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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 Drew (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 Drew. 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 northwest 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 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 west 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.

Drew 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 Drew. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Drew:

  • Hillsborough County     (The home county of Drew)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Drew, with the one closest to Drew listed first.
    • Plant City
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Kings Village
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Kings Village is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings Village
    • Plant City Heights
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Plant City Heights is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plant City Heights
    • Cedar Run
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Cedar Run is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Run
    • Strawberry Village
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Strawberry Village is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Strawberry Village
    • West Plant City
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • West Plant City is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Plant City
    • Woodfield Village
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • Woodfield Village is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodfield Village
    • Colonial Village
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Colonial Village is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colonial Village
    • South Plant City Farms
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • South Plant City Farms is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Plant City Farms
    • Parrish
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Parrish is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parrish
    • Knights
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Knights is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knights
    • Sydney
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Dover
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Manatee County
  • Pasco County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Drew, with the one closest to Drew listed first.
    • Crystal Springs
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Crystal Springs is located in Pasco County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Springs
    • Zephyrhills
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Richland
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Richland is located in Pasco County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richland
    • Wesley Chapel South
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Wesley Chapel South is located in Pasco County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wesley Chapel South
    • Wesley Chapel
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Saint Leo
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • San Antonio
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • San Antonio is located in Pasco County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for San Antonio
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,506 people
      • Former name for San Antonio:
      • Lake Jovita
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for San Antonio <1>
    • Dade City
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Land O' Lakes
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Blanton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Blanton is located in Pasco County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blanton
    • Odessa
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Polk County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Drew, with the one closest to Drew listed first.
    • Winston
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Winston is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winston
    • Willow Oak
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Willow Oak is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Oak
    • Medulla
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Medulla is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Medulla
    • Nichols
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Lakeland
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Kathleen
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Acton ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Acton is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acton
    • Lakeland Highlands
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Lakeland Highlands is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeland Highlands
    • Gibsonia
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Gibsonia is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gibsonia
    • Mulberry
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Combee Settlement
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Combee Settlement is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Combee Settlement
    • Crystal Lake
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Crystal Lake is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Lake
    • Eaton Park
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)

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

Cemeteries Near Drew ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Drew.

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

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

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

  • Garden of Peace Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Hopewell Memorial Gardens
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Oaklawn Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Memorial Park
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Memorial Park
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Springhead Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • New Home Baptist Church Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Willow Oak Baptist Church Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Stephenson Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Griffin Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Griffin Cemetery
    • The Griffin Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Galloway Cemetery
    • Sleepy Hill Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #72061 <2>
  • Brandon Family Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Lithia Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (113 more) ...
    • Hunter Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Blue Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Little Alafia Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)

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

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

  • Plant City
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Knights
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Knights is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knights
  • Sydney
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Keene
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Keene is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keene
  • Valrico
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Keysville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Keysville is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keysville
  • Seffner
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Brandon
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Bloomingdale
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Bloomingdale is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bloomingdale
  • Lakeland
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Kathleen
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Limona
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Limona is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Limona
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...
    • Thonotosassa
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Mango
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Peru ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Peru is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peru

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

Newspapers Published in Drew ...

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 8 newspapers that have been published in the area around Drew.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Drew, there are papers which were published within Less than 2 miles<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Drew.

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 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 Drew:

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 Drew, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Drew) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.