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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 Weslaco (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 Weslaco. 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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

Weslaco is located in Hidalgo 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 Hidalgo County: Brooks, Cameron, Kenedy, Starr & Willacy.

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

  • Hidalgo County     (The home county of Weslaco)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Weslaco, with the one closest to Weslaco listed first.
    • Villa Verde
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Villa Verde have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Villa Verde
      • Villa Verde is located in Hidalgo County
      • Villa Verde has also been known as:
      • Villa Verde Colonia
    • Midway South
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midway South
      • Midway South is located in Hidalgo County
    • Midway Village
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Midway Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midway Village
      • Midway Village is located in Hidalgo County
      • Midway Village has also been known as:
      • Midway Village Colonia
    • Midway North
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midway North
      • Midway North is located in Hidalgo County
    • Llano Grande
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Llano Grande have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Llano Grande
      • Llano Grande is located in Hidalgo County
    • Mercedes
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Olivarez
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Olivarez have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olivarez
      • Olivarez is located in Hidalgo County
    • Progreso
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Progreso have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Progreso
      • Progreso is located in Hidalgo County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,979 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Progreso <2>
    • Donna
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Donna
      • Donna is located in Hidalgo County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 16,316 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Donna <2>
    • Scissors
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Scissors have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scissors
      • Scissors is located in Hidalgo County
    • Mila Doce
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mila Doce have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mila Doce
      • Mila Doce is located in Hidalgo County
    • Indian Hills
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Hills
      • Indian Hills is located in Hidalgo County
  • Cameron County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Weslaco, with the one closest to Weslaco listed first.
    • Bixby
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bixby
      • Bixby is located in Cameron County
    • North La Feria Village
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North La Feria Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North La Feria Village
      • North La Feria Village is located in Cameron County
      • North La Feria Village has also been known as:
      • North La Feria Village Colonia
    • Ratamosa
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ratamosa have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ratamosa
      • Ratamosa is located in Cameron County
      • Ratamosa has also been known as:
      • Ratamosa Colonia
    • Solis
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Solis have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Solis
      • Solis is located in Cameron County
      • Solis has also been known as:
      • Solis Colonia
    • Arroyo Alto
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Arroyo Alto have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arroyo Alto
      • Arroyo Alto is located in Cameron County
    • La Feria North
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Feria North
      • La Feria North is located in Cameron County
    • La Feria
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Windsong Village
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Windsong Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windsong Village
      • Windsong Village is located in Cameron County
      • Windsong Village has also been known as:
      • Windsong Village Colonia
    • Longoria Townsite
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Longoria Townsite have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longoria Townsite
      • Longoria Townsite is located in Cameron County
      • Longoria Townsite has also been known as:
      • Longoria Townsite Colonia
    • Santa Maria
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Santa Maria have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Santa Maria
      • Santa Maria is located in Cameron County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Santa Maria <2>
    • Bluetown - Iglesia Antigua
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Bluetown
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluetown
      • Bluetown is located in Cameron County
      • Bluetown has also been known as:
      • Blue Town
      • Bluetown Colonia
  • Willacy County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Weslaco, with the one closest to Weslaco listed first.
    • Zapata Ranch
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Zapata Ranch have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zapata Ranch
      • Zapata Ranch is located in Willacy County
      • Zapata Ranch has also been known as:
      • Zapata Ranch Colonia
    • Sebastian
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Lyford South
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lyford South have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyford South
      • Lyford South is located in Willacy County
      • Lyford South has also been known as:
      • Lyford South Colonia
    • Lasara
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lasara have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lasara
      • Lasara is located in Willacy County
      • Lasara has also been known as:
      • La Sara
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lasara <2>
    • Lyford
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lyford have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyford
      • Lyford is located in Willacy County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,513 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lyford <2>
    • Ranchette Estates
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ranchette Estates have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ranchette Estates
      • Ranchette Estates is located in Willacy County
      • Ranchette Estates has also been known as:
      • Ranchette Estates Colonia
    • Raymondville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Los Angeles Subdivision
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Los Angeles Subdivision have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Los Angeles Subdivision
      • Los Angeles Subdivision is located in Willacy County
    • Santa Monica
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Santa Monica have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Santa Monica
      • Santa Monica is located in Willacy County
    • Willamar
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Willamar have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willamar
      • Willamar is located in Willacy County

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Weslaco ...

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 Weslaco.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Weslaco. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Weslaco and those printed in the larger area surrounding Weslaco.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 4 miles [6.4 km]<3> of Weslaco.

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 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 Weslaco:

Cemeteries Near Weslaco ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Weslaco.

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

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

  • Weslaco Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Weslaco Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Weslaco Cemetery
  • Cementerio Bautista Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cementerio Bautista Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cementerio Bautista Cemetery
  • Mercedes Baptist Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • 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 our Gazetteer entry for the Mercedes Baptist Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2827 <4>
  • Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • 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 our Gazetteer entry for the Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2184663 <4>
  • Donna City Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Mercedes Presbyterian Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • 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 our Gazetteer entry for the Mercedes Presbyterian Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2403957 <4>
  • Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • 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 our Gazetteer entry for the Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #5844 <4>
  • Anacuitas Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Anacuitas Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Anacuitas Cemetery
  • Campacuas Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Campacuas Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Campacuas Cemetery
  • Highland Memorial Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • San Pedro Ranch Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the San Pedro Ranch Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the San Pedro Ranch Cemetery
  • Ebony Grove Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Ebony Grove Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the south of Mercedes.
    • The Ebony Grove Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Los Ebanos Mercedes Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ebony Grove Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #3362 <4>
  • Continue List   (65 more) ...
    • Mercedes Memorial Restlawn Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Balli Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Balli Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Balli Cemetery
    • Asadores Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Asadores Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Asadores Cemetery

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

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

  • Santa Maria
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Santa Maria have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Santa Maria
    • Santa Maria is located in Cameron County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Santa Maria <2>
  • Hidalgo
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)

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

The official website for Weslaco: www.weslacotx.gov/

The official website for Hidalgo County: www.co.hidalgo.tx.us/

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>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Weslaco) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Weslaco. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 26.1595, Longitude: -97.9908    
<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 Weslaco, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024