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 Vidor (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 Vidor. 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/Parishes ...
When searching for family records, we have frequently made the mistake of not checking the neighboring counties/parishes.
For example, we have great-grandparents who lived in the southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors 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/parishes 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/parishes, we would have missed many valuable sources of information.
If you're in a similar situation, we hope that the following information helps.
Vidor is located in Orange 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 Orange County: Calcasieu (LA), Cameron (LA), Hardin, Jasper, Jefferson & Newton.
Below are the counties/parishes that are near Vidor. For each of these counties/parishes, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Vidor:
- Orange County (The home county of Vidor)
- The following are listed by their distance from Vidor, with the one closest to Vidor listed first.
- Pine Grove
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Pine Grove is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Grove
- Rose City
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Rose City is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rose City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 489 people
- Pine Forest
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Pine Forest is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Forest
- Population from the 2020 Census: 516 people
- Terry
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Terry is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Terry
- Mauriceville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Texla
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Texla is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Texla
- Orangefield
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Lemonville ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Lemonville is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lemonville
- Bridge City
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Pinehurst
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Pinehurst is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinehurst
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,959 people
- West Orange
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Orange
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Hardin County
- The following are listed by their distance from Vidor, with the one closest to Vidor listed first.
- Loeb
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Loeb is located in Hardin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loeb
- Rose Hill Acres
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Rose Hill Acres is located in Hardin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rose Hill Acres
- Population from the 2020 Census: 435 people
- Lumberton
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Silsbee
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Pinewood Estates
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Pinewood Estates is located in Hardin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinewood Estates
- Grayburg
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Grayburg is located in Hardin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grayburg
- Sour Lake
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Kountze
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Jasper County
- The following are listed by their distance from Vidor, with the one closest to Vidor listed first.
- Evadale
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Bunker Hill
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Bunker Hill is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bunker Hill
- Buna
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Jefferson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Vidor, with the one closest to Vidor listed first.
- Higgins
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Higgins is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Higgins
- Beaumont
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Central Gardens
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Central Gardens is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central Gardens
- Nederland
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Port Neches
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Amelia
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Amelia is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amelia
- Voth
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Groves
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Port Acres
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Bevil Oaks
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Bevil Oaks is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bevil Oaks
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,209 people
- Pine Island
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Pine Island is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Island
- Port Arthur
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Newton County
- Deweyville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Calcasieu Parish (LA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Vidor, with the one closest to Vidor listed first.
- Starks
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Vinton
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Vinton is located in Calcasieu Parish (LA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vinton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,211 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Vinton <1>
- Edgerly
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Edgerly is located in Calcasieu Parish (LA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgerly
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Vidor, see our County-by-County Page for Vidor.
Cemeteries Near Vidor ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Vidor.
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 Vidor - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Vidor covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Vidor, with the one closest to Vidor listed first.
- Mansfield Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Restlawn Memorial Park
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Sullivan Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Singleton Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Stephenson Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Kishi Colony Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Adcock Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Forest Lawn Memorial Park
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Magnolia Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Floyd Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Williams Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Linscomb Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Continue List (70 more) ...
- Anthony Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anthony Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Anthony Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Beaumont.
- The Anthony Cemetery has also been known as:
- Dan Gill Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2130 <2>
- Thomas Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Bland 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 Vidor in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Vidor.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Vidor, with the one closest to Vidor listed first.
- Terry
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Terry is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Terry
- Beaumont
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Tulane
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Tulane is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tulane
- Rosedale
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Rosedale is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosedale
- Amelia
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Amelia is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amelia
- Orange
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Pine Island
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Pine Island is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Island
- Echo
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Echo is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Echo
- La Belle
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- La Belle is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Belle
- Continue List (6 more) ...
- China
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Nona
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Nona is located in Hardin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nona
- Sour Lake
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Vinton
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Vinton is located in Calcasieu Parish (LA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vinton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,211 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Vinton <1>
- Kountze
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Sabine Pass
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Vidor. See our List of 1890's Communities around Vidor.
Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Vidor ...
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 69 newspapers that have been published in the area around Vidor.
We have organized these newspapers into two lists:
- A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Vidor. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Vidor and those printed in the larger area surrounding Vidor.
- An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<4> of Vidor.
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 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 Vidor:
- Websites specific to Texas
- Pages specific to Orange County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Hardin County
- Jasper County
- Jefferson County
- Newton County
- Calcasieu Parish
- 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 Vidor, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | 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- Vidor) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |