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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 Mary Esther (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 Mary Esther. 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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

Mary Esther is located in Okaloosa County.

To see how the shape of Florida's counties have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Okaloosa County: Covington (AL), Escambia (AL), Santa Rosa & Walton.

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

  • Okaloosa County     (The home county of Mary Esther)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mary Esther, with the one closest to Mary Esther listed first.
    • Fort Walton Beach
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Hurlburt Field
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Cinco Bayou
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cinco Bayou have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cinco Bayou
      • Cinco Bayou is located in Okaloosa County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 447 people
    • Ocean City
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ocean City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ocean City
      • Ocean City is located in Okaloosa County
    • Wright
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wright have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wright
      • Wright is located in Okaloosa County
    • Shalimar
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Lake Lorraine
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake Lorraine have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Lorraine
      • Lake Lorraine is located in Okaloosa County
    • Eglin Village
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eglin Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eglin Village
      • Eglin Village is located in Okaloosa County
    • Destin
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Destin
      • Destin is located in Okaloosa County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 14,284 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Destin <1>
    • Valparaiso
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Niceville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Holt
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Milligan
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
  • Escambia County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mary Esther, with the one closest to Mary Esther listed first.
    • Pensacola Beach
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Bohemia
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bohemia have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bohemia
      • Bohemia is located in Escambia County
  • Santa Rosa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mary Esther, with the one closest to Mary Esther listed first.
    • Navarre
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Harold
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Bagdad
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Galt City
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Galt City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galt City
      • Galt City is located in Santa Rosa County
    • Milton
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milton
      • Milton is located in Santa Rosa County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,785 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Milton <1>
    • Gulf Breeze
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Walton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mary Esther, with the one closest to Mary Esther listed first.
    • Miramar Beach
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Sandestin
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Four Mile Village
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Four Mile Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Four Mile Village
      • Four Mile Village is located in Walton County
    • The Village of Baytowne Wharf
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for The Village of Baytowne Wharf have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Village of Baytowne Wharf
      • The Village of Baytowne Wharf is located in Walton County
    • Santa Rosa Beach
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Blue Mountain Beach
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Grayton Beach
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
    • Mossy Head
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)

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

Newspapers Published in Mary Esther ...

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 42 newspapers that have been published in the area around Mary Esther.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Mary Esther, there are papers which were published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Mary Esther.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These helpful 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 Mary Esther:

Cemeteries Near Mary Esther ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Mary Esther.

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.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

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

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

  • Beal Memorial Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Sunset Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Sweeney Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sweeney Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sweeney Cemetery
  • Early Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Rocky Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rocky Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rocky Cemetery
  • Flowers Field Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
  • New Canoe Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the New Canoe Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the New Canoe Cemetery
  • Carr Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Carr Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Carr Cemetery
  • Holt Cemetery
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Holt Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Holt Cemetery
  • Hickory Hammock Cemetery
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Lewis Williams Memorial Cemetery
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Lewis Williams Memorial Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located 5 miles [8 km]<3> to the northwest of Milton.
    • The Lewis Williams Memorial Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Williams Memorial Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lewis Williams Memorial Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #72766 <4>
  • Black Oak Cemetery
    (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Black Oak Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Black Oak Cemetery
  • Continue List   (27 more) ...
    • Springhill Cemetery
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Beulah Cemetery
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Beulah Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Beulah Cemetery
    • Welcome Cemetery
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • The Welcome Cemetery has also been known as:
      • J.B. Watson Cemetery
      • New Elam Cemetery
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Welcome Cemetery

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.<5>

While we didn't find Mary Esther in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Mary Esther.

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

  • Bagdad
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Galt City
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Galt City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galt City
    • Galt City is located in Santa Rosa County
  • Milton
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milton
    • Milton is located in Santa Rosa County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,785 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Milton <1>
  • Portland
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Portland have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Portland
    • Portland is located in Walton County

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

The official website for Mary Esther: www.cityofmaryesther.com/

The official website for Okaloosa County: www.co.okaloosa.fl.us/

The official website for State of Florida: www.myflorida.com/

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 location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<3>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Mary Esther) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Mary Esther. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 30.4137, Longitude: -86.6634    
<4>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.
<5>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 Mary Esther, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024