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 Villa de Martinez (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 Villa de Martinez. 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 Villa de Martinez ...

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.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might have occurred.

Villa de Martinez has also been known as: Villa de Martinez 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 northwest 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 north.

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 north 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.

Villa de Martinez is located in Starr 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 Starr County: Brooks, Hidalgo, Jim Hogg & Zapata.

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

• Starr County     (The home county of Villa de Martinez)
  • The following are listed by their distance from Villa de Martinez, with the one closest to Villa de Martinez listed first.
  • Escobares
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Escobares
    • Escobares is located in Starr County
    • Estimated population in 2015: 2,451 people
  • North Escobares
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Escobares have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Escobares
    • North Escobares is located in Starr County
  • Roma
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roma
    • Roma is located in Starr County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 11,476 people
    • Roma has also been known as:
    • Roma - Los Saenz
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Roma <2>
  • Roma Creek
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Roma Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roma Creek
    • Roma Creek is located in Starr County
  • Garceno
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garceno
    • Garceno is located in Starr County
  • La Rosita
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for La Rosita have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Rosita
    • La Rosita is located in Starr County
  • Miguel Barrera
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Miguel Barrera
    • Miguel Barrera is located in Starr County
    • Miguel Barrera has also been known as:
    • Miguel Barrera Colonia
  • Los Alvarez
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Los Alvarez have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Los Alvarez
    • Los Alvarez is located in Starr County
  • Fronton
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fronton
    • Fronton is located in Starr County
  • Los Villareales
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Los Villareales have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Los Villareales
    • Los Villareales is located in Starr County
  • Rio Grande City
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rio Grande City
    • Rio Grande City is located in Starr County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 14,439 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rio Grande City <2>
  • Salineno
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salineno
    • Salineno is located in Starr County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Salineno <2>
• Hidalgo County
  • The following are listed by their distance from Villa de Martinez, with the one closest to Villa de Martinez listed first.
  • Cuevitas
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cuevitas have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cuevitas
    • Cuevitas is located in Hidalgo County
  • Sullivan City
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sullivan City
    • Sullivan City is located in Hidalgo County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,220 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sullivan City <2>
  • Los Ebanos
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Los Ebanos have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Los Ebanos
    • Los Ebanos is located in Hidalgo County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Los Ebanos <2>
  • Sam Fordyce ‑ Historic
    (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sam Fordyce have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sam Fordyce
    • Sam Fordyce is located in Hidalgo County
• Zapata County
  • The following are listed by their distance from Villa de Martinez, with the one closest to Villa de Martinez listed first.
  • New Falcon
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Falcon
    • New Falcon is located in Zapata County
    • New Falcon has also been known as:
    • New Falcon Colonia
  • Lopeno
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lopeno
    • Lopeno is located in Zapata County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lopeno <2>
  • Morales - Sanchez
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morales - Sanchez
    • Morales - Sanchez is located in Zapata County
    • Morales - Sanchez has also been known as:
    • Morales - Sanchez Colonia

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

Newspapers Published in Villa de Martinez ...

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 6 newspapers that have been published in the area around Villa de Martinez.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Villa de Martinez, there are papers which were published within 10 miles [16.1 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Villa de Martinez.

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 professional and volunteer 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 Villa de Martinez:

• Websites specific to Texas
  • Jump to Cyndi's List
  • Jump to Family Search
  • Jump to Genealogy Trails
  • Website for the //www.tsl.texas.gov/

• Pages specific to Starr County
  • Jump to Cyndi's List
  • Jump to Family Search
  • Jump to Genealogy Trails

• Genealogy information for nearby counties
  • Hidalgo County
    • Jump to Cyndi's List
    • Jump to Family Search
    • Jump to Genealogy Trails
  • Zapata County
    • Jump to Cyndi's List
    • Jump to Family Search
    • Jump to Genealogy Trails

• Cemetery Information and Directories for Texas
  • Cemetery Junction: Cemeteries of Texas
  • Cyndi's List
  • Cemeteries of Texas
  • Cemeteries of Starr County
  • FamilySearch.org: Cemeteries of Texas
  • Find-A-Grave: Home Page
  • Interment.net
  • Cemeteries of Texas

Cemeteries Near Villa de Martinez ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Villa de Martinez.

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 Villa de Martinez covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Villa de Martinez, with the one closest to Villa de Martinez listed first.

• Cementerio San Antonio de Escobares Cemetery
  (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cementerio San Antonio de Escobares Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cementerio San Antonio de Escobares Cemetery
• Los Garzas Cemetery
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Los Garzas Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Los Garzas Cemetery
• Los Arrierous Cemetery
  (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Los Arrierous Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Los Arrierous Cemetery
• Garcia Cemetery
  (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Garcia Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Garcia Cemetery
• Olmos Cemetery
  (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Olmos Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Olmos Cemetery
• Elizondo Cemetery
  (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Elizondo Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Elizondo Cemetery
• Chapeno Cemetery
  (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Chapeno Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Chapeno Cemetery
• Garciasville Cemetery
  (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
  • To give a relative sense of its location, the Garciasville Cemetery is located outside and to the northeast of Garciasville.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Garciasville Cemetery
  • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2275667 <4>
• Agua Dulce Cemetery
  (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Agua Dulce Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Agua Dulce Cemetery
• Una de Gato Cemetery
  (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Una de Gato Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Una de Gato Cemetery
• Buena Vista Cemetery
  (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Buena Vista Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Buena Vista Cemetery
• Longoria Cemetery
  (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Longoria Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Longoria Cemetery
• Continue List   (4 more) ...
  • San Vicente Cemetery
    (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the San Vicente Cemetery is located in La Grulla.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the San Vicente Cemetery
  • Solizes Cemetery
    (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Solizes Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Solizes Cemetery
  • Cuevitas Cemetery
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Cuevitas Cemetery is located less than 2 miles<3> to the northeast of Sullivan City.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cuevitas Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2424480 <4>

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.<5>

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

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

• Roma
  (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roma
  • Roma is located in Starr County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 11,476 people
  • Roma has also been known as:
  • Roma - Los Saenz
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Roma <2>
• Rio Grande City
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rio Grande City
  • Rio Grande City is located in Starr County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 14,439 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rio Grande City <2>

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

Off-the-Road Links ...

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Villa de Martinez. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for State of Texas: https://texas.gov/