Gresso, Ticino, Switzerland Genealogy

Description: Guide to Gresso, Ticino, Switzerland, ancestry, family history, and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, parish census, civil census, family history, area history, and military records.



Geography
The former municipality of Gresso is in the Locarno district and the Ticino canton. It is located on the steep, left-side of the Vergeletto valley at an elevation of 999 m (3,278 ft). Gresso has an area of 11.08 km² (4.28 square miles). The land use is divided up as follows:
 * 1.5% - agricultural purposes
 * 61.1% - forested
 * 0.8% - settled (buildings or roads)
 * 1.7% - rivers & lakes
 * 16.0% - non-productive

History
In 1316, Gresso was first mentioned with the name of Agrassio. Gresso is in the Locarno district and the Ticino canton. Until 1803, Gresso was part of the Squadra of Russo (now Onsernone). In 1882, Gresso became a municipality when it split from Vergeletto. Until 1885, the village didn't have a drivable road. Gresso merged into a new municipality of Onsernone on 10 April 2016. Other former municipalities merged include:
 * Isorno
 * Mosogno
 * Vergeletto

The population history of Gresso is: 1888 - 290 inhabitants 1900 - 278 inhabitants 1950 - 139 inhabitants 1970 - 68 inhabitants 1990 - 48 inhabitants 2000 - 35 inhabitants

Per the 2000 census:
 * 91.4% were Roman Catholic
 * 0.0% were Swiss Reformed Church
 * 2.86% belong to another church

The village church of Gresso has always been part of the Vergeletto parish. In 1703, the Sainte-Ursule oratory was established and rebuilt in 1730. It was renovated at the end of the 20th century.

Census
(See here for information regarding Ticino census records.)

The 1808 Ticino census for Gresso, together with Vergeletto, can be accessed here.

Surnames
The following surnames held citizenship in Gresso prior to 1875, along with any known soprannomi. For more information about soprannomi, click here.

Related sources
The town's website (in Italian) can be found here.

Libraries and archives
State Archives of Ticino

Societies
Società Genealogica della Svizzera Italiana (SGSI)