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 Elwood (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 Elwood. 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 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.
Elwood 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 Elwood. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Elwood:
- Saint Johns County (The home county of Elwood)
- The following are listed by their distance from Elwood, with the one closest to Elwood listed first.
- Fruit Cove
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Saint Johns
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Tocoi
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Tocoi is also located in Saint Johns County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tocoi
- Vilano Beach
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Palm Valley
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Palm Valley is also located in Saint Johns County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palm Valley
- Saint Augustine
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Sawgrass
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Sawgrass is also located in Saint Johns County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sawgrass
- Elkton
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Armstrong
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Armstrong is also located in Saint Johns County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Armstrong
- Saint Augustine South
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Saint Augustine South is also located in Saint Johns County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Augustine South
- Ponte Vedra
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Ponte Vedra is also located in Saint Johns County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ponte Vedra
- Ponte Vedra Beach
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Hastings
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Clay County
- The following are listed by their distance from Elwood, with the one closest to Elwood listed first.
- Green Cove Springs
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Orange Park
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Doctors Inlet
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Penney Farms
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Lakeside
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Lakeside is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeside
- Asbury Lake
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Asbury Lake is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Asbury Lake
- Bellair - Meadowbrook Terrace
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Middleburg
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Kingsley
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Kingsley is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingsley
- Kingsley Lake
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Kingsley Lake is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingsley Lake
- Kingsley Village
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Kingsley Village is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingsley Village
- Duval County
- The following are listed by their distance from Elwood, with the one closest to Elwood listed first.
- Loretto
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Loretto is located in Duval County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loretto
- Mandarin
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Mandarin is located in Duval County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mandarin
- Bowden
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Bowden is located in Duval County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowden
- Sans Pareil
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Sans Pareil is located in Duval County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sans Pareil
- Saint Nicholas
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Saint Nicholas is located in Duval County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Nicholas
- San Pablo
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- San Pablo is located in Duval County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for San Pablo
- Jacksonville Beach
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- 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 Marco
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- San Marco is located in Duval County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for San Marco
- Jacksonville Heights
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Arlington
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Arlington is located in Duval County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arlington
- Brooklyn
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Brooklyn is located in Duval County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brooklyn
- Neptune Beach
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Atlantic Beach
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Flagler County
- Marineland
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Putnam County
- The following are listed by their distance from Elwood, with the one closest to Elwood listed first.
- Bostwick
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Federal Point
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Federal Point is located in Putnam County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Federal Point
- East Palatka
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Palatka
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Peniel
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Peniel is located in Putnam County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peniel
- San Mateo
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Florahome
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Grandin
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Buffalo Bluff
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Buffalo Bluff is located in Putnam County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo Bluff
- Hollister
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Putnam Hall
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Elwood, see our County-by-County Page for Elwood.
Cemeteries Near Elwood ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Elwood.
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 Elwood - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Elwood covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Elwood, with the one closest to Elwood listed first.
- Sampson Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Bakersville Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Jacksonville Memory Gardens
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Hickory Grove Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Little Ruth Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Julington Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Julington Cemetery
- The Julington Cemetery has also been known as:
- Julington Baptist Church Cemetery
- Mt. Olive Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Holly Hill Memorial Park
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Sloans Landing Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- St. Joseph Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Lofton's Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Springbank Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Continue List (85 more) ...
- Mt. Pleasant Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Mandarin Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Church of Our Savior Cemetery
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
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 Elwood in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Elwood.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Elwood, with the one closest to Elwood listed first.
- Florence
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Florence is also located in Saint Johns County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florence
- Sampson
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Sampson is also located in Saint Johns County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sampson
- Picolata
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Picolata is also located in Saint Johns County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Picolata
- Walkill
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Walkill is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walkill
- Switzerland
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Switzerland is also located in Saint Johns County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Switzerland
- Green Cove Springs
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Tocoi
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Tocoi is also located in Saint Johns County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tocoi
- Bayard
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Bayard is located in Duval County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayard
- Hibernia
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Hibernia is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hibernia
- Greenland
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Greenland is located in Duval County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenland
- West Tocoi
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- West Tocoi is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Tocoi
- Mandarin
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Mandarin is located in Duval County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mandarin
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Beauclerc
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Beauclerc is located in Duval County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beauclerc
- Plummers
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Plummers is located in Duval County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plummers
- Orange Park
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Elwood. See our List of 1890's Communities around Elwood.
Newspapers Published in Elwood ...
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 31 newspapers that have been published in the area around Elwood.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Elwood, there are papers which were published within 19 miles [30.6 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Elwood.
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 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 Elwood:
- Websites specific to Florida
- Pages specific to Saint Johns County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Clay County
- Duval County
- Flagler 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 Elwood, 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 from Point A (ie- Elwood) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |