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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 Bland (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 Bland. 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 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 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.

Bland is located in Alachua 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 Alachua County: Bradford, Clay, Columbia, Gilchrist, Levy, Marion, Putnam & Union.

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

  • Alachua County     (The home county of Bland)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bland, with the one closest to Bland listed first.
    • La Crosse
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Alachua
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Burnetts Lake
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Burnetts Lake is located in Alachua County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burnetts Lake
    • High Springs
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Hague
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Hague is located in Alachua County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hague
    • Rutledge
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Rutledge is located in Alachua County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rutledge
    • Jonesville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Newberry
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Gainesville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Waldo
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Arredondo
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Arredondo is located in Alachua County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arredondo
    • Archer
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Windsor
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Windsor is located in Alachua County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windsor
  • Baker County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bland, with the one closest to Bland listed first.
    • Olustee
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Sanderson
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Bradford County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bland, with the one closest to Bland listed first.
    • Brooker
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Graham
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Hampton
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Starke
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Lawtey
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
  • Clay County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bland, with the one closest to Bland listed first.
    • Keystone Heights
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Kingsley Lake
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Kingsley Lake is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingsley Lake
    • Kingsley Village
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Kingsley Village is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingsley Village
    • Kingsley
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Kingsley is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingsley
    • Lake Geneva
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Columbia County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bland, with the one closest to Bland listed first.
    • Fort White
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Lulu
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • McColskey
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • McColskey is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McColskey
    • Watertown
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Watertown is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Watertown
    • Lake City
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Five Points
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Five Points is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Points
  • Gilchrist County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bland, with the one closest to Bland listed first.
    • Waters Lake
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Waters Lake is located in Gilchrist County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waters Lake
    • Bell
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Bell is located in Gilchrist County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bell
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 510 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bell <1>
    • Little Lake City
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Little Lake City is located in Gilchrist County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Lake City
    • Trenton
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Levy County
    • Meredith
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Meredith is located in Levy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meredith
  • Suwannee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bland, with the one closest to Bland listed first.
    • Branford
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • O'Brien
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Wellborn
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Union County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bland, with the one closest to Bland listed first.
    • Worthington Springs
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Lake Butler
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Raiford
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)

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

Cemeteries Near Bland ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Bland.

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

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

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

  • New Hope Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Richard Family Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • New Oak Grove Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Damascus Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • St. Johns Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Spring Hill Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Ft. Call Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Asberry Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Bethany Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Newnansville Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Old Bradford Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Philippi Baptist Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (162 more) ...
    • High Springs Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Pine Hills Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • St. John Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 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 Bland in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Bland.

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

  • Newnansville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Newnansville is located in Alachua County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newnansville
  • La Crosse
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Mikesville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Mikesville is located in Columbia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mikesville
  • High Springs
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Alachua
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Hague
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Hague is located in Alachua County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hague
  • Lake Butler
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Fort White
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • New River
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • New River is located in Bradford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New River
  • Lulu
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
  • Rutledge
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Rutledge is located in Alachua County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rutledge
  • Paradise
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Paradise is located in Alachua County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paradise
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Columbia
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Columbia is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Columbia
    • Jonesville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Fairbanks
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Fairbanks is located in Alachua County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairbanks

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

Newspapers Published in Bland ...

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 94 newspapers that have been published in the area around Bland.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Bland, there are papers which were published within 25 miles [40.2 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Bland.

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 Bland:

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 '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- Bland) 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 Bland, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.