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The Commemorative Quarter for Florida





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 Cornwell (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 Cornwell. 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 doctors 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.

Cornwell is located in Highlands 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 Highlands County: Charlotte, DeSoto, Glades, Hardee, Okeechobee, Osceola & Polk.

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

  • Highlands County     (The home county of Cornwell)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cornwell, with the one closest to Cornwell listed first.
    • Lorida
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Sylvan Shores
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sylvan Shores have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sylvan Shores
      • Sylvan Shores is located in Highlands County
    • Lake Placid
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • De Soto City
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for De Soto City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for De Soto City
      • De Soto City is located in Highlands County
    • Archbold
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Archbold
      • Archbold is located in Highlands County
    • Placid Lakes
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Placid Lakes have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Placid Lakes
      • Placid Lakes is located in Highlands County
    • Sebring
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Venus
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Alpine
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpine
      • Alpine is located in Highlands County
    • Avon Park
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Glades County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cornwell, with the one closest to Cornwell listed first.
    • Buckhead Ridge
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckhead Ridge
      • Buckhead Ridge is located in Glades County
    • Lakeport
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
  • Hardee County
    • Crewsville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Crewsville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crewsville
      • Crewsville is located in Hardee County
  • Okeechobee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cornwell, with the one closest to Cornwell listed first.
    • Okeechobee
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Cypress Quarters
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cypress Quarters have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cypress Quarters
      • Cypress Quarters is located in Okeechobee County
    • Taylor Creek
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taylor Creek
      • Taylor Creek is located in Okeechobee County
  • Osceola County
  • Polk County
    • Cacema Town ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cacema Town have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cacema Town
      • Cacema Town is located in Polk County

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

Cemeteries Near Cornwell ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Cornwell.

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

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

  • Basinger Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Basinger Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Basinger Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Ft. Kissimmee Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ft. Kissimmee Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ft. Kissimmee Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Oak Hill Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oak Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oak Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Liveoak Park Memorial Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Liveoak Park Memorial Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Liveoak Park Memorial Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Evergreen Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Evergreen Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Evergreen Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located 3 miles [4.8 km]<4> to the south of Okeechobee.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #71954 <5>
  • Lakeside Cemetery
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lakeside Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lakeside Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Pinecrest Cemetery
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pinecrest Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pinecrest Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Lakeview Memorial Gardens
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Whitten Cemetery
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Whitten Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Whitten Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Prescott Cemetery
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Prescott Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Prescott Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bougainvillea Cemetery
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)

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

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

  • Avon Park
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Crewsville
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Crewsville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crewsville
    • Crewsville is located in Hardee County

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

Newspapers Published in Cornwell ...

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 12 newspapers that have been published in the area around Cornwell.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Cornwell, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Cornwell.

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 professional and volunteer 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 Cornwell:

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

The official website for Highlands County: www.hcbcc.net/

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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Cornwell) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Cornwell. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 27.3787, Longitude: -81.0967       In this case, the coordinates for Cornwell 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 Cornwell, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Mar 2025