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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 Clearwater (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 Clearwater. 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 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.

Clearwater is located in Pinellas County and is the County Seat.

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 Pinellas County: Hillsborough & Pasco.

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

  • Pinellas County     (The home county of Clearwater)
  • Hillsborough County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Clearwater, with the one closest to Clearwater listed first.
    • Bayside Village
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bayside Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayside Village
      • Bayside Village is located in Hillsborough County
    • Bayport Village
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bayport Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayport Village
      • Bayport Village is located in Hillsborough County
    • Mecca City
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mecca City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mecca City
      • Mecca City is located in Hillsborough County
    • Canterbury Village
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Canterbury Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canterbury Village
      • Canterbury Village is located in Hillsborough County
    • Westchase
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Westchase have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westchase
      • Westchase is located in Hillsborough County
    • Town 'n' Country
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Town 'n' Country have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Town 'n' Country
      • Town 'n' Country is located in Hillsborough County
    • West Waters Village
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Waters Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Waters Village
      • West Waters Village is located in Hillsborough County
    • Fawn Ridge Village
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fawn Ridge Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fawn Ridge Village
      • Fawn Ridge Village is located in Hillsborough County
    • Royal Troon Village
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Royal Troon Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Royal Troon Village
      • Royal Troon Village is located in Hillsborough County
    • Holiday Village
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Holiday Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holiday Village
      • Holiday Village is located in Hillsborough County
    • Rocky Point Village
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rocky Point Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Point Village
      • Rocky Point Village is located in Hillsborough County
    • Twelve Oaks Village
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Twelve Oaks Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twelve Oaks Village
      • Twelve Oaks Village is located in Hillsborough County
    • Indian Lakes
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Manatee County
  • Pasco County

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

Cemeteries Near Clearwater ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Clearwater.

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

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

  • Rousseau Pioneer Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rousseau Pioneer Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rousseau Pioneer Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Dunedin Highland Memorial Park
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Dunedin Highland Memorial Park
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Dunedin Highland Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • McMullen Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the McMullen Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the McMullen Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Dunedin Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Dunedin Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Dunedin Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Serenity Gardens Memorial Park
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Chapel Hill Memorial Park
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Chapel Hill Memorial Park
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Chapel Hill Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Sylvan Abbey Memorial Park
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Parklawn Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Parklawn Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Parklawn Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • The Garden Sanctuary
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Garden Sanctuary
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for The Garden Sanctuary have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Curlew Hills Memory Gardens
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Curlew Hills Memory Gardens
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Curlew Hills Memory Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Parklawn Memory Gardens
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Parklawn Memory Gardens
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Parklawn Memory Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bay Pines National Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bay Pines National Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bay Pines National Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (54 more) ...
    • Memorial Park
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Memorial Park
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Memorial Park
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Memorial Park
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Eternal Light Mausoleums and Gardens
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Eternal Light Mausoleums and Gardens
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Eternal Light Mausoleums and Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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.<5>

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

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

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Clearwater ...

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 18 newspapers that have been published in the area around Clearwater.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Clearwater. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Clearwater and those printed in the larger area surrounding Clearwater.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 10 miles [16.1 km]<6> of Clearwater.

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 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 Clearwater:

The official website for Clearwater: www.clearwater-fl.com/

The official website for Pinellas County: www.pinellascounty.org/

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

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 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.
<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>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.
<5>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 Clearwater, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Clearwater) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Clearwater. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 27.9656, Longitude: -82.7959    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Mar 2025