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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 Alford (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 Alford. 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 hospitals 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.

Alford is located in Hillsborough County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Hillsborough County: Hardee, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas & Polk.

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

  • Hillsborough County     (The home county of Alford)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alford, with the one closest to Alford listed first.
    • Kingston City
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Kingston City is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingston City
    • Knights
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Knights is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knights
    • Dover
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Cedar Run
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Cedar Run is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Run
    • Plant City Heights
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Plant City Heights is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plant City Heights
    • Strawberry Village
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Strawberry Village is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Strawberry Village
    • Bay Hills Village
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Bay Hills Village is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bay Hills Village
    • Thonotosassa
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Colonial Village
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Colonial Village is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colonial Village
    • Plant City
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Langshire Village
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Langshire Village is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Langshire Village
    • Kings Village
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Kings Village is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings Village
  • Hernando County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alford, with the one closest to Alford listed first.
    • Ridge Manor
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Spring Lake
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Spring Lake is located in Hernando County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Lake
    • Masaryktown
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Pasco County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alford, with the one closest to Alford listed first.
    • Crystal Springs
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Crystal Springs is located in Pasco County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Springs
    • Zephyrhills
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Wesley Chapel South
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Wesley Chapel South is located in Pasco County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wesley Chapel South
    • Wesley Chapel
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Richland
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Richland is located in Pasco County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richland
    • Saint Leo
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • San Antonio
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • San Antonio is located in Pasco County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for San Antonio
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,506 people
      • Former name for San Antonio:
      • Lake Jovita
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for San Antonio <1>
    • Land O' Lakes
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Dade City
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Odessa
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Blanton
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Blanton is located in Pasco County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blanton
    • Fivay ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Fivay is located in Pasco County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fivay
  • Pinellas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alford, with the one closest to Alford listed first.
    • Gandy
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Gandy is located in Pinellas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gandy
    • Oldsmar
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • East Lake
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • East Lake is located in Pinellas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Lake
    • Feather Sound
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Safety Harbor
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Polk County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alford, with the one closest to Alford listed first.
    • Kathleen
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Winston
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Winston is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winston
    • Gibsonia
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Gibsonia is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gibsonia
    • Lakeland
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Medulla
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Medulla is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Medulla
    • Willow Oak
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Willow Oak is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Oak
    • Acton ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Acton is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acton
    • Nichols
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Fox Town
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Fox Town is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox Town
    • Lakeland Highlands
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Lakeland Highlands is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeland Highlands
    • Combee Settlement
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Combee Settlement is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Combee Settlement
    • Crystal Lake
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Crystal Lake is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Lake

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

Cemeteries Near Alford ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Alford.

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

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

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

  • Memorial Park
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Oaklawn Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Garden of Peace Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Memorial Park
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Hopewell Memorial Gardens
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Loving Care Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Mathews Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Sunset Gardens Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Crystal Springs Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Hillsboro Memorial Gardens
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Limona Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Limona Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Limona Cemetery is located in Brandon.
  • Brandon Family Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (110 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.<4>

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

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

  • Keene
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Keene is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keene
  • Knights
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Knights is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knights
  • Thonotosassa
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Plant City
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Seffner
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Sydney
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Mango
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Valrico
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Limona
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Limona is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Limona
  • Brandon
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Kathleen
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Bloomingdale
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Bloomingdale is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bloomingdale
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Richland
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Richland is located in Pasco County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richland
    • Ybor City
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Ybor City is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ybor City
    • Keysville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Keysville is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keysville

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

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 professional and volunteer 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 Alford:

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>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- Alford) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<4>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 Alford, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.