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










Learn About
The Commemorative
Quarter for
Florida

The Commemorative Quarter for Florida





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 Bell (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 Bell. 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 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 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.

Bell is located in Gilchrist 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 Gilchrist County: Alachua, Columbia, Dixie, Lafayette & Levy.

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

  • Gilchrist County     (The home county of Bell)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bell, with the one closest to Bell listed first.
    • Little Lake City
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little Lake City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Lake City
      • Little Lake City is located in Gilchrist County
    • Waters Lake
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waters Lake
      • Waters Lake is located in Gilchrist County
    • Trenton
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Fanning Springs
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Alachua County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bell, with the one closest to Bell listed first.
    • High Springs
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Newberry
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jonesville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Alachua
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Burnetts Lake
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Burnetts Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burnetts Lake
      • Burnetts Lake is located in Alachua County
    • Archer
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Hague
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hague
      • Hague is located in Alachua County
    • Rutledge
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rutledge
      • Rutledge is located in Alachua County
    • La Crosse
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Arredondo
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arredondo
      • Arredondo is located in Alachua County
  • Columbia County
    • Fort White
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Dixie County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bell, with the one closest to Bell listed first.
    • Suwanee Old Town ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Suwanee Old Town have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Suwanee Old Town
      • Suwanee Old Town is located in Dixie County
    • Old Town
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Cross City
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Lafayette County
    • Mayo
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayo
      • Mayo is located in Lafayette County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,289 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mayo <2>
  • Levy County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bell, with the one closest to Bell listed first.
    • Andrews
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Andrews have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Andrews
      • Andrews is located in Levy County
    • Manatee Road
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Manatee Road have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manatee Road
      • Manatee Road is located in Levy County
    • Chiefland
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Bronson
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • East Bronson
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Bronson
      • East Bronson is located in Levy County
    • Otter Creek
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Suwannee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bell, with the one closest to Bell listed first.
    • Branford
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • O'Brien
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • McAlpin
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
  • Union County
    • Worthington Springs
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)

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

Newspapers Published in Bell ...

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 26 newspapers that have been published in the area around Bell.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Bell, there are papers which were published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Bell.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to 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 Bell:

Cemeteries Near Bell ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Bell.

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

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

  • Bell Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Bethel Church of Christ Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • New Hope Family Church Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Pleasant Hill Baptist Church Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Wayfair Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Midway Church of Christ Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Priscilla Baptist Church Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Townsend Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Fayetteville Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fayetteville Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fayetteville Cemetery
  • Jennings Lake Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Old Hatchbend Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Hatchbend Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Hatchbend Cemetery
  • Center Hill Church of Christ Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (119 more) ...
    • Mt. Horeb Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • McCrabb Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the McCrabb Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the McCrabb Cemetery
    • Bethel Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • The Bethel Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Cherry Sink Cemetery
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bethel Cemetery

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

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

  • Branford
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
  • Fort White
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
  • High Springs
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
  • Chiefland
    (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
  • O'Brien
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
  • Mikesville
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mikesville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mikesville
    • Mikesville is located in Columbia County
  • Jonesville
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
  • Alachua
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
  • Newnansville
    (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Newnansville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newnansville
    • Newnansville is located in Alachua County
  • Meredith
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Meredith have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meredith
    • Meredith is located in Levy County
  • Columbia
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Columbia have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Columbia
    • Columbia is located in Columbia County
  • Bronson
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (7 more) ...
    • Archer
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • McAlpin
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Hague
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hague
      • Hague is located in Alachua County

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

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

The official website for Gilchrist County: www.gilchrist.fl.us/

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' (or 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- Bell) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Bell. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 29.7558, Longitude: -82.8629    
<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 Bell, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

Copyright 2024
All Rights Reserved

Thank you for visiting our website.

In closing, please keep in mind that we can not guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of the information on this website, so use with care. We encourage you to double-check the information that is critical to you.

If you've found an error or have additional information that you would like to share, please don't hesitate to write: Click here to contact us.

This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024