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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 Ayers (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 Ayers. 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.

Ayers is located in Hernando 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 Hernando County: Citrus, Pasco & Sumter.

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

  • Hernando County     (The home county of Ayers)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ayers, with the one closest to Ayers listed first.
    • Masaryktown
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Wiscon
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Wiscon is located in Hernando County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wiscon
    • South Brooksville
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • South Brooksville is located in Hernando County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Brooksville
    • Brookridge
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Brookridge is located in Hernando County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookridge
    • Spring Hill
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • North Brooksville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • North Brooksville is located in Hernando County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Brooksville
    • Brooksville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • High Point
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • High Point is located in Hernando County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Point
    • Spring Lake
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Spring Lake is located in Hernando County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Lake
    • North Weeki Wachee
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • North Weeki Wachee is located in Hernando County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Weeki Wachee
    • Weeki Wachee
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Timber Pines
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Timber Pines is located in Hernando County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timber Pines
    • Weeki Wachee Acres
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Weeki Wachee Acres is located in Hernando County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weeki Wachee Acres
  • Citrus County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ayers, with the one closest to Ayers listed first.
    • Sugarmill Woods
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Sugarmill Woods is located in Citrus County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugarmill Woods
    • Floral City
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Mannfield ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Mannfield is located in Citrus County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mannfield
    • Homosassa Springs
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Inverness Highlands South
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Homosassa
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Inverness
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Lecanto
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Inverness Highlands North
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Citrus Hills
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Citrus Hills is located in Citrus County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Citrus Hills
    • Crystal River
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
    • Hernando
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
  • Hillsborough County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ayers, with the one closest to Ayers listed first.
    • Cannes Village
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Cannes Village is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cannes Village
    • Florida Townsend Colony
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Heritage Harbor Village
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Lake Brooker Village
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Lake Brooker Village is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Brooker Village
    • Lake Keen
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Lake Keen is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Keen
    • Lutz
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Biarritz Village
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Biarritz Village is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Biarritz Village
    • Cheval Wimbledon Village
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Cheval
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Cheval is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cheval
    • Lake Sapphire Village
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Lake Sapphire Village is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Sapphire Village
    • Lakeview Villas at Pebble Creek Village
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Pebble Creek Village
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Pebble Creek Village is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pebble Creek Village
    • Pebble Creek
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Pebble Creek is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pebble Creek
  • Pasco County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ayers, with the one closest to Ayers listed first.
    • Shady Hills
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Fivay ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Fivay is located in Pasco County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fivay
    • Fivay Junction ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Fivay Junction is located in Pasco County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fivay Junction
    • Blanton
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Blanton is located in Pasco County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blanton
    • San Antonio
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • 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>
    • Aripeka
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Saint Leo
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Moss Town
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Moss Town is located in Pasco County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moss Town
    • Trilby
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Lacoochee
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Land O' Lakes
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Dade City
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Hudson
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Pinellas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ayers, with the one closest to Ayers listed first.
    • East Lake
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • East Lake is located in Pinellas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Lake
    • Tarpon Springs
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Cove Springs
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Cove Springs is located in Pinellas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cove Springs
  • Sumter County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ayers, with the one closest to Ayers listed first.
    • Bucker Womans Town ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Bucker Womans Town is located in Sumter County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bucker Womans Town
    • Bay Hill
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Bay Hill is located in Sumter County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bay Hill
    • Wahoo
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Wahoo is located in Sumter County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wahoo
    • Tarrytown
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Tarrytown is located in Sumter County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tarrytown
    • Bushnell
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Linden
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Linden is located in Sumter County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Linden
    • Webster
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Mabel
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Mabel is located in Sumter County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mabel
    • Lake Panasoffkee
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Center Hill
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Sumterville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)

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

Cemeteries Near Ayers ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Ayers.

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

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

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

  • Masaryktown Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • McGeachy Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Florida Hills Memorial Gardens
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Loyce Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Johnson Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Hope Hill Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • The Hope Hill Cemetery is located on private property - be sure to secure permission before visiting.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hope Hill Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Hope Hill Cemetery is located outside and to the south of Brooksville.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2457068 <2>
  • Townsend House Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Brooksville Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Long Memorial Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Twin Lakes Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Fivay Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Community Baptist Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (60 more) ...
    • The Fountains Memorial Park
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • St. Joseph Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Emmaus Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)

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.<3>

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

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

  • Wiscon
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Wiscon is located in Hernando County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wiscon
  • Brooksville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Jessamine
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Jessamine is located in Pasco County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jessamine
  • Blanton
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Blanton is located in Pasco County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blanton
  • Ehren
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Ehren is located in Pasco County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ehren
  • San Antonio
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • 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>
  • Bayport
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Bayport is located in Hernando County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayport
  • Saint Leo
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Hudson
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Lacoochee
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
  • Istachatta
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Odessa
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Ellerslie
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Ellerslie is located in Pasco County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellerslie
    • Port Richey
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Richland
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Richland is located in Pasco County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richland

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

Newspapers Published in Ayers ...

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 30 newspapers that have been published in the area around Ayers.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Ayers, there are papers which were published within 16 miles [25.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Ayers.

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 Ayers:

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