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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 Pierce (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 Pierce. 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 Pierce ...

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 Pierce: Ft. Pierce

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 southwest 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 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 west 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.

Fort Pierce is located in Saint Lucie County and is the County Seat.

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 Saint Lucie County: Indian River, Martin & Okeechobee.

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

  • Saint Lucie County     (The home county of Fort Pierce)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fort Pierce, with the one closest to Fort Pierce listed first.
    • Saint Lucie Village
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saint Lucie Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Lucie Village
      • Saint Lucie Village is located in Saint Lucie County
      • Estimated population in 2015: 619 people
    • Saint Lucie
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saint Lucie have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Lucie
      • Saint Lucie is located in Saint Lucie County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 648 people
    • Lakewood Park
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lakewood Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakewood Park
      • Lakewood Park is located in Saint Lucie County
    • Indian River Estates
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Indian River Estates have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian River Estates
      • Indian River Estates is located in Saint Lucie County
    • White City
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for White City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White City
      • White City is located in Saint Lucie County
    • Port Saint Lucie
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Hutchinson Island South
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Indian River County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fort Pierce, with the one closest to Fort Pierce listed first.
    • Florida Ridge
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Florida Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florida Ridge
      • Florida Ridge is located in Indian River County
    • South Beach
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Beach have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Beach
      • South Beach is located in Indian River County
    • Vero Beach
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Gifford
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gifford have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gifford
      • Gifford is located in Indian River County
    • Indian River Shores
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Winter Beach
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Wabasso
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Wabasso Beach
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wabasso Beach have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wabasso Beach
      • Wabasso Beach is located in Indian River County
    • Orchid
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Orchid have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orchid
      • Orchid is located in Indian River County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 455 people
    • North Beach
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Beach have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Beach
      • North Beach is located in Indian River County
    • Sebastian
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Fellsmere
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Martin County

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

Cemeteries Near Fort Pierce ...

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

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 Pierce covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Garden of Heavenly Rest
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Garden of Heavenly Rest
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Garden of Heavenly Rest have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Pine Grove Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pine Grove Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pine Grove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Ft. Pierce Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ft. Pierce Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ft. Pierce Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • White City Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the White City Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the White City Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hillcrest Memorial Gardens
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hillcrest Memorial Gardens
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hillcrest Memorial Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hillcrest Memorial Gardens
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hillcrest Memorial Gardens
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hillcrest Memorial Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • All Saints Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the All Saints Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the All Saints Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Fern Hill Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fern Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fern Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Old Sebastian Cemetery
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Sebastian Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Sebastian Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Sebastian Cemetery
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sebastian Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sebastian Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Celia Padgett Cain Cemetery
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)

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

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Fort Pierce ...

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 28 newspapers that have been published in the area around Fort Pierce.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Fort Pierce. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Fort Pierce and those printed in the larger area surrounding Fort Pierce.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<6> of Fort Pierce.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 Fort Pierce:

The official website for Fort Pierce: www.ci.fort-pierce.fl.us/

The official website for Saint Lucie County: www.stlucieco.gov/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<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 Pierce, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Fort Pierce) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Fort Pierce. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 27.4470, Longitude: -80.3260    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Mar 2025