RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Florida >> Leon County >> Belair >> Genealogy HelperIndex...

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 Belair (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 Belair. 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 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 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.

Belair is located in Leon 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 Leon County: Gadsden, Jefferson, Liberty, Wakulla, Grady (GA) & Thomas (GA).

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

  • Leon County     (The home county of Belair)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Belair, with the one closest to Belair listed first.
    • Tallahassee
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Woodville
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Capitola
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Capitola is located in Leon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Capitola
    • Bradfordville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Bradfordville is located in Leon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bradfordville
    • Ocklockonee ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Ocklockonee is located in Leon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ocklockonee
    • Iamonia
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Iamonia is located in Leon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iamonia
    • Miccosukee
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Gadsden County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Belair, with the one closest to Belair listed first.
    • Midway
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Havana
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Quincy
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Douglas City
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Douglas City is located in Gadsden County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Douglas City
    • Gretna
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Jefferson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Belair, with the one closest to Belair listed first.
    • Wacissa
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Lloyd
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Thomas City
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Thomas City is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thomas City
    • Waukeenah
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Monticello
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Lamont
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
  • Wakulla County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Belair, with the one closest to Belair listed first.
    • Wakulla Springs
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Crawfordville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Saint Marks
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Panacea
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Sopchoppy
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Curtis Mill
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Curtis Mill is located in Wakulla County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Curtis Mill
  • Decatur County (GA)
    • Attapulgus
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Grady County (GA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Belair, with the one closest to Belair listed first.
    • Calvary
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Good Hope ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Good Hope is located in Grady County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Good Hope
      • Estimated population in 2019: 300 people
    • Reno
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Reno is located in Grady County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reno
      • Estimated population in 2019: 285 people

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

Cemeteries Near Belair ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Belair.

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

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

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

  • East Grove Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Grove Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the East Grove Cemetery is located 6 miles [9.7 km]<2> to the south of Tallahassee.
    • The East Grove Cemetery has also been known as:
    • English Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2313798 <3>
  • Rhodes Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Soda Field Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Southside Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Old City Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Woodville Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodville Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Woodville Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the east of Woodville.
    • The Woodville Cemetery has also been known as:
    • White Church Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2152016 <3>
  • Rhodes Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Tallahassee Memory Gardens
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Oakland Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Greenwood Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Godwin Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Munree Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Munree Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Munree Cemetery is located 5 miles [8 km]<2> to the northeast of Tallahassee.
    • The Munree Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Fleischmann Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2395019 <3>
  • Continue List   (147 more) ...
    • Roselawn Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Harvey Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Meadowwood Memorial Park
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)

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

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

  • Tallahassee
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Woodville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Chaires
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Chaires is located in Leon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chaires
  • Wakulla
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Wakulla is located in Wakulla County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wakulla
  • Bradfordville
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Bradfordville is located in Leon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bradfordville
  • Newport
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Newport is located in Wakulla County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newport
  • Midway
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Crawfordville
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Saint Marks
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
  • Wacissa
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
  • Lloyd
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Scotland
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Scotland is located in Gadsden County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scotland
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Holland
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Holland is located in Leon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holland
    • Waukeenah
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Ocklockonee ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Ocklockonee is located in Leon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ocklockonee

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

Newspapers Published in Belair ...

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 87 newspapers that have been published in the area around Belair.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Belair, there are papers which were published within 26 miles [41.8 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Belair.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin with 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 Belair:

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>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Belair) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<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 Belair, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.