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 Brownsdale (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 Brownsdale. 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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.
Brownsdale is located in Santa Rosa 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 Santa Rosa County: Escambia (AL), Escambia & Okaloosa.
Below are the counties that are near Brownsdale. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Brownsdale:
- Santa Rosa County (The home county of Brownsdale)
- The following are listed by their distance from Brownsdale, with the one closest to Brownsdale listed first.
- Jay
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Jay is located in Santa Rosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jay
- Population from the 2020 Census: 653 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Jay <1>
- Pace
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Milton
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Bagdad
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Galt City
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Galt City is located in Santa Rosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galt City
- Belandville ‑ Historic
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Belandville is located in Santa Rosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belandville
- Harold
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Escambia County
- The following are listed by their distance from Brownsdale, with the one closest to Brownsdale listed first.
- McDavid
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- McDavid is located in Escambia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McDavid
- Century
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Byrneville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Byrneville is located in Escambia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Byrneville
- Pine Barren
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Pine Barren is located in Escambia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Barren
- Molino
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Quintette
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Quintette is located in Escambia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quintette
- Walnut Hill
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Barrineau Park
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Barrineau Park is located in Escambia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barrineau Park
- Cantonment
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Gonzalez
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Gonzalez is located in Escambia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gonzalez
- Muscogee
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Muscogee is located in Escambia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Muscogee
- Ensley
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Okaloosa County
- The following are listed by their distance from Brownsdale, with the one closest to Brownsdale listed first.
- Otahite ‑ Historic
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Otahite is located in Okaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Otahite
- Holt
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Baldwin County (AL)
- The following are listed by their distance from Brownsdale, with the one closest to Brownsdale listed first.
- Phillipsville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Phillipsville is located in Baldwin County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Phillipsville
- Perdido
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Seminole
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Seminole is located in Baldwin County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seminole
- Conecuh County (AL)
- Range
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Range is located in Conecuh County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Range
- Escambia County (AL)
- The following are listed by their distance from Brownsdale, with the one closest to Brownsdale listed first.
- Flomaton
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Pollard
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Pollard is located in Escambia County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pollard
- Population from the 2020 Census: 132 people
- Riverview
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Riverview is located in Escambia County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverview
- Population from the 2020 Census: 181 people
- Hammac
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Hammac is located in Escambia County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hammac
- East Brewton
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Brewton
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Atmore
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Roberts
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Roberts is located in Escambia County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roberts
- Huxford
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Huxford is located in Escambia County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huxford
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Brownsdale, see our County-by-County Page for Brownsdale.
Cemeteries Near Brownsdale ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Brownsdale.
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 Brownsdale - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Brownsdale covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Brownsdale, with the one closest to Brownsdale listed first.
- Cora Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Carlney Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Coon Hill Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Pine Level Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Concord Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Juniper Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Chumuckla Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Flomaton Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Pine View Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Walling Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Hollywood Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Rock Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Continue List (148 more) ...
- Beulah Chapel Assembly of God Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Mize Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Henderson Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
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.<3>
While we didn't find Brownsdale in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Brownsdale.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Brownsdale, with the one closest to Brownsdale listed first.
- McDavid
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- McDavid is located in Escambia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McDavid
- Bluff Springs
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Bluff Springs is located in Escambia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluff Springs
- Chumuckla
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Chumuckla is located in Santa Rosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chumuckla
- Flomaton
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Pine Barren
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Pine Barren is located in Escambia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Barren
- Pollard
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Pollard is located in Escambia County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pollard
- Population from the 2020 Census: 132 people
- Molino
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Berrydale
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Berrydale is located in Santa Rosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berrydale
- Quintette
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Quintette is located in Escambia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quintette
- Hammac
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Hammac is located in Escambia County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hammac
- Brewton
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Cantonment
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Milton
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Muscogee
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Muscogee is located in Escambia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Muscogee
- Galt City
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Galt City is located in Santa Rosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galt City
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Brownsdale. See our List of 1890's Communities around Brownsdale.
Newspapers Published in Brownsdale ...
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 45 newspapers that have been published in the area around Brownsdale.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Brownsdale, there are papers which were published within 22 miles [35.4 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Brownsdale.
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 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 Brownsdale:
- Websites specific to Florida
- Pages specific to Santa Rosa County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Escambia County
- Okaloosa County
- Baldwin County
- Conecuh County
- Escambia County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Florida
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 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. |
| <3> | 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 Brownsdale, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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- Brownsdale) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |