published within 7 miles [11.3 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Tropicana Colonia.

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 helpful 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 Tropicana Colonia:

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>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.
<3>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- Tropicana Colonia) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Tropicana Colonia, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.