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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 Cara (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 Cara. 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 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.

Cara is located in Marion 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 Marion County: Alachua, Citrus, Lake, Levy, Putnam, Sumter & Volusia.

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

  • Marion County     (The home county of Cara)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cara, with the one closest to Cara listed first.
    • Heijahs Town ‑ Historic
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Heijahs Town is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heijahs Town
    • Fairfield
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Fairfield is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairfield
    • Lowell
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Irvine
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Irvine is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irvine
    • Reddick
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Paynes Town ‑ Historic
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Paynes Town is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paynes Town
    • Martin
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Martin is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martin
    • Orange Lake
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Fellowship
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Fellowship is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fellowship
    • McIntosh
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Anthony
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Sparr
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Alachua County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cara, with the one closest to Cara listed first.
    • Evinston
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Micanopy
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Island Grove
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Lochloosa
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Rochelle
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Rochelle is located in Alachua County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rochelle
    • Hawthorne
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Archer
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Arredondo
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Arredondo is located in Alachua County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arredondo
    • Gainesville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Windsor
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Windsor is located in Alachua County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windsor
    • Campville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Campville is located in Alachua County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Campville
    • Rutledge
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Rutledge is located in Alachua County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rutledge
  • Citrus County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cara, with the one closest to Cara listed first.
    • Holder
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Citrus Springs
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Pine Ridge
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Pine Ridge is located in Citrus County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Ridge
  • Levy County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cara, with the one closest to Cara listed first.
    • East Williston
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • East Williston is located in Levy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Williston
    • Morriston
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Williston
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Raleigh
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Raleigh is located in Levy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raleigh
    • Williston Highlands
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Williston Highlands is located in Levy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williston Highlands
    • East Bronson
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • East Bronson is located in Levy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Bronson
    • Meredith
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Meredith is located in Levy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meredith
    • Bronson
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Gulf Hammock
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Otter Creek
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Putnam County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cara, with the one closest to Cara listed first.
    • Edgar
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Keuka
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Keuka is located in Putnam County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keuka
    • Interlachen
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Mannville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Mannville is located in Putnam County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mannville

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

Cemeteries Near Cara ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Cara.

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

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

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

  • Millwood Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Flemington Baptist Church Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Union Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • McFall Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Pine Grove Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Carter Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Center Hill Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Pleasant Hill Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • St. Pauls Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Mt. Tabor Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Dupree Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Citra Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (110 more) ...
    • Willow Plant Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Mt. Olive AME Church Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • New Hope Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 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.<3>

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

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

  • Lowell
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Flemington
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Flemington is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flemington
  • Reddick
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Millwood
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Millwood is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millwood
  • Martin
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Martin is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martin
  • Blitchton
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Blitchton is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blitchton
  • Fellowship
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Fellowship is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fellowship
  • Orange Lake
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • McIntosh
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Kendrick
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Kendrick is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kendrick
  • Boardman
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Boardman is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boardman
  • Anthony
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Sparr
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Early Bird
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Early Bird is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Early Bird
    • Martel
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Martel is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martel

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

Newspapers Published in Cara ...

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 80 newspapers that have been published in the area around Cara.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Cara, there are papers which were published within 23 miles [37 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Cara.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin with 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 Cara:

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 Cara, 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' (or 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- Cara) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.