RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Florida >> Lee County >> Council >> Genealogy HelperIndex...










Learn About
The Commemorative
Quarter for
Florida

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 Council (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 Council. 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 hospitals and 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.

Council is located in Lee 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 Lee County: Charlotte, Collier, Glades & Hendry.

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

  • Lee County     (The home county of Council)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Council, with the one closest to Council listed first.
    • Bonita Springs
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Estero
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • San Carlos Park
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for San Carlos Park
      • San Carlos Park is located in Lee County
    • Three Oaks
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Three Oaks have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Three Oaks
      • Three Oaks is located in Lee County
    • Forest Island Park
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Forest Island Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Island Park
      • Forest Island Park is located in Lee County
    • Fort Myers Beach
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Biggar
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Villas
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Villas have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Villas
      • Villas is located in Lee County
    • Cypress Lake
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cypress Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cypress Lake
      • Cypress Lake is located in Lee County
    • Harlem Heights
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harlem Heights
      • Harlem Heights is located in Lee County
    • Truckland ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Truckland. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Truckland
      • Truckland is located in Lee County
    • Gateway
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gateway have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gateway
      • Gateway is located in Lee County
  • Collier County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Council, with the one closest to Council listed first.
    • Barefoot Beach
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barefoot Beach
      • Barefoot Beach is located in Collier County
    • Naples Park
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Vanderbilt Beach
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • North Naples
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Naples have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Naples
      • North Naples is located in Collier County
    • Pelican Bay
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Pine Ridge
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pine Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Ridge
      • Pine Ridge is located in Collier County
    • Vineyards
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vineyards have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vineyards
      • Vineyards is located in Collier County
    • Golden Gate
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Orangetree
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Orangetree have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orangetree
      • Orangetree is located in Collier County
    • East Naples
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Naples have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Naples
      • East Naples is located in Collier County
    • Naples
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Lely
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lely
      • Lely is located in Collier County
  • Hendry County

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

Cemeteries Near Council ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Council.

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

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

  • Johnson Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Bonita Springs Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Koreshan Cemetery #2
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Crest Lawn Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Crest Lawn Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Crest Lawn Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Naples Memorial Gardens
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Lee Memorial Garden Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lee Memorial Garden Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lee Memorial Garden Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Lee Memorial Park
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
  • Ft. Myers Memorial Gardens
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
  • Sanibel Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
  • Lehigh Memorial Park
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lehigh Memorial Park
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lehigh Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Woodlawn Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
  • Calvary Gardens
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (10 more) ...
    • Frierson - Hendry Cemetery
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Hendry Frierson Cemetery
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hendry Frierson Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hendry Frierson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Oak Ridge Cemetery
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)

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

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

  • Punta Rassa
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Punta Rassa have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Punta Rassa
    • Punta Rassa is located in Lee County
  • Sanibel
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
  • Naples
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
  • Saint James City
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
  • Buckingham
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckingham
    • Buckingham is located in Lee County
  • Alva
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)

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

Newspapers Published in Council ...

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 35 newspapers that have been published in the area around Council.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Council, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Council.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 Council:

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

The official website for Lee County: www.lee-county.com/

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 Council, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Council) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Council. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 26.3759, Longitude: -81.8037       In this case, the coordinates for Council have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

Copyright 2025
All Rights Reserved

Thank you for visiting our website.

In closing, please keep in mind that we can not guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of the information on this website, so use with care. We encourage you to double-check the information that is critical to you.

If you've found an error or have additional information that you would like to share, please don't hesitate to write: Click here to contact us.

This page was last modified/updated: 28 Mar 2025