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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 Fort Kissimmee (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 Fort Kissimmee. 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 Fort Kissimmee ...

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.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might have occurred.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Fort Kissimmee: Ft. Kissimmee

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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most 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.

Fort Kissimmee is located in Okeechobee County.

To see how the shape of Florida's counties have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Okeechobee County: Glades, Highlands, Indian River, Martin, Osceola, Palm Beach & Saint Lucie.

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

  • Highlands County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fort Kissimmee, with the one closest to Fort Kissimmee listed first.
    • Lorida
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • De Soto City
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for De Soto City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for De Soto City
      • De Soto City is located in Highlands County
    • Sebring
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Alpine
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpine
      • Alpine is located in Highlands County
    • Sylvan Shores
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sylvan Shores have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sylvan Shores
      • Sylvan Shores is located in Highlands County
    • Avon Park
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Lake Placid
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Placid Lakes
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Placid Lakes have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Placid Lakes
      • Placid Lakes is located in Highlands County
    • Archbold
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Archbold
      • Archbold is located in Highlands County
  • Osceola County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fort Kissimmee, with the one closest to Fort Kissimmee listed first.
    • Yeehaw Junction
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Kenansville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Polk County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fort Kissimmee, with the one closest to Fort Kissimmee listed first.
    • Cacema Town ‑ Historic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cacema Town have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cacema Town
      • Cacema Town is located in Polk County
    • Indian Lake Estates
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Pittsburg
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pittsburg
      • Pittsburg is located in Polk County
    • Lakeshore
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Nalcrest
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Frostproof
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Babson Park
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Hillcrest Heights
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hillcrest Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillcrest Heights
      • Hillcrest Heights is located in Polk County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 305 people
    • Crooked Lake Park
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crooked Lake Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crooked Lake Park
      • Crooked Lake Park is located in Polk County

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

Newspapers Published in Fort Kissimmee ...

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 15 newspapers that have been published in the area around Fort Kissimmee.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Fort Kissimmee, there are papers which were published within 25 miles [40.2 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Fort Kissimmee.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to 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 Fort Kissimmee:

Cemeteries Near Fort Kissimmee ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Fort Kissimmee.

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.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

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

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

  • Ft. Kissimmee Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ft. Kissimmee Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ft. Kissimmee Cemetery
  • Lakeside Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lakeside Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lakeside Cemetery
  • Pinecrest Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pinecrest Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pinecrest Cemetery
  • Basinger Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Basinger Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Basinger Cemetery
  • Lakeview Memorial Gardens
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
  • Bougainvillea Cemetery
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
  • Oak Hill Cemetery
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oak Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oak Hill Cemetery
  • Silver Hill Cemetery
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
  • Prescott Cemetery
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Prescott Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Prescott Cemetery
  • Whitten Cemetery
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Whitten Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Whitten Cemetery
  • Biscuit Lake Cemetery
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Corinth Cemetery
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Evergreen Cemetery
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Evergreen Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Evergreen Cemetery

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.<5>

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

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

  • Avon Park
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
  • Crewsville
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crewsville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crewsville
    • Crewsville is located in Hardee County

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

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Fort Kissimmee. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Okeechobee County: www.co.okeechobee.fl.us/

The official website for State of Florida: www.myflorida.com/

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 location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<3>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Fort Kissimmee) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Fort Kissimmee. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 27.5861, Longitude: -81.1603       In this case, the coordinates for Fort Kissimmee have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>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.
<5>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 Fort Kissimmee, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024