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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 Alcoma (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 Alcoma. 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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the east. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the county to the north.

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 north 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.

Alcoma is located in Polk 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 Polk County: Hardee, Highlands, Hillsborough, Lake, Manatee, Orange, Osceola, Pasco & Sumter.

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

  • Polk County     (The home county of Alcoma)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alcoma, with the one closest to Alcoma listed first.
    • Lakeshore
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Nalcrest
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Babson Park
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Highland Park
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland Park
      • Highland Park is located in Polk County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 221 people
    • Hillcrest Heights
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hillcrest Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillcrest Heights
      • Hillcrest Heights is located in Polk County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 305 people
    • Lake Wales
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Crooked Lake Park
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crooked Lake Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crooked Lake Park
      • Crooked Lake Park is located in Polk County
    • Waverly
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Frostproof
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Indian Lake Estates
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Dundee
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Lake Hamilton
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Alturas
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
  • Hardee County
    • Bowling Green
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Highlands County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alcoma, with the one closest to Alcoma listed first.
    • Alpine
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpine
      • Alpine is located in Highlands County
    • Avon Park
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Sebring
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
  • Osceola County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alcoma, with the one closest to Alcoma listed first.
    • Poinciana Place
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Poinciana Place have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poinciana Place
      • Poinciana Place is located in Osceola County
    • Poinciana
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Campbell
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Campbell have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Campbell
      • Campbell is located in Osceola County
    • Intercession City
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • ChampionsGate
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for ChampionsGate
      • ChampionsGate is located in Osceola County
    • Reunion
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Saint Cloud
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Kissimmee
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Celebration
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Kenansville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
    • Runnymede
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Runnymede have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Runnymede
      • Runnymede is located in Osceola County

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

Newspapers Published in Alcoma ...

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 81 newspapers that have been published in the area around Alcoma.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Alcoma, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Alcoma.

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 Alcoma:

Cemeteries Near Alcoma ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Alcoma.

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 Alcoma covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Willow Lawn Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Garden Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Garden Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Garden Cemetery
  • Lake Wales Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Biscuit Lake Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Friendship MB Church Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Silver Hill Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Mt. Zion Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Lake Buffum Baptist Church Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Eden Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Wahneta Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
  • Forest Hill Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Oakland Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (61 more) ...
    • Oaklawn Cemetery
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Corinth Cemetery
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Oakland Cemetery
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)

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

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

  • Wahneta
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wahneta
    • Wahneta is located in Polk County
  • Haines City
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Winter Haven
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Eagle Lake
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
  • Gordonville
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gordonville
    • Gordonville is located in Polk County
  • Avon Park
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
  • Homeland
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
  • Fort Meade
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Bartow
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
  • Auburndale
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Bowling Green
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Saint Cloud
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Kissimmee
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)

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

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Alcoma. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Polk County: www.polk-county.net/

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' (or 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- Alcoma) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Alcoma. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 27.8950, Longitude: -81.4823       In this case, the coordinates for Alcoma have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<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 Alcoma, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024