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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 Woodsboro (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 Woodsboro. 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 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.

Woodsboro is located in Refugio 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 Refugio County: Aransas, Bee, Calhoun, Goliad, San Patricio & Victoria.

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

  • Refugio County     (The home county of Woodsboro)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Woodsboro, with the one closest to Woodsboro listed first.
    • Refugio
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Black Point ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Black Point is located in Refugio County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Point
    • Bayside
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Tivoli
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Aransas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Woodsboro, with the one closest to Woodsboro listed first.
    • Copano Village
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Copano Village is located in Aransas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Copano Village
    • Fulton
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Rockport
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Spanish Village
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Spanish Village is located in Aransas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spanish Village
    • Aransas Pass
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Bee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Woodsboro, with the one closest to Woodsboro listed first.
    • Blanconia
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Blanconia is located in Bee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blanconia
      • Former names for Blanconia:
      • Dark Corners
      • Pull Tight
    • Skidmore
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Tynan
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Beeville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Blue Berry Hill
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Blue Berry Hill is located in Bee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Berry Hill
  • Goliad County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Woodsboro, with the one closest to Woodsboro listed first.
    • Berclair
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Goliad
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
  • Nueces County
    • Viola
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Viola is located in Nueces County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Viola
  • San Patricio County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Woodsboro, with the one closest to Woodsboro listed first.
    • Tradewinds
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Tradewinds is located in San Patricio County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tradewinds
    • Rancho Chico
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Rancho Chico is located in San Patricio County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rancho Chico
    • Saint Paul
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Saint Paul is located in San Patricio County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Paul
    • Sinton
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Sinton is located in San Patricio County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sinton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,281 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sinton <1>
    • Taft Southwest
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Taft Southwest is located in San Patricio County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taft Southwest
    • Taft
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Taft is located in San Patricio County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taft
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,886 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Taft <1>
    • Del Sol - Loma Linda
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Del Sol - Loma Linda is located in San Patricio County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Del Sol - Loma Linda
    • Morgan Farm
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Morgan Farm is located in San Patricio County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morgan Farm
      • Morgan Farm has also been known as:
      • Morgan Farm Colonia
    • Gregory
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Gregory is located in San Patricio County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gregory
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,866 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gregory <1>
    • Doyle
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Doyle is located in San Patricio County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doyle
    • Portland
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Portland is located in San Patricio County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Portland
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 17,768 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Portland <1>
    • Odem
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Odem is located in San Patricio County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Odem
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,380 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Odem <1>
    • Ingleside
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
  • Victoria County

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

Cemeteries Near Woodsboro ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Woodsboro.

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 Woodsboro - one of the links might be able to help.

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Woodsboro covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • St. Bernard Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • La Rosa Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Oakwood Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakwood Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Oakwood Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the southwest of Refugio.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #5697 <2>
  • Heard Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Williams Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Mt. Calvary Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Holy Cross Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Blanconia Methodist Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • McGuill Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
  • Blanconia Baptist Church Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Papalote Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
  • St. Paul Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (55 more) ...

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

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

  • Refugio
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Blanconia
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Blanconia is located in Bee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blanconia
    • Former names for Blanconia:
    • Dark Corners
    • Pull Tight
  • Papalote
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Papalote is located in Bee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Papalote
  • Sinton
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Sinton is located in San Patricio County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sinton
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,281 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sinton <1>
  • Lamar
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Lamar is located in Aransas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lamar
  • Gregory
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Gregory is located in San Patricio County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gregory
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,866 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gregory <1>
  • Rockport
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Fulton
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Skidmore
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
  • Portland
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Portland is located in San Patricio County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Portland
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 17,768 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Portland <1>
  • Berclair
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Aransas Pass
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Beeville
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Viola
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Viola is located in Nueces County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Viola

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Woodsboro ...

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 48 newspapers that have been published in the area around Woodsboro.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Woodsboro. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Woodsboro and those printed in the larger area surrounding Woodsboro.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4> of Woodsboro.

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 Woodsboro:

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 Woodsboro, 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 from Point A (ie- Woodsboro) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.