RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Florida >> Saint Johns County >> Gopher Ridge >> Genealogy HelperIndex...

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 Gopher Ridge (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 Gopher Ridge. 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 Gopher Ridge ...

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.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Gopher Ridge: Gopher Rdg. (or less commonly used: Gopher Rdge. or Gopher Ridg.)

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 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.

Gopher Ridge 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 Gopher Ridge. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Gopher Ridge:

  • Saint Johns County     (The home county of Gopher Ridge)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Gopher Ridge, with the one closest to Gopher Ridge listed first.
    • Armstrong
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Armstrong is located in Saint Johns County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Armstrong
    • Hastings
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Elkton
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Saint Augustine Shores
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Saint Augustine Shores is located in Saint Johns County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Augustine Shores
    • Butler Beach
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Butler Beach is located in Saint Johns County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Butler Beach
    • Crescent Beach
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Saint Augustine South
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Saint Augustine South is located in Saint Johns County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Augustine South
    • Saint Augustine Beach
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Tocoi
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Tocoi is located in Saint Johns County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tocoi
    • Saint Augustine
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Vilano Beach
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
  • Clay County
    • Green Cove Springs
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Flagler County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Gopher Ridge, with the one closest to Gopher Ridge listed first.
    • Marineland
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Palm Coast
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Bunnell
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Beverly Beach
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Beverly Beach is located in Flagler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beverly Beach
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 434 people
    • Flagler Beach
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Korona
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Korona is located in Flagler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Korona
  • Marion County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Gopher Ridge, with the one closest to Gopher Ridge listed first.
    • Salt Springs
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Kerr City
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Kerr City is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kerr City
  • Putnam County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Gopher Ridge, with the one closest to Gopher Ridge listed first.
    • Federal Point
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Federal Point is located in Putnam County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Federal Point
    • San Mateo
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • East Palatka
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Palatka
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Bostwick
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Lake Como
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Pomona Park
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Satsuma
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Buffalo Bluff
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Buffalo Bluff is located in Putnam County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo Bluff
    • Peniel
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Peniel is located in Putnam County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peniel
    • Crescent City
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Crescent City Station
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Nashua
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Nashua is located in Putnam County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nashua
  • Volusia County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Gopher Ridge, with the one closest to Gopher Ridge listed first.
    • Seville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Pierson
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Ormond-by-the-Sea
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Ormond-by-the-Sea is located in Volusia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ormond-by-the-Sea
    • Tomoka Estates
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Tomoka Estates is located in Volusia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tomoka Estates

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

Cemeteries Near Gopher Ridge ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Gopher Ridge.

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 Gopher Ridge - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Pellicer Creek Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Resthaven Cemetery & Memorial Park
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Yelvington Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • St. Pauls Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • San Mateo Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Espanola Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Barnes Memorial Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Craig Memorial Park
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Craig Memorial Park
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Craig Memorial Park is a large cemetery that is located in Saint Augustine.
    • The Craig Memorial Park has also been known as:
    • St. Augustine Memorial Park
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #72556 <2>
  • West View Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Oak Hill Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
  • St. Joseph Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
  • Palatka Memorial Gardens
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (49 more) ...

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

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

  • Yelvington
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Yelvington is located in Putnam County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yelvington
  • Armstrong
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Armstrong is located in Saint Johns County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Armstrong
  • Federal Point
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Federal Point is located in Putnam County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Federal Point
  • Orange Mills
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Orange Mills is located in Putnam County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orange Mills
  • San Mateo
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Bridgeport
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Bridgeport is located in Putnam County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bridgeport
  • East Palatka
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Moultrie
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Moultrie is located in Saint Johns County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moultrie
  • Lundy
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Lundy is located in Putnam County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lundy
  • Teasdale
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Teasdale is located in Putnam County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Teasdale
  • Palatka
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
  • Lake Como
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Tocoi
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Tocoi is located in Saint Johns County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tocoi
    • Bostwick
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Peniel
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Peniel is located in Putnam County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peniel

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

Newspapers Published in Gopher Ridge ...

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 Gopher Ridge.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Gopher Ridge, 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 Gopher Ridge.

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 Gopher Ridge:

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 Gopher Ridge, 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- Gopher Ridge) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.