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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 Vista (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 Vista. 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.

Vista is located in Hamilton 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 Hamilton County: Bosque, Comanche, Coryell, Erath, Lampasas & Mills.

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

  • Hamilton County     (The home county of Vista)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Vista, with the one closest to Vista listed first.
    • Ohio ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ohio have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ohio
      • Ohio is located in Hamilton County
    • Slab Crossing ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slab Crossing
      • Slab Crossing is located in Hamilton County
    • McGirk ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for McGirk have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McGirk
      • McGirk is located in Hamilton County
    • Pottsville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pottsville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
    • Hamilton
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Whiteway
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whiteway
      • Whiteway is located in Hamilton County
      • Whiteway has also been known as:
      • White Way
    • Spurlin ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spurlin have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spurlin
      • Spurlin is located in Hamilton County
    • Agee ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Agee. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Agee
      • Agee is located in Hamilton County
    • Carlton
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
  • Bosque County
    • Cranfills Gap
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Comanche County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Vista, with the one closest to Vista listed first.
    • Energy
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Gustine
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gustine have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
    • Wilson
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wilson have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilson
      • Wilson is located in Comanche County
    • Ararat ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • 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.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ararat
      • Ararat is located in Comanche County
  • Coryell County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Vista, with the one closest to Vista listed first.
    • Evant
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Evant have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evant
      • Evant is located in Coryell County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 412 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Evant <2>
    • Bee House
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bee House
      • Bee House is located in Coryell County
    • Ireland
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ireland
      • Ireland is located in Coryell County
    • Purmela
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Purmela have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Purmela
      • Purmela is located in Coryell County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Purmela <2>
    • Levita
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Levita
      • Levita is located in Coryell County
    • Jonesboro
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • King
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for King have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for King
      • King is located in Coryell County
    • Gatesville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Turnersville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turnersville
      • Turnersville is located in Coryell County
    • Fort Gates
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fort Gates have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Gates
      • Fort Gates is located in Coryell County
  • Lampasas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Vista, with the one closest to Vista listed first.
    • Izoro
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Lometa
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Senterfitt ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Senterfitt have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Senterfitt
      • Senterfitt is located in Lampasas County
    • Nix
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nix
      • Nix is located in Lampasas County
  • Mills County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Vista, with the one closest to Vista listed first.
    • Star
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Star have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
    • Center City
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Center City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Center City
      • Center City is located in Mills County
    • Priddy
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Goldthwaite
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Bozar
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bozar
      • Bozar is located in Mills County
    • Williams Ranch ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • 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.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williams Ranch
      • Williams Ranch is located in Mills County
    • Mullin
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)

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

Newspapers Published in Vista ...

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 32 newspapers that have been published in the area around Vista.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Vista, there are papers which were published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Vista.

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 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 Vista:

Cemeteries Near Vista ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Vista.

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

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

  • Kingsbury Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Kingsbury Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Kingsbury Cemetery
  • Murphy Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Murphy Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Murphy Cemetery
  • West Point Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the West Point Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the West Point Cemetery
  • Perkins Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Perkins Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Perkins Cemetery
  • New Hope Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the New Hope Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the New Hope Cemetery
  • Hurst Ranch Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hurst Ranch Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hurst Ranch Cemetery
  • Langford Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Langford Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Langford Cemetery
  • Cottage Hill Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cottage Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cottage Hill Cemetery
  • Pilgrims Rest Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pilgrims Rest Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pilgrims Rest Cemetery
  • Little Cowhouse Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Little Cowhouse Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Little Cowhouse Cemetery
  • McGirk Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the McGirk Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the McGirk Cemetery
  • Ward Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ward Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ward Cemetery
  • Continue List   (97 more) ...
    • Eastview Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Eastview Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Eastview Cemetery
    • Hines Chapel Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hines Chapel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hines Chapel Cemetery
    • Blue Ridge Baptist Church Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)

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

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

  • Evant
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Evant have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evant
    • Evant is located in Coryell County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 412 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Evant <2>
  • Shive
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shive have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shive
    • Shive is located in Hamilton County
  • Ohio ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ohio have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ohio
    • Ohio is located in Hamilton County
  • McGirk ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for McGirk have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McGirk
    • McGirk is located in Hamilton County
  • Bee House
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bee House
    • Bee House is located in Coryell County
  • Pottsville
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pottsville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
  • Pearl
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pearl have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pearl
    • Pearl is located in Coryell County
  • Hamilton
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
  • Purmela
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Purmela have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Purmela
    • Purmela is located in Coryell County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Purmela <2>
  • Adamsville
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Adamsville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adamsville
    • Adamsville is located in Lampasas County
  • Indian Gap
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Indian Gap have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Gap
    • Indian Gap is located in Hamilton County
  • Gentrys Mill
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gentrys Mill have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gentrys Mill
    • Gentrys Mill is located in Hamilton County
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Levita
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Levita
      • Levita is located in Coryell County
    • King
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for King have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for King
      • King is located in Coryell County
    • Jonesboro
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)

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

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

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Vista) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Vista. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.5249, Longitude: -98.2123       In this case, the coordinates for Vista have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<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 Vista, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024