Campo (Vallemaggia) Parish, Ticino, Switzerland Genealogy

Description: Guide to Campo (Vallemaggia) Parish, 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
As of 1997, Campo (Vallemaggia) has an area of 43.27 square kilometers (16.71 sq mi). It is the last and highest municipality of the Valle di Campo at 42 km from Locarno and includes five districts that lie on wide terraces and are independent from each other by considerable distances and differences in altitude: Cimalmotto (1405 m), Campo (1320 m), Piano di Campo (1187 m), Seccada (1094 m) and Niva (955 m). Hostile geological conditions, exacerbated by careless logging and timber rafting, increased the susceptibility to landslides and rockslides in the area from the 18th century to the present.

The land use is divided up as follows:
 * 2.5% - agricultural purposes
 * 44.4% - forested
 * 0.8% - settled (buildings or roads)
 * 1.8% - rivers or lakes
 * 39.8% - unproductive land

History
The first mention of Campo (Vallemaggia) was in 1484 as Campo.

The population history of Campo (Vallemaggia) is: 1591 - 155 households 1683 - 1067 inhabitants 1702 - 912 inhabitants 1754 - 518 inhabitants 1769 - 276 inhabitants (after the separation of Cimalmotto and Niva from the parish of Campo) 1802 - 273 inhabitants 1850 - 506 inhabitants 1900 - 291 inhabitants 1950 - 182 inhabitants 2000 - 58 inhabitants 2010 - 49 inhabitants 2020 - 49 inhabitants

In the 15th century, the Valle di Campo along with Cevio, Bignasco and Cavergno formed the Roana Superior, a kind of administrative district. Until 1513, Campo belonged to the parish of Cevio. Cimalmotto and Niva separated from Campo's church in 1767 to form an independent parish. They also formed independent political municipalities until the beginning of the 19th century. The church of S. Bernardo in Campo was probably built in the 14th century. It was enlarged in the first half of the 16th century, in 1620 and 1740-1745.

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

The 1808 Ticino census for Campo can be accessed here.

Surnames
The following surnames held citizenship in Campo 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)