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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 Facil (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 Facil. 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.

Facil is located in Hamilton 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 Hamilton County: Columbia, Madison, Suwannee, Echols (GA) & Lowndes (GA).

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

  • Hamilton County     (The home county of Facil)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Facil, with the one closest to Facil listed first.
    • White Springs
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Marion
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Marion is located in Hamilton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marion
    • Jasper
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Bakers Mill
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Bakers Mill is located in Hamilton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bakers Mill
    • Jennings
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
  • Baker County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Facil, with the one closest to Facil listed first.
    • Olustee
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Taylor
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Taylor is located in Baker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taylor
  • Columbia County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Facil, with the one closest to Facil listed first.
    • Five Points
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Five Points is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Points
    • Lake City
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Watertown
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Watertown is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Watertown
    • McColskey
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • McColskey is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McColskey
    • Lulu
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Fort White
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Madison County
    • Lee
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Lee is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lee
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 333 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lee <1>
  • Suwannee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Facil, with the one closest to Facil listed first.
    • Wellborn
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Rixford
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Rixford is located in Suwannee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rixford
    • Live Oak
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Padlock
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Padlock is located in Suwannee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Padlock
    • McAlpin
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • O'Brien
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Dowling Park
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Dowling Park is located in Suwannee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dowling Park
    • Branford
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
  • Clinch County (GA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Facil, with the one closest to Facil listed first.
    • Fargo
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Fargo is located in Clinch County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fargo
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 315 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fargo <1>
    • Ernest
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Ernest is located in Clinch County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ernest
  • Echols County (GA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Facil, with the one closest to Facil listed first.
    • Potter
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Potter is located in Echols County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Potter
      • Estimated population in 2019: 870 people
    • Statenville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Lowndes County (GA)
    • Melrose
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Melrose is located in Lowndes County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melrose

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

Cemeteries Near Facil ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Facil.

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

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

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

  • Swift Creek Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Riverside Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Eastside Memorial Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Poole Pond Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Godbolt Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Peterson Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Huntsville Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Spring Branch Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Barton Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Friendship Baptist Church Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Taylor Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • McClellan Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (85 more) ...
    • Wellborn Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • East Rest Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Jerusalem 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.<4>

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

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

  • White Springs
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Genoa
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Genoa is located in Hamilton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Genoa
  • Suwannee Valley
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Suwannee Valley is located in Columbia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Suwannee Valley
  • Wellborn
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Winfield
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Winfield is located in Columbia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winfield
  • Houston
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Houston is located in Suwannee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Houston
  • Marion
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Marion is located in Hamilton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marion
  • Rixford
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Rixford is located in Suwannee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rixford
  • Benton
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Benton is located in Columbia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benton
  • Live Oak
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Padlock
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Padlock is located in Suwannee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Padlock
  • Jasper
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Lake City
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Watertown
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Watertown is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Watertown
    • Bakers Mill
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Bakers Mill is located in Hamilton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bakers Mill

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

Newspapers Published in Facil ...

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 23 newspapers that have been published in the area around Facil.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Facil, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Facil.

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 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 Facil:

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