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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 Columbia (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 Columbia. 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 doctors and 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.

Columbia is located in Columbia 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 Columbia County: Alachua, Baker, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Suwannee, Union, Clinch (GA) & Echols (GA).

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

  • Columbia County     (The home county of Columbia)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Columbia, with the one closest to Columbia listed first.
    • Lake City
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Watertown
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Watertown is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Watertown
    • Five Points
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Five Points is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Points
    • Fort White
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • McColskey
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • McColskey is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McColskey
    • Lulu
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
  • Alachua County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Columbia, with the one closest to Columbia listed first.
    • High Springs
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Alachua
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Burnetts Lake
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Burnetts Lake is located in Alachua County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burnetts Lake
    • La Crosse
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Hague
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Hague is located in Alachua County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hague
    • Newberry
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Jonesville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Baker County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Columbia, with the one closest to Columbia listed first.
    • Olustee
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Sanderson
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Bradford County
    • Brooker
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Gilchrist County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Columbia, with the one closest to Columbia listed first.
    • Little Lake City
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Little Lake City is located in Gilchrist County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Lake City
    • Bell
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Bell is located in Gilchrist County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bell
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 510 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bell <1>
    • Waters Lake
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Waters Lake is located in Gilchrist County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waters Lake
  • Hamilton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Columbia, with the one closest to Columbia listed first.
    • White Springs
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Marion
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Marion is located in Hamilton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marion
  • Lafayette County
    • Mayo
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Mayo is located in Lafayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayo
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,289 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mayo <1>
  • Suwannee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Columbia, with the one closest to Columbia listed first.
    • Wellborn
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • O'Brien
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Branford
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • McAlpin
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Padlock
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Padlock is located in Suwannee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Padlock
    • Live Oak
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Rixford
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Rixford is located in Suwannee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rixford
  • Union County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Columbia, with the one closest to Columbia listed first.
    • Worthington Springs
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Lake Butler
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Raiford
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)

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

Cemeteries Near Columbia ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Columbia.

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

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

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

  • Columbia Community Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Athens Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Pleasant Grove Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Mt. Carmel Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Mt. Tabor Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Mt. Tabor AME Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Forest Lawn Memorial Gardens Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Hope Henry Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Bethlehem Lutheran Church Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Hawthorne Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Ichetucknee Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ichetucknee Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Ichetucknee Cemetery is located 5 miles [8 km]<2> to the northwest of Fort White.
  • Fellowship Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (136 more) ...
    • Farnell Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Mt. Tabor Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Mt. Tabor Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)

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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Columbia had a post office and railroad service.

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

  • Lake City
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Watertown
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Watertown is located in Columbia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Watertown
  • Fort White
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Mikesville
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Mikesville is located in Columbia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mikesville
  • Lulu
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
  • Wellborn
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Winfield
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Winfield is located in Columbia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winfield
  • Mount Carrie
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Mount Carrie is located in Columbia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Carrie
  • O'Brien
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
  • Branford
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Suwannee Valley
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Suwannee Valley is located in Columbia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Suwannee Valley
  • McAlpin
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Houston
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Houston is located in Suwannee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Houston
    • White Springs
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • High Springs
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)

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

Newspapers Published in Columbia ...

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 32 newspapers that have been published in the area around Columbia.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Columbia, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Columbia.

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 Columbia:

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 'straight-line' (or 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- Columbia) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Columbia, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.