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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 Van Pelt (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 Van Pelt. 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 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.

Van Pelt is located in Brazoria 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 Brazoria County: Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Matagorda & Wharton.

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

  • Brazoria County     (The home county of Van Pelt)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Van Pelt, with the one closest to Van Pelt listed first.
    • Angleton
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Bastrop Beach
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Bastrop Beach is located in Brazoria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bastrop Beach
    • Bailey's Prairie
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Bailey's Prairie is located in Brazoria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bailey's Prairie
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 777 people
    • Lake Jackson
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Richwood
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Holiday Lakes
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Holiday Lakes is located in Brazoria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holiday Lakes
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,225 people
    • Clute
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Clute is located in Brazoria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clute
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 11,724 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clute <1>
    • Chenango
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Chenango is located in Brazoria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chenango
    • Danbury
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Brazoria
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Jones Creek
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • East Columbia
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • East Columbia is located in Brazoria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Columbia
  • Fort Bend County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Van Pelt, with the one closest to Van Pelt listed first.
    • Juliff
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Juliff is located in Fort Bend County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Juliff
    • Hawdon
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Hawdon is located in Fort Bend County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hawdon
      • Hawdon has also been known as:
      • Hawdon Junction
    • Sienna Plantation
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Sienna Plantation is located in Fort Bend County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sienna Plantation
    • Arcola
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Arcola is located in Fort Bend County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arcola
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,775 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Arcola <1>
    • Guy
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Thompsons
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Fresno
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Trammels
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Trammels is located in Fort Bend County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trammels
    • Fairchilds
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Fairchilds is located in Fort Bend County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairchilds
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,359 people
    • Dewalt
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Dewalt is located in Fort Bend County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dewalt
    • Missouri City
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
    • Booth
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Galveston County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Van Pelt, with the one closest to Van Pelt listed first.
    • Arcadia
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Arcadia is located in Galveston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arcadia
    • Santa Fe
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Jamaica Beach
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Carmel Village
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Carmel Village is located in Galveston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carmel Village
    • Friendswood
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Hitchcock
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Parkwood Village
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Parkwood Village is located in Galveston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkwood Village
    • Quaker Village
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Quaker Village is located in Galveston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quaker Village
  • Matagorda County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Van Pelt, with the one closest to Van Pelt listed first.
    • Cedar Lane
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Sargent
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Caney
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Caney is located in Matagorda County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caney
    • Pledger
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Van Vleck
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
  • Wharton County
    • Newgulf
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)

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

Cemeteries Near Van Pelt ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Van Pelt.

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 Van Pelt - one of the links might be able to help.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Van Pelt, with the one closest to Van Pelt 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.<4>

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

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

  • Chenango
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Chenango is located in Brazoria County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chenango
  • Brazoria
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Oyster Creek
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Oyster Creek is located in Brazoria County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oyster Creek
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,212 people
  • Velasco
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Velasco is located in Brazoria County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Velasco
  • Bonney
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Bonney is located in Brazoria County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonney
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 380 people
  • Hinkles Ferry
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Hinkles Ferry is located in Brazoria County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hinkles Ferry
  • Liverpool
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Quintana
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Sandy Point
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Sandy Point is located in Brazoria County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Point
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 238 people
  • Alvin
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Alvin is located in Brazoria County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alvin
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 27,140 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Alvin <1>
  • Arcadia
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Arcadia is located in Galveston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arcadia
  • Arcola Junction
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Arcola Junction is located in Fort Bend County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arcola Junction
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Arcola
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Arcola is located in Fort Bend County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arcola
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,775 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Arcola <1>
    • Duke
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Duke is located in Fort Bend County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duke
    • Thompsons
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)

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

Newspapers Published in Van Pelt ...

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 41 newspapers that have been published in the area around Van Pelt.

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

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 Van Pelt:

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' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Van Pelt) 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 Van Pelt, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.