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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 Clear Springs (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 Clear Springs. 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.

Name Variations for Clear Springs ...

When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might have occurred.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Clear Springs: Clear Spgs. (or less commonly used: Clear Spngs. or Clear Sprngs.)

If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.

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.

Clear Springs is located in Okaloosa 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 Okaloosa County: Covington (AL), Escambia (AL), Santa Rosa & Walton.

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

  • Okaloosa County     (The home county of Clear Springs)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Clear Springs, with the one closest to Clear Springs listed first.
    • Garden City
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Garden City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden City
      • Garden City is located in Okaloosa County
    • Cannon Town
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cannon Town have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cannon Town
      • Cannon Town is located in Okaloosa County
    • Crestview
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Laurel Hill
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Baker
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Milligan
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Svea
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Svea
      • Svea is located in Okaloosa County
    • Otahite ‑ Historic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Otahite. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Otahite
      • Otahite is located in Okaloosa County
    • Holt
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Niceville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Valparaiso
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Eglin Village
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eglin Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eglin Village
      • Eglin Village is located in Okaloosa County
    • Lake Lorraine
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake Lorraine have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Lorraine
      • Lake Lorraine is located in Okaloosa County
  • Santa Rosa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Clear Springs, with the one closest to Clear Springs listed first.
    • Belandville ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Belandville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belandville
      • Belandville is located in Santa Rosa County
    • Harold
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
  • Walton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Clear Springs, with the one closest to Clear Springs listed first.
    • Paxton
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Mossy Head
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • De Funiak Springs
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Pleasant Grove
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Grove
      • Pleasant Grove is located in Walton County
  • Conecuh County (AL)
    • Brooklyn
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brooklyn have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brooklyn
      • Brooklyn is located in Conecuh County (AL)
  • Covington County (AL)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Clear Springs, with the one closest to Clear Springs listed first.
    • Wing
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wing
      • Wing is located in Covington County (AL)
    • Falco
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falco
      • Falco is located in Covington County (AL)
    • Florala
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florala
      • Florala is located in Covington County (AL)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,891 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Florala <2>
    • Lockhart
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lockhart have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lockhart
      • Lockhart is located in Covington County (AL)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 497 people
    • Red Oak
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Oak
      • Red Oak is located in Covington County (AL)
    • Carolina
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Carolina have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carolina
      • Carolina is located in Covington County (AL)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 294 people
    • Libertyville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Libertyville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Libertyville
      • Libertyville is located in Covington County (AL)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 110 people
    • Horn Hill
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Horn Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horn Hill
      • Horn Hill is located in Covington County (AL)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 227 people
    • Onycha
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Onycha
      • Onycha is located in Covington County (AL)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 180 people
    • Andalusia
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Andalusia
      • Andalusia is located in Covington County (AL)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,677 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Andalusia <2>
  • Escambia County (AL)
    • Bradley
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bradley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bradley
      • Bradley is located in Escambia County (AL)

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

Newspapers Published in Clear Springs ...

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 63 newspapers that have been published in the area around Clear Springs.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Clear Springs, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Clear Springs.

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 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 Clear Springs:

Cemeteries Near Clear Springs ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Clear Springs.

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

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

  • Reeder Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Reeder Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Reeder Cemetery
  • Cobb Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cobb Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cobb Cemetery
  • Clary Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Clary Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Clary Cemetery
  • Stewart Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Stewart Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Stewart Cemetery
  • Griffith Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Griffith Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Griffith Cemetery
  • Rock Hill Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rock Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rock Hill Cemetery
  • Live Oak Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Live Oak Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Live Oak Cemetery
  • Almarante Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Mt. Zion Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Zion Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Zion Cemetery
  • Ebenezer Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ebenezer Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ebenezer Cemetery
  • Springhill Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Mt. Olive Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Olive Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Olive Cemetery
  • Continue List   (93 more) ...
    • Hart Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hart Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hart Cemetery
    • Newell Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Newell Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Newell Cemetery
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #24986 <5>
    • Beulah Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Beulah Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Beulah 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 Clear Springs in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Clear Springs.

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

  • Beda
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Beda have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beda
    • Beda is located in Covington County (AL)
  • Otahite ‑ Historic
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Otahite. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Otahite
    • Otahite is located in Okaloosa County
  • Florala
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florala
    • Florala is located in Covington County (AL)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,891 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Florala <2>
  • Mossy Head
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Gordon
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gordon have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gordon
    • Gordon is located in Walton County
  • Rome
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rome have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rome
    • Rome is located in Covington County (AL)
  • Ealum
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ealum have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ealum
    • Ealum is located in Walton County
  • Roberts
    (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Roberts have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roberts
    • Roberts is located in Escambia County (AL)
  • Green Bay
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Green Bay have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Bay
    • Green Bay is located in Covington County (AL)
  • Boykin
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Boykin have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boykin
    • Boykin is located in Escambia County (AL)
  • Berrydale
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Berrydale have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berrydale
    • Berrydale is located in Santa Rosa County
  • Fairfield
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fairfield have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairfield
    • Fairfield is located in Covington County (AL)
  • Brooklyn
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brooklyn have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brooklyn
    • Brooklyn is located in Conecuh County (AL)

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

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

The official website for Okaloosa County: www.co.okaloosa.fl.us/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Clear Springs) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Clear Springs. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 30.8738, Longitude: -86.5700       In this case, the coordinates for Clear Springs 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 Clear Springs, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024