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 Willamar (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 Willamar. 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 hospitals and doctors 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.
Willamar is located in Willacy 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 Willacy County: Cameron, Hidalgo & Kenedy.
Below are the counties that are near Willamar. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Willamar:
- Willacy County (The home county of Willamar)
- The following are listed by their distance from Willamar, with the one closest to Willamar listed first.
- San Perlita
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Santa Monica
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Santa Monica is located in Willacy County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Santa Monica
- Los Angeles Subdivision
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Lyford
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Raymondville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Lyford South
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Lyford South is located in Willacy County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyford South
- Lyford South has also been known as:
- Lyford South Colonia
- Ranchette Estates
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Ranchette Estates is located in Willacy County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ranchette Estates
- Ranchette Estates has also been known as:
- Ranchette Estates Colonia
- Port Mansfield
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Sebastian
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Zapata Ranch
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Zapata Ranch is located in Willacy County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zapata Ranch
- Zapata Ranch has also been known as:
- Zapata Ranch Colonia
- Lasara
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Cameron County
- The following are listed by their distance from Willamar, with the one closest to Willamar listed first.
- Lasana
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Lasana is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lasana
- Lasana has also been known as:
- Lasana Colonia
- Arroyo City
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Arroyo City is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arroyo City
- Rio Hondo
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Yznaga
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Yznaga is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yznaga
- Combes
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Combes is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Combes
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,037 people
- Combes has also been known as:
- Combes Colonia
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Combes <1>
- Arroyo Colorado Estates
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Arroyo Colorado Estates is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arroyo Colorado Estates
- Arroyo Colorado Estates has also been known as:
- Arroyo Colorado Estates Colonia
- Harlingen
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Villa del Sol
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Villa del Sol is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Villa del Sol
- Villa del Sol has also been known as:
- Villa del Sol Colonia
- Arroyo Gardens - La Tina Ranch
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Primera
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Primera is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Primera
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,271 people
- Santa Rosa
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Tierra Bonita
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Tierra Bonita is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tierra Bonita
- Tierra Bonita has also been known as:
- Tierra Bonita Colonia
- Grand Acres
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Grand Acres is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand Acres
- Hidalgo County
- The following are listed by their distance from Willamar, with the one closest to Willamar listed first.
- La Villa
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- La Villa is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Villa
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,935 people
- Monte Alto
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Edcouch
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Heidelberg
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Heidelberg is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heidelberg
- Indian Hills
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Indian Hills is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Hills
- Hargill
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Elsa
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Mila Doce
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Mila Doce is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mila Doce
- Mercedes
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Olivarez
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Olivarez is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olivarez
- La Blanca
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Midway North
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Midway North is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midway North
- San Carlos
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- San Carlos is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for San Carlos
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Willamar, see our County-by-County Page for Willamar.
Cemeteries Near Willamar ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Willamar.
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 Willamar - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Willamar covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Willamar, with the one closest to Willamar listed first.
- El Toro Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Las Rucias Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- La Jarita Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Noyola Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Tanquesitos Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tanquesitos Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Tanquesitos Cemetery is located less than 2 miles<2> to the south of Santa Monica.
- Cavazos Family Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cavazos Family Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Cavazos Family Cemetery is located 11 miles [17.7 km]<2> to the southeast of San Perlita.
- The Cavazos Family Cemetery has also been known as:
- Sabino Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2492338 <3>
- Raymondville Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raymondville Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Raymondville Cemetery is located outside and to the east of Raymondville.
- San Antonio Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- La Piedad Cementerio #2 Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- La Piedad Cementerio #1 Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Evergreen Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Evergreen Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the northwest of Lyford.
- The Evergreen Cemetery has also been known as:
- Lyford Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2207123 <3>
- Guadalupe Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guadalupe Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Guadalupe Cemetery is located outside and to the northwest of Lyford.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2422545 <3>
- Continue List (43 more) ...
- Santa Rita Cemetery
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Santa Rita Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Santa Rita Cemetery is located 2 miles [3.2 km]<2> to the west of Sebastian.
- Ashland Memorial Park
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashland Memorial Park
- The Ashland Memorial Park has also been known as:
- Loma Linda Cemetery
- Los Omales Cemetery
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
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.<4>
While we didn't find Willamar in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Willamar.
- Santa Maria
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Willamar. See our List of 1890's Communities around Willamar.
Newspapers Published in Willamar ...
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 20 newspapers that have been published in the area around Willamar.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Willamar, there are papers which were published within 25 miles [40.2 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Willamar.
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 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 Willamar:
- Websites specific to Texas
- Pages specific to Willacy County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Cameron County
- Hidalgo County
- 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> | 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- Willamar) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | 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 Willamar, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |