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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 Cairo (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 Cairo. 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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

Cairo is located in Bay 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 Bay County: Calhoun, Gulf, Jackson, Walton & Washington.

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

  • Bay County     (The home county of Cairo)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cairo, with the one closest to Cairo listed first.
    • Youngstown
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Cedar Grove
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Cedar Grove is located in Bay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Grove
    • Southport
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Vicksburg ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Vicksburg is located in Bay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vicksburg
      • Former name for Vicksburg:
      • Vickerburg
    • Hiland Park
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Hiland Park is located in Bay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hiland Park
    • Lynn Haven
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Fountain
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Callaway
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Springfield
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Bay Harbor ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Bay Harbor is located in Bay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bay Harbor
    • Panama City
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Parker
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Parker is located in Bay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parker
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,109 people
    • Pretty Bayou
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Pretty Bayou is located in Bay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pretty Bayou
  • Calhoun County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cairo, with the one closest to Cairo listed first.
    • Kinard
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Clarksville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Marysville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Marysville is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marysville
    • Chipola
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Chipola is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chipola
    • Blountstown
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • McNeal ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • McNeal is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McNeal
    • Altha
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Gulf County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cairo, with the one closest to Cairo listed first.
    • Wetappo
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Wetappo is located in Gulf County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wetappo
    • Wewahitchka
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Jackson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cairo, with the one closest to Cairo listed first.
    • Alford
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Steele City
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Steele City is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Steele City
  • Liberty County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cairo, with the one closest to Cairo listed first.
    • Lewis
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Lewis is located in Liberty County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lewis
    • Estiffanulga
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Estiffanulga is located in Liberty County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Estiffanulga
  • Washington County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cairo, with the one closest to Cairo listed first.
    • Wausau
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Ebro
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • 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>
    • Vernon
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Brock Crossroad
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Brock Crossroad is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brock Crossroad
    • Millers Ferry
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Millers Ferry is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millers Ferry

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

Cemeteries Near Cairo ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Cairo.

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

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

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

  • Kent Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Bayou George Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Porter Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Evergreen Memorial Gardens
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Lynn Haven Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Gainer Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Fountain Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
  • Redwood Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Millville Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Evergreen Memorial Gardens
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Greenwood Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Sand Hill Community Church Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • 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 <2>
  • Continue List   (63 more) ...
    • Oakland Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Bay Memorial Park
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Kemp Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)

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

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

  • Abe Springs
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Abe Springs is located in Calhoun County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abe Springs
  • Wewahitchka
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Marysville
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Marysville is located in Calhoun County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marysville
  • Lewis
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Lewis is located in Liberty County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lewis
  • Chipola
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Chipola is located in Calhoun County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chipola
  • Estiffanulga
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Estiffanulga is located in Liberty County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Estiffanulga
  • Orange
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Orange is located in Liberty County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orange
  • Blountstown
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
  • Millers Ferry
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Millers Ferry is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millers Ferry

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

Newspapers Published in Cairo ...

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 19 newspapers that have been published in the area around Cairo.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Cairo, there are papers which were published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Cairo.

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 Cairo:

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 Cairo, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>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 from Point A (ie- Cairo) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.