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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 Bay Lake (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 Bay Lake. 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.

Name Variations for Bay Lake ...

When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might have occurred.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Bay Lake: Bay Lk.

If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.

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 and doctors 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.

Bay Lake is located in Orange 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 Orange County: Brevard, Lake, Osceola, Polk & Seminole.

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

  • Orange County     (The home county of Bay Lake)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bay Lake, with the one closest to Bay Lake listed first.
    • Lake Buena Vista
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake Buena Vista have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Buena Vista
      • Lake Buena Vista is located in Orange County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 26 people
    • Bay Hill
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bay Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bay Hill
      • Bay Hill is located in Orange County
    • Doctor Phillips
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Doctor Phillips have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doctor Phillips
      • Doctor Phillips is located in Orange County
    • Windermere
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Williamsburg
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Williamsburg have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williamsburg
      • Williamsburg is located in Orange County
    • Lake Butter
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake Butter have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Butter
      • Lake Butter is located in Orange County
    • Sand Lake
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Hunters Creek
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hunters Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunters Creek
      • Hunters Creek is located in Orange County
    • Tangelo Park
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tangelo Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tangelo Park
      • Tangelo Park is located in Orange County
    • Gotha
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Oak Ridge
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oak Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Ridge
      • Oak Ridge is located in Orange County
    • Killarney
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Lake County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bay Lake, with the one closest to Bay Lake listed first.
    • Four Corners
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Waits Junction
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Waits Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waits Junction
      • Waits Junction is located in Lake County
    • Montverde
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Clermont
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Minneola
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Ferndale
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Groveland
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Mascotte
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Astatula
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Lake Jem
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Jem
      • Lake Jem is located in Lake County
    • Howey-in-the-Hills
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Yalaha
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Osceola County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bay Lake, with the one closest to Bay Lake listed first.
    • Celebration
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Reunion
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • ChampionsGate
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for ChampionsGate
      • ChampionsGate is located in Osceola County
    • Intercession City
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Campbell
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Campbell have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Campbell
      • Campbell is located in Osceola County
    • Kissimmee
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Buena Ventura Lakes
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Poinciana Place
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Poinciana Place have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poinciana Place
      • Poinciana Place is located in Osceola County
    • Poinciana
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Saint Cloud
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Runnymede
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Runnymede have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Runnymede
      • Runnymede is located in Osceola County
  • Polk County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bay Lake, with the one closest to Bay Lake listed first.
    • Loughman
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Davenport
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Haines City
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Lake Hammock Village
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake Hammock Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Hammock Village
      • Lake Hammock Village is located in Polk County
    • Polk City
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Lake Alfred
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Lake Hamilton
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Dundee
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Auburndale
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Winter Haven
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Fox Town
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fox Town have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox Town
      • Fox Town is located in Polk County
    • Inwood
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Inwood have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Inwood
      • Inwood is located in Polk County
  • Seminole County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bay Lake, with the one closest to Bay Lake listed first.
    • Forest City
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Forest City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest City
      • Forest City is located in Seminole County
    • Altamonte Springs
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Fern Park
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Wekiwa Springs
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wekiwa Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wekiwa Springs
      • Wekiwa Springs is located in Seminole County
    • Sanlando Springs
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sanlando Springs
      • Sanlando Springs is located in Seminole County
    • Casselberry
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Longwood
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Winter Springs
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Heathrow
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Lake Mary
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Oviedo
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oviedo
      • Oviedo is located in Seminole County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 41,652 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oviedo <2>
  • Sumter County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bay Lake, with the one closest to Bay Lake listed first.
    • Mabel
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mabel
      • Mabel is located in Sumter County
    • Linden
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Linden have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Linden
      • Linden is located in Sumter County

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

Newspapers Published in Bay Lake ...

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 85 newspapers that have been published in the area around Bay Lake.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Bay Lake, there are papers which were published within 25 miles [40.2 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Bay Lake.

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 Bay Lake:

Cemeteries Near Bay Lake ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Bay Lake.

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

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

  • Doctor Phillips Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Doctor Phillips Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Doctor Phillips Cemetery
  • Winter Garden Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Winter Garden Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Winter Garden Cemetery
  • Oak Hill Baptist Church Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Loughman Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Williams Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Williams Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Williams Cemetery
  • Howard Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Howard Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Howard Cemetery
  • Oak Ridge Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oak Ridge Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oak Ridge Cemetery
  • Woodlawn Memorial Park
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • West Orange Memorial Park
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the West Orange Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the West Orange Memorial Park
  • Taft Memorial Gardens
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Taft Memorial Gardens is a large cemetery that is located in Taft.
    • The Taft Memorial Gardens has also been known as:
    • Taft Memorial Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Taft Memorial Gardens
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1217063 <4>
  • Washington Park Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Washington Park Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Washington Park Cemetery
  • Woodlawn Memorial Park
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Woodlawn Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Woodlawn Memorial Park
  • Continue List   (74 more) ...
    • Ocoee Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ocoee Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ocoee Cemetery
    • Evergreen Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Evergreen Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the north of Davenport.
      • The Evergreen Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Davenport Cemetery
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Evergreen Cemetery
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #71888 <4>
    • Osceola Memory Gardens
      (13 miles [20.9 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.<5>

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

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

  • Windermere
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Gotha
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Killarney
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Kissimmee
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Minorville ‑ Historic
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Minorville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minorville
    • Minorville is located in Orange County
  • Oakland
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
  • Winter Garden
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
  • Ocoee
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ocoee
    • Ocoee is located in Orange County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 49,168 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ocoee <2>
  • Tildenville
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tildenville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tildenville
    • Tildenville is located in Orange County
  • Pine Castle
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Crown Point
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crown Point have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crown Point
    • Crown Point is located in Orange County
  • Waits Junction
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Waits Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waits Junction
    • Waits Junction is located in Lake County
  • Continue List   (18 more) ...
    • Montverde
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Orlando
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Mohawk
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mohawk have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mohawk
      • Mohawk is located in Lake County

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

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

The official website for Orange County: www.orangecountyfl.net/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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- Bay Lake) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Bay Lake. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 28.3857, Longitude: -81.5750       In this case, the coordinates for Bay Lake 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 Bay Lake, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024