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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 Davis Beach (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 Davis Beach. 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 Davis Beach ...

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 Davis Beach: Davis Bch.

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 northeast 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 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.

Davis Beach is located in Bay 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 Bay County: Calhoun, Gulf, Jackson, Walton & Washington.

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

  • Bay County     (The home county of Davis Beach)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Davis Beach, with the one closest to Davis Beach listed first.
    • Mexico Beach
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Parker
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Parker have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parker
      • Parker is located in Bay County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,109 people
    • Callaway
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Bay Harbor ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bay Harbor have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bay Harbor
      • Bay Harbor is located in Bay County
    • Springfield
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Panama City
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Hiland Park
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hiland Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hiland Park
      • Hiland Park is located in Bay County
    • Cedar Grove
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cedar Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Grove
      • Cedar Grove is located in Bay County
    • Magnolia Beach
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magnolia Beach
      • Magnolia Beach is located in Bay County
    • Lower Grand Lagoon
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lower Grand Lagoon have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lower Grand Lagoon
      • Lower Grand Lagoon is located in Bay County
    • Pretty Bayou
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pretty Bayou have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pretty Bayou
      • Pretty Bayou is located in Bay County
    • Upper Grand Lagoon
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Upper Grand Lagoon have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Upper Grand Lagoon
      • Upper Grand Lagoon is located in Bay County
  • Calhoun County
  • Franklin County
    • Bay City
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bay City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bay City
      • Bay City is located in Franklin County
  • Gulf County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Davis Beach, with the one closest to Davis Beach listed first.
    • Port Saint Joe
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • White City
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for White City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White City
      • White City is located in Gulf County
    • Wewahitchka
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
  • Liberty County

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

Newspapers Published in Davis Beach ...

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 Davis Beach.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Davis Beach, there are papers which were published within 22 miles [35.4 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Davis Beach.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to 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 Davis Beach:

Cemeteries Near Davis Beach ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Davis Beach.

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

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

  • Farmdale Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Marywood Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Marywood Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Marywood Cemetery
  • Kemp Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Kemp Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Kemp Cemetery
  • Wetappo Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wetappo Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wetappo Cemetery
  • Millville Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Millville Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Millville Cemetery
  • Forest Hill Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Forest Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Forest Hill Cemetery
  • Roberts Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Roberts Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Roberts Cemetery
  • Williamsburg Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Williamsburg Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Williamsburg Cemetery
  • Redwood Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Redwood Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Redwood Cemetery
  • Kent Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Kent Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Kent Cemetery
  • Robertson Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Robertson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Robertson Cemetery
  • Bay Memorial Park
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bay Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bay Memorial Park
  • Continue List   (10 more) ...
    • Oakland Cemetery
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oakland Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oakland Cemetery
    • Evergreen Memorial Gardens
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Evergreen Memorial Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Evergreen Memorial Gardens
    • Jehu Cemetery
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Jehu Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Jehu 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.<4>

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

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

  • Wewahitchka
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
  • Lewis
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lewis have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lewis
    • Lewis is located in Liberty County

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

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

The official website for Bay County: www.co.bay.fl.us/

The official website for State of Florida: 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>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- Davis Beach) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Davis Beach. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 29.9663, Longitude: -85.4624       In this case, the coordinates for Davis Beach have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>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 Davis Beach, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024