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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 Villa (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. 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 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 is located in Mills 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 Mills County: Brown, Comanche, Hamilton, Lampasas & San Saba.

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

  • Mills County     (The home county of Villa)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Villa, with the one closest to Villa listed first.
    • Mullin
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Ridge
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridge
      • Ridge is located in Mills County
    • Williams Ranch ‑ Historic
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Williams Ranch. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williams Ranch
      • Williams Ranch is located in Mills County
    • Bozar
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bozar
      • Bozar is located in Mills County
    • Ebony ‑ Historic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ebony. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ebony
      • Ebony is located in Mills County
    • Priddy
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Buffalo
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Buffalo have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo
      • Buffalo is located in Mills County
    • Goldthwaite
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Regency ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Regency have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Regency
      • Regency is located in Mills County
    • Center City
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Center City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Center City
      • Center City is located in Mills County
    • Star
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Star have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Star
      • Star is located in Mills County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Star <1>
  • Brown County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Villa, with the one closest to Villa listed first.
    • Zephyr
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Ricker ‑ Historic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ricker have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ricker
      • Ricker is located in Brown County
    • Blanket
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Brownwood
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brownwood have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brownwood
      • Brownwood is located in Brown County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 18,208 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Brownwood <1>
    • Early
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Indian Creek
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Creek
      • Indian Creek is located in Brown County
    • Keys Crossing
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keys Crossing
      • Keys Crossing is located in Brown County
    • Lake Brownwood
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake Brownwood have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Brownwood
      • Lake Brownwood is located in Brown County
    • Brookesmith
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Bangs
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bangs have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bangs
      • Bangs is located in Brown County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,504 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bangs <1>
    • May
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for May have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for May
      • May is located in Brown County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for May <1>
    • Fry ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Fry. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fry
      • Fry is located in Brown County
  • Coleman County
    • Trickham
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trickham
      • Trickham is located in Coleman County
      • Former name for Trickham:
      • Trick'em
  • Comanche County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Villa, with the one closest to Villa listed first.
    • Newburg
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Newburg have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newburg
      • Newburg is located in Comanche County
    • Comanche
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Sidney
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sidney have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sidney
      • Sidney is located in Comanche County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sidney <1>
    • Energy
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Gustine
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gustine have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gustine
      • Gustine is located in Comanche County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 474 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gustine <1>
    • Ararat ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ararat. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ararat
      • Ararat is located in Comanche County
  • Hamilton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Villa, with the one closest to Villa listed first.
    • McGirk ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for McGirk. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McGirk
      • McGirk is located in Hamilton County
    • Pottsville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pottsville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pottsville
      • Pottsville is located in Hamilton County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pottsville <1>
  • San Saba County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Villa, with the one closest to Villa listed first.
    • Locker ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locker
      • Locker is located in San Saba County
    • Holt ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holt
      • Holt is located in San Saba County
    • Richland Springs
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Richland Springs. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richland Springs
      • Richland Springs is located in San Saba County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 310 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Richland Springs <1>
    • San Saba
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)

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

Cemeteries Near Villa ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Villa.

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

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

  • Blanket Springs Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Blanket Springs Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Blanket Springs Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Fisher Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fisher Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fisher Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Zephyr Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Oakview Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Duren Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Duren Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Duren Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Democrat Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Dudley Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Williams Ranch Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Williams Ranch Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Williams Ranch Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Elkins Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Elkins Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Elkins Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hollis Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Trigger Mtn. Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • North Browns Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the North Browns Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the North Browns Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (107 more) ...
    • Rock Spring Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rock Spring Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rock Spring Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jenkins Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Jenkins Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Jenkins Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Beairds Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Beairds Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Beairds Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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

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

  • Mullin
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Zephyr
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Williams Ranch ‑ Historic
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Williams Ranch. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williams Ranch
    • Williams Ranch is located in Mills County
  • Ricker ‑ Historic
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ricker have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ricker
    • Ricker is located in Brown County
  • Priddy
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
  • Blanket
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
  • Goldthwaite
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Indian Creek
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Creek
    • Indian Creek is located in Brown County
  • Regency ‑ Historic
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Regency have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Regency
    • Regency is located in Mills County
  • Brownwood
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brownwood have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brownwood
    • Brownwood is located in Brown County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 18,208 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Brownwood <1>
  • Big Valley
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Big Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Valley
    • Big Valley is located in Mills County
  • Newburg
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Newburg have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newburg
    • Newburg is located in Comanche County
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Indian Gap
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Indian Gap have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Gap
      • Indian Gap is located in Hamilton County
    • Fleming
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fleming have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fleming
      • Fleming is located in Comanche County
    • Comanche
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)

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

Newspapers Published in Villa ...

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 27 newspapers that have been published in the area around Villa.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Villa, there are papers which were published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Villa.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These websites either 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:

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

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

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>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<3>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<4>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.
<5>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 Villa, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Villa) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Villa. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.6152, Longitude: -98.7359       In this case, the coordinates for Villa have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025