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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 Bridges (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 Bridges. 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.

Bridges is located in Hardee 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 Hardee County: DeSoto, Highlands, Hillsborough, Manatee & Polk.

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

  • Hardee County     (The home county of Bridges)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bridges, with the one closest to Bridges listed first.
    • Ona
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Zolfo Springs
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Wauchula
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Bowling Green
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
  • Charlotte County
    • Harbour Heights
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Harbour Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harbour Heights
      • Harbour Heights is located in Charlotte County
  • DeSoto County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bridges, with the one closest to Bridges listed first.
    • Calvinia ‑ Historic
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Calvinia. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calvinia
      • Calvinia is located in DeSoto County
    • Arcadia
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Nocatee
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Fort Ogden
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
  • Highlands County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bridges, with the one closest to Bridges listed first.
    • Avon Park
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Sebring
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • De Soto City
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for De Soto City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for De Soto City
      • De Soto City is located in Highlands County
    • Alpine
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpine
      • Alpine is located in Highlands County
  • Manatee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bridges, with the one closest to Bridges listed first.
    • Sandy
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy
      • Sandy is located in Manatee County
    • Myakka City
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Duette
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Verna
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Verna
      • Verna is located in Manatee County
    • Waterbury
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterbury
      • Waterbury is located in Manatee County
  • Polk County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bridges, with the one closest to Bridges listed first.
    • Brewster ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brewster have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brewster
      • Brewster is located in Polk County
    • Fort Meade
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Oponys Town ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oponys Town have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oponys Town
      • Oponys Town is located in Polk County
    • Homeland
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Pittsburg
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pittsburg
      • Pittsburg is located in Polk County
  • Sarasota County
    • Shiney Town
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shiney Town have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shiney Town
      • Shiney Town is located in Sarasota County

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

Newspapers Published in Bridges ...

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 29 newspapers that have been published in the area around Bridges.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Bridges, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Bridges.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These helpful 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 Bridges:

Cemeteries Near Bridges ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Bridges.

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

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

  • Coker Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Coker Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Coker Cemetery
  • Oak Grove Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oak Grove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oak Grove Cemetery
  • Lamp Grounds Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lamp Grounds Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lamp Grounds Cemetery
  • Wauchula Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Pine Level Campground Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pine Level Campground Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pine Level Campground Cemetery
  • Oak Ridge Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oak Ridge Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oak Ridge Cemetery
  • Olive Branch Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Olive Branch Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Olive Branch Cemetery
  • Owens Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Owens Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Owens Cemetery
  • Joshua Creek Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Joshua Creek Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Joshua Creek Cemetery
  • Oak Creek Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oak Creek Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oak Creek Cemetery
  • Sardis Cemetery
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sardis Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sardis Cemetery
  • Hart Cemetery
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hart Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hart Cemetery
  • Continue List   (30 more) ...
    • Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church Cemetery
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Hull Cemetery
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hull Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hull Cemetery
    • Keen Cemetery
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Keen Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Keen 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.<6>

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

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

  • Calvinia ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Calvinia. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calvinia
    • Calvinia is located in DeSoto County
  • Zolfo Springs
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Pine Level
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pine Level have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Level
    • Pine Level is located in DeSoto County
  • Wauchula
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Arcadia
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
  • Sandy
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy
    • Sandy is located in Manatee County
  • Bowling Green
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
  • Nocatee
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
  • Crewsville
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crewsville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crewsville
    • Crewsville is located in Hardee County
  • Fort Ogden
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
  • Fort Meade
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
  • Avon Park
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Homeland
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
  • Rye
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rye have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rye
    • Rye is located in Manatee County

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

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

The official website for Hardee County: www.hardeecounty.net/

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

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 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.
<3>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<4>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 from Point A (ie- Bridges) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Bridges. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 27.4087, Longitude: -81.9068       In this case, the coordinates for Bridges have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>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.
<6>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 Bridges, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024