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 Durbin (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 Durbin. 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 southeast 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 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 east 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.
Durbin is located in Saint Johns 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 Saint Johns County: Clay, Duval, Flagler & Putnam.
Below are the counties that are near Durbin. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Durbin:
- Saint Johns County (The home county of Durbin)
- The following are listed by their distance from Durbin, with the one closest to Durbin listed first.
- Palm Valley
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Palm Valley is located in Saint Johns County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palm Valley
- Sawgrass
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Sawgrass is located in Saint Johns County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sawgrass
- Ponte Vedra
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Ponte Vedra is located in Saint Johns County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ponte Vedra
- Fruit Cove
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Saint Johns
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Ponte Vedra Beach
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Vilano Beach
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Saint Augustine
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Tocoi
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Tocoi is located in Saint Johns County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tocoi
- Saint Augustine South
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Saint Augustine South is located in Saint Johns County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Augustine South
- Saint Augustine Beach
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Elkton
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Clay County
- The following are listed by their distance from Durbin, with the one closest to Durbin listed first.
- Green Cove Springs
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Orange Park
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Bellair - Meadowbrook Terrace
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Doctors Inlet
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Lakeside
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Lakeside is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeside
- Asbury Lake
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Asbury Lake is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Asbury Lake
- Penney Farms
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Middleburg
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Duval County
- The following are listed by their distance from Durbin, with the one closest to Durbin listed first.
- Loretto
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Loretto is located in Duval County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loretto
- Mandarin
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Mandarin is located in Duval County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mandarin
- Sans Pareil
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Sans Pareil is located in Duval County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sans Pareil
- Jacksonville Beach
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Jacksonville Beach is located in Duval County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jacksonville Beach
- Population from the 2020 Census: 23,609 people
- Former names for Jacksonville Beach:
- Pablo Beach
- Ruby
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Jacksonville Beach <1>
- San Pablo
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- San Pablo is located in Duval County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for San Pablo
- Neptune Beach
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Bowden
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Bowden is located in Duval County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowden
- Atlantic Beach
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Greenfield
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Greenfield is located in Duval County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenfield
- Arlington
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Arlington is located in Duval County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arlington
- Saint Nicholas
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Saint Nicholas is located in Duval County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Nicholas
- San Marco
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- San Marco is located in Duval County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for San Marco
- Putnam County
- The following are listed by their distance from Durbin, with the one closest to Durbin listed first.
- Federal Point
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Federal Point is located in Putnam County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Federal Point
- Bostwick
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Durbin, see our County-by-County Page for Durbin.
Cemeteries Near Durbin ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Durbin.
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 Durbin - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Durbin covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Durbin, with the one closest to Durbin listed first.
- Sampson Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Ponte Vedra Valley Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Julington Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Julington Cemetery
- The Julington Cemetery has also been known as:
- Julington Baptist Church Cemetery
- St. Joseph Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Sloans Landing Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Lofton's Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Bakersville Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Mt. Pleasant Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Church of Our Savior Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Mandarin Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Jacksonville Memory Gardens
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Warren Smith Cemetery
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Continue List (72 more) ...
- Mt. Olive Cemetery
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Evergreen Cemetery
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Woodlawn Cemetery
(15 miles [24.1 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 Durbin in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Durbin.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Durbin, with the one closest to Durbin listed first.
- Sampson
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Sampson is located in Saint Johns County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sampson
- Bayard
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Bayard is located in Duval County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayard
- Greenland
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Greenland is located in Duval County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenland
- Florence
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Florence is located in Saint Johns County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florence
- Switzerland
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Switzerland is located in Saint Johns County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Switzerland
- Beauclerc
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Beauclerc is located in Duval County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beauclerc
- Plummers
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Plummers is located in Duval County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plummers
- Mandarin
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Mandarin is located in Duval County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mandarin
- Green Cove Springs
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Picolata
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Picolata is located in Saint Johns County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Picolata
- San Pablo
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- San Pablo is located in Duval County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for San Pablo
- Hibernia
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Hibernia is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hibernia
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Walkill
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Walkill is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walkill
- Saint Augustine
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Bowden
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Bowden is located in Duval County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowden
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Durbin. See our List of 1890's Communities around Durbin.
Newspapers Published in Durbin ...
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 26 newspapers that have been published in the area around Durbin.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Durbin, there are papers which were published within 15 miles [24.1 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Durbin.
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 helpful 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 Durbin:
- Websites specific to Florida
- Pages specific to Saint Johns County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Clay County
- Duval County
- Putnam County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Florida
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 Durbin, 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Durbin) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |