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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 Islands (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 Islands. 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 Islands ...

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.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Davis Islands: Davis Is. (in Canada, 'Isld.' is the more common abbreviation.)

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 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 Islands is located in Hillsborough 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 Hillsborough County: Hardee, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas & Polk.

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

  • Hillsborough County     (The home county of Davis Islands)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Davis Islands, with the one closest to Davis Islands listed first.
    • Courier City
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Courier City is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Courier City
    • Barr City
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Barr City is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barr City
    • Tampa
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Tampa is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tampa
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 407,599 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tampa <1>
    • Ybor City
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Ybor City is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ybor City
    • Palm River
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Palm River is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palm River
    • Bungalow City
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Bungalow City is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bungalow City
    • Gray Gables
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Gray Gables is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gray Gables
    • Park City
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Park City is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park City
    • West Tampa
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • West Tampa is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Tampa
    • Central Village
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Central Village is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central Village
    • Martin Luther King Village
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Culbreath Bayou
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Culbreath Bayou is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Culbreath Bayou
    • Culbreath Isles
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Culbreath Isles is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Culbreath Isles
  • Manatee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Davis Islands, with the one closest to Davis Islands listed first.
    • Parrish
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Terra Ceia
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Memphis
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Memphis is located in Manatee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Memphis
    • Ellenton
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Palmetto
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Bradenton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Palma Sola
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Duette
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • West Bradenton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • West Bradenton is located in Manatee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Bradenton
  • Pasco County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Davis Islands, with the one closest to Davis Islands listed first.
    • Odessa
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Land O' Lakes
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Wesley Chapel South
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Wesley Chapel South is located in Pasco County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wesley Chapel South
    • Wesley Chapel
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Trinity
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Crystal Springs
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Crystal Springs is located in Pasco County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Springs
    • Holiday
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Elfers
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Zephyrhills
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Beacon Square
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Beacon Square is located in Pasco County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beacon Square
    • Fivay Junction ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Fivay Junction is located in Pasco County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fivay Junction
    • Fivay ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Fivay is located in Pasco County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fivay
    • New Port Richey
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Pinellas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Davis Islands, with the one closest to Davis Islands listed first.
    • Gandy
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Gandy is located in Pinellas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gandy
    • Feather Sound
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Oldsmar
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Lealman
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Lealman is located in Pinellas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lealman
    • Saint Petersburg
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • High Point
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • High Point is located in Pinellas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Point
    • Safety Harbor
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Bayview ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Bayview is located in Pinellas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayview
    • Pinellas Park
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • South Highpoint
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • South Highpoint is located in Pinellas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Highpoint
    • Kenneth City
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Four Corners
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Four Corners is located in Pinellas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Four Corners
    • Gulfport
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
  • Polk County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Davis Islands, with the one closest to Davis Islands listed first.
    • Nichols
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Willow Oak
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Willow Oak is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Oak
    • Winston
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Winston is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winston
    • Bradley Junction
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Bradley Junction is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bradley Junction
    • Medulla
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Medulla is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Medulla
    • Mulberry
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Kathleen
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Lakeland Highlands
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Lakeland Highlands is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeland Highlands

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

Cemeteries Near Davis Islands ...

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

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 Davis Islands - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Oaklawn Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Woodlawn Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Centro Asturiano Cemetery (Old)
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centro Asturiano Cemetery (Old)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Centro Asturiano Cemetery (Old) is a large cemetery that is located in Tampa.
    • The Centro Asturiano Cemetery (Old) has also been known as:
    • Old Centro Asturiano Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2346261 <2>
  • Beth Israel Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beth Israel Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Beth Israel Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Tampa.
    • The Beth Israel Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Rodeph Sholom Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2425075 <2>
  • Woodlawn Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodlawn Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Woodlawn Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located in Tampa.
  • Showmans Rest Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • The Home Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Home Cemetery
    • The Home Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Oakland Cemetery
  • Jackson Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Centro Espanol Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centro Espanol Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Centro Espanol Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Tampa.
    • The Centro Espanol Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Cemeterio Espanol
    • Centro Espanol Memorial Park Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2355874 <2>
  • La Unione Italiana Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Unione Italiana Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the La Unione Italiana Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Tampa.
    • The La Unione Italiana Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Italian Clud Cemetery
    • L'Unione Italiana Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1979335 <2>
  • Memorial Park
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Marti Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (91 more) ...
    • American Legion Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Centro Asturiano Memorial Park Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centro Asturiano Memorial Park Cemetery
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Centro Asturiano Memorial Park Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Tampa.
      • The Centro Asturiano Memorial Park Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Centro Asturiano Cemetery
      • Centro Asturiano Memorial Park
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #71836 <2>
    • Rodeph Sholom Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rodeph Sholom Cemetery
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Rodeph Sholom Cemetery is located in Tampa.
      • The Rodeph Sholom Cemetery has also been known as:
      • New Rodeph Sholom Cemetery
      • Tampa Jewish Memorial Gardens
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2500750 <2>

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>

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

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

  • Tampa
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Tampa is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tampa
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 407,599 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tampa <1>
  • Ybor City
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Ybor City is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ybor City
  • Port Tampa
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Port Tampa is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Port Tampa
  • Peru ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Peru is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peru
  • Limona
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Limona is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Limona
  • Mango
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Brandon
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Seffner
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Bloomingdale
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Bloomingdale is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bloomingdale
  • Valrico
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
  • Thonotosassa
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Gulf City
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Gulf City is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gulf City
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Sydney
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Odessa
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Keystone Park
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Keystone Park is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keystone Park

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Davis Islands ...

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 76 newspapers that have been published in the area around Davis Islands.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Davis Islands. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Davis Islands and those printed in the larger area surrounding Davis Islands.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 3 miles [4.8 km]<4> of Davis Islands.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we start with 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 Davis Islands:

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 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.
<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 Davis Islands, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>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- Davis Islands) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.