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 Victoria Belen (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 Victoria Belen. 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 Victoria Belen ...
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.
Victoria Belen has also been known as: Victoria Belen Colonia.
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 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.
Victoria Belen 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 Victoria Belen. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Victoria Belen:
- Hidalgo County (The home county of Victoria Belen)
- The following are listed by their distance from Victoria Belen, with the one closest to Victoria Belen listed first.
- Midway South
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Midway South is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midway South
- Midway Village
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Midway Village is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midway Village
- Midway Village has also been known as:
- Midway Village Colonia
- Donna
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Scissors
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Scissors is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scissors
- Weslaco
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Midway North
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Midway North is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midway North
- Villa Verde
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Villa Verde is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Villa Verde
- Villa Verde has also been known as:
- Villa Verde Colonia
- Llano Grande
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Llano Grande is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Llano Grande
- South Alamo
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- South Alamo is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Alamo
- Olivarez
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Olivarez is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olivarez
- North Alamo Village
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- North Alamo Village is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Alamo Village
- North Alamo Village has also been known as:
- North Alamo Village Colonia
- Alamo
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Plumosa Village
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Plumosa Village is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plumosa Village
- Plumosa Village has also been known as:
- Plumosa Village Colonia
- Cameron County
- The following are listed by their distance from Victoria Belen, with the one closest to Victoria Belen listed first.
- Bixby
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Bixby is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bixby
- North La Feria Village
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- 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
- Ratamosa
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Ratamosa is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ratamosa
- Ratamosa has also been known as:
- Ratamosa Colonia
- Solis
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Solis is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Solis
- Solis has also been known as:
- Solis Colonia
- Longoria Townsite
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Longoria Townsite is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longoria Townsite
- Longoria Townsite has also been known as:
- Longoria Townsite Colonia
- Santa Maria
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Arroyo Alto
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Arroyo Alto is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arroyo Alto
- La Feria North
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- La Feria North is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Feria North
- La Feria
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Windsong Village
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- 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
- Bluetown - Iglesia Antigua
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Bluetown
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Bluetown is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluetown
- Bluetown has also been known as:
- Blue Town
- Bluetown Colonia
- Grand Acres
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Grand Acres is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand Acres
- Willacy County
- The following are listed by their distance from Victoria Belen, with the one closest to Victoria Belen listed first.
- Zapata Ranch
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- 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
- Sebastian
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Lasara
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Lyford South
(22 miles [35.4 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
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Ranchette Estates
(26 miles [41.8 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
- Raymondville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Los Angeles Subdivision
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Santa Monica
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Santa Monica is located in Willacy County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Santa Monica
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Victoria Belen, see our County-by-County Page for Victoria Belen.
Cemeteries Near Victoria Belen ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Victoria Belen.
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 Victoria Belen - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Victoria Belen covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Victoria Belen, with the one closest to Victoria Belen listed first.
- Donna City Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- 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>
- Weslaco Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- St. Joseph Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Asadores Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Balli Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Highland Memorial Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Webber Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- San Pedro Ranch Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Cementerio Bautista Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery is located outside and to the northwest of Mercedes.
- The Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery has also been known as:
- Emmanuel Cemetery
- Mercedes Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2184663 <2>
- Mercedes Baptist Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mercedes Baptist Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Mercedes Baptist Cemetery is located outside and to the northwest of Mercedes.
- The Mercedes Baptist Cemetery has also been known as:
- Cementerio Bautista
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2827 <2>
- Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Cemetery is located outside and to the northwest of Mercedes.
- The Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Cemetery has also been known as:
- Our Lady of Mercy Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #5844 <2>
- Continue List (69 more) ...
- Mercedes Presbyterian Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mercedes Presbyterian Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Mercedes Presbyterian Cemetery is located outside and to the northwest of Mercedes.
- The Mercedes Presbyterian Cemetery has also been known as:
- Principe de Paz Presbyterian Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2403957 <2>
- Anacuitas Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Campacuas Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
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.<3>
While we didn't find Victoria Belen in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Victoria Belen.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Victoria Belen, with the one closest to Victoria Belen listed first.
- Santa Maria
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Hidalgo
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Los Angeles
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Los Angeles is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Los Angeles
- 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 Victoria Belen. See our List of 1890's Communities around Victoria Belen.
Newspapers Published in Victoria Belen ...
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 11 newspapers that have been published in the area around Victoria Belen.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Victoria Belen, there are papers which were published within 7 miles [11.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Victoria Belen.
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 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 Victoria Belen:
- Websites specific to Texas
- Pages specific to Hidalgo County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Cameron 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> | 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> | 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 Victoria Belen, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Victoria Belen) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |