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A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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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 Bruce (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 Bruce. 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.

Bruce is located in Walton 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 Walton County: Covington (AL), Geneva (AL), Bay, Holmes, Okaloosa & Washington.

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

  • Walton County     (The home county of Bruce)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bruce, with the one closest to Bruce listed first.
    • Freeport
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Knox Hill
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Knox Hill is located in Walton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knox Hill
    • Point Washington
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Alys Beach
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Inlet Beach
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Rosemary Beach
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Portland
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Portland is located in Walton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Portland
    • Grayton Beach
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Seagrove Beach
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Seaside
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Blue Mountain Beach
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Santa Rosa Beach
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Argyle
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
  • Bay County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bruce, with the one closest to Bruce listed first.
    • Sunnyside
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Laguna Beach
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Vicksburg ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Vicksburg is located in Bay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vicksburg
      • Former name for Vicksburg:
      • Vickerburg
    • Panama City Beach
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Southport
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • West Panama City Beach
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Lynn Haven
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Pretty Bayou
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Pretty Bayou is located in Bay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pretty Bayou
    • Upper Grand Lagoon
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Upper Grand Lagoon is located in Bay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Upper Grand Lagoon
    • Lower Grand Lagoon
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Lower Grand Lagoon is located in Bay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lower Grand Lagoon
    • Magnolia Beach
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Magnolia Beach is located in Bay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magnolia Beach
    • Hiland Park
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Hiland Park is located in Bay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hiland Park
    • Cedar Grove
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Cedar Grove is located in Bay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Grove
  • Holmes County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bruce, with the one closest to Bruce listed first.
    • Ponce de Leon
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Westville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Cerrogordo
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Cerrogordo is located in Holmes County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cerrogordo
    • Bonifay
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Okaloosa County
    • Niceville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Washington County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bruce, with the one closest to Bruce listed first.
    • Ebro
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Ebro is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ebro
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 285 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ebro <1>
    • Millers Ferry
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Millers Ferry is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millers Ferry
    • Coosada Old Town ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Coosada Old Town is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coosada Old Town
    • Vernon
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Five Points
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Five Points is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Points
    • Caryville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Wausau
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Brock Crossroad
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Brock Crossroad is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brock Crossroad

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

Cemeteries Near Bruce ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Bruce.

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

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

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

  • Antioch Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Dead River Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Ebro Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Wilcox Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Miller Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Dunn - Raley Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Redbay Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Hardy Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Hatcher Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • Clarkston Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Weeks Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
  • New Home Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (44 more) ...
    • Santa Rosa Cemetery
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Sand Hill Community Church Cemetery
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sand Hill Community Church Cemetery
      • The Sand Hill Community Church Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Kingdom Life Ministries Cemetery
      • Victory Faith Tabernacle Cemetery
      • Victory of Faith Fellowship Cemetery
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2267647 <3>
    • Hewas Cemetery
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)

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

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

  • Redbay
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Redbay is located in Walton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redbay
  • Millers Ferry
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Millers Ferry is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millers Ferry
  • Freeport
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Knox Hill
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Knox Hill is located in Walton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knox Hill
  • Eucheeanna
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Eucheeanna is located in Walton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eucheeanna
  • Portland
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Portland is located in Walton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Portland
  • Argyle
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
  • Ponce de Leon
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
  • Westville
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
  • Caryville
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Union
    (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Union is located in Walton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union
  • Cerrogordo
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Cerrogordo is located in Holmes County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cerrogordo
  • Bonifay
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Mossy Head
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)

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

Newspapers Published in Bruce ...

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 25 newspapers that have been published in the area around Bruce.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Bruce, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Bruce.

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 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 Bruce:

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