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 Williams (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 Williams. 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 Williams ...
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 occur.
Williams has also been known as: Williams Colonia.
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Williams. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Williams.
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 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.
Williams is located in Hidalgo 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 Hidalgo County: Brooks, Cameron, Kenedy, Starr & Willacy.
Below are the counties that are near Williams. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Williams:
- Hidalgo County (The home county of Williams)
- The following are listed by their distance from Williams, with the one closest to Williams listed first.
- McAllen
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Lopezville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Lopezville is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lopezville
- Palmhurst
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Palmhurst is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palmhurst
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,719 people
- Pharr
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- San Juan
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Mission
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Citriana Village
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Citriana Village is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Citriana Village
- Citriana Village has also been known as:
- Citriana Village Colonia
- North Alamo
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- North Alamo is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Alamo
- Edinburg
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Aloha Village
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Aloha Village is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aloha Village
- Aloha Village has also been known as:
- Aloha Village Colonia
- Alton North
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Alton North is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alton North
- Alton
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Cameron County
- The following are listed by their distance from Williams, with the one closest to Williams listed first.
- Bixby
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Bixby is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bixby
- Ratamosa
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Ratamosa is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ratamosa
- Ratamosa has also been known as:
- Ratamosa Colonia
- Solis
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Solis is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Solis
- Solis has also been known as:
- Solis Colonia
- Grand Acres
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Grand Acres is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand Acres
- North La Feria Village
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- North La Feria Village is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North La Feria Village
- North La Feria Village has also been known as:
- North La Feria Village Colonia
- Santa Rosa
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Tierra Bonita
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- 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
- Arroyo Alto
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Arroyo Alto is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arroyo Alto
- La Feria North
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- La Feria North is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Feria North
- La Feria
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Longoria Townsite
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Longoria Townsite is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longoria Townsite
- Longoria Townsite has also been known as:
- Longoria Townsite Colonia
- Santa Maria
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Starr County
- The following are listed by their distance from Williams, with the one closest to Williams listed first.
- La Grulla
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- La Grulla is located in Starr County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Grulla
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,682 people
- La Victoria
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- La Victoria is located in Starr County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Victoria
- Alto Bonito
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Alto Bonito is located in Starr County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alto Bonito
- Alto Bonito has also been known as:
- Alto Bonito Colonia
- West Alto Bonito
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- West Alto Bonito is located in Starr County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Alto Bonito
- West Alto Bonito has also been known as:
- West Alto Bonito Colonia
- Garciasville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Willacy County
- The following are listed by their distance from Williams, with the one closest to Williams listed first.
- Lasara
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Zapata Ranch
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- 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
- Sebastian
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Lyford South
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- 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
- Lyford
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Ranchette Estates
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- 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
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Williams, see our County-by-County Page for Williams.
Cemeteries Near Williams ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Williams.
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 Williams - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Williams covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Williams, with the one closest to Williams listed first.
- Roselawn Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Valley Memorial Gardens
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Temple Emanuel Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- La Piedad Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Guadalupe Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Palm Valley Memorial Gardens
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Laurel Hill Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- San Juan Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for San Juan Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the San Juan Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the south of San Juan.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #6707 <2>
- Granjeno Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Granjeno Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Granjeno Cemetery is located in Granjeno.
- Hillcrest Memorial Park
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Restlawn Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Restlawn Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Restlawn Cemetery is located outside and to the northeast of Edinburg.
- Hidalgo Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hidalgo Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Hidalgo Cemetery is located in Hidalgo.
- The Hidalgo Cemetery has also been known as:
- Hidalgo City Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2313151 <2>
- Continue List (62 more) ...
- Pharr Memorial Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- St. Joseph Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Old Edinburg Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 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.<3>
While we didn't find Williams in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Williams.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Williams, with the one closest to Williams listed first.
- Hidalgo
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Havana
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Havana is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Havana
- Los Angeles
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Los Angeles is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Los Angeles
- Santa Maria
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Williams. See our List of 1890's Communities around Williams.
Newspapers Published in Williams ...
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 40 newspapers that have been published in the area around Williams.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Williams, there are papers which were published within 6 miles [9.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Williams.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to 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 Williams:
- Websites specific to Texas
- Pages specific to Hidalgo County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Cameron County
- Starr County
- Willacy 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> | 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. |
| <3> | 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 Williams, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Williams) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |