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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 Avon Park (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 Avon Park. 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 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.

Avon Park is located in Highlands 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 Highlands County: Charlotte, DeSoto, Glades, Hardee, Okeechobee, Osceola & Polk.

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

  • Highlands County     (The home county of Avon Park)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Avon Park, with the one closest to Avon Park listed first.
    • Alpine
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpine
      • Alpine is located in Highlands County
    • Sebring
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • De Soto City
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for De Soto City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for De Soto City
      • De Soto City is located in Highlands County
    • Lorida
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Sylvan Shores
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sylvan Shores have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sylvan Shores
      • Sylvan Shores is located in Highlands County
    • Lake Placid
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Placid Lakes
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Placid Lakes have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Placid Lakes
      • Placid Lakes is located in Highlands County
    • Archbold
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Archbold
      • Archbold is located in Highlands County
  • DeSoto County
    • Calvinia ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Calvinia. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calvinia
      • Calvinia is located in DeSoto County
  • Hardee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Avon Park, with the one closest to Avon Park listed first.
    • Wauchula
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Zolfo Springs
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Bowling Green
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Ona
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
  • Polk County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Avon Park, with the one closest to Avon Park listed first.
    • Pittsburg
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pittsburg
      • Pittsburg is located in Polk County
    • Frostproof
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Hillcrest Heights
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • 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
    • Babson Park
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Crooked Lake Park
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • 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
    • Indian Lake Estates
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Highland Park
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland Park
      • Highland Park is located in Polk County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 221 people
    • Nalcrest
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Lakeshore
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Lake Wales
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Fort Meade
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Cacema Town ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cacema Town have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cacema Town
      • Cacema Town is located in Polk County
    • Alturas
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Avon Park ...

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 41 newspapers that have been published in the area around Avon Park.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Avon Park. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Avon Park and those printed in the larger area surrounding Avon Park.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<4> of Avon Park.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These 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 Avon Park:

Cemeteries Near Avon Park ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Avon Park.

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

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

  • Bougainvillea Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Lakeview Memorial Gardens
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Lakeside Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lakeside Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lakeside Cemetery
  • Corinth Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Silver Hill Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Pinecrest Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pinecrest Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pinecrest Cemetery
  • Prescott Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Prescott Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Prescott Cemetery
  • Hart Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hart Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hart Cemetery
  • Eden Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Biscuit Lake Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Whitten Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Whitten Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Whitten Cemetery
  • Mt. Zion Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (31 more) ...
    • Oak Creek Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oak Creek Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oak Creek Cemetery
    • Lake Buffum Baptist Church Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church Cemetery
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)

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.<6>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Avon Park had a post office and no railroad service. In 2020, Avon Park had a population of 10,719 people.

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

  • Crewsville
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crewsville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crewsville
    • Crewsville is located in Hardee County
  • Wauchula
    (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
  • Zolfo Springs
    (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
  • Bowling Green
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
  • Fort Meade
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Homeland
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
  • Calvinia ‑ Historic
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Calvinia. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calvinia
    • Calvinia is located in DeSoto County
  • Wahneta
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wahneta
    • Wahneta is located in Polk County
  • Bartow
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)

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

The official website for Avon Park: www.avonpark.cc/

The official website for Highlands County: www.hcbcc.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>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Avon Park) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Avon Park. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 27.5958, Longitude: -81.5062    
<5>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.
<6>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 Avon Park, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024