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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 Grand 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 Grand 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 Grand 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.

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 Grand Ridge: Grand Rdg. (or less commonly used: Grand Rdge. or Grand 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 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.

Grand Ridge is located in Jackson 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 Jackson County: Geneva (AL), Houston (AL), Bay, Calhoun, Gadsden, Holmes, Liberty, Washington & Seminole (GA).

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

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

Cemeteries Near Grand Ridge ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Grand 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.

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

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

  • Carpenter Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Carpenter Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Carpenter Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Wester Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wester Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wester Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Dykes Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Dykes Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Dykes Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Simpsons Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Simpsons Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Simpsons Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Stephens Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Stephens Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Stephens Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Walters Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Walters Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Walters Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Yon Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Yon Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Yon Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Fulgum Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fulgum Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fulgum Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Pope Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pope Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pope Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Logan Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Logan Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Logan Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Evergreen Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Evergreen Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Evergreen Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Sinai Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sinai Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sinai Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (150 more) ...
    • Cow Pen Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cow Pen Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cow Pen Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Hill Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hill Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Robinson Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Robinson Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Robinson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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

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

  • Inwood
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Inwood. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Inwood
    • Inwood is located in Jackson County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Inwood
    • From Grand Ridge to Inwood
  • Cypress
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Sneads
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Alliance
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alliance have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alliance
    • Alliance is located in Jackson County
  • Ocheesee
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ocheesee. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ocheesee
    • Ocheesee is located in Calhoun County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Ocheesee
    • From Grand Ridge to Ocheesee
  • River Junction
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Chattahoochee
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Selman
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Selman have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Selman
    • Selman is located in Calhoun County
  • Rock Bluff
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rock Bluff have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Bluff
    • Rock Bluff is located in Liberty County
  • Greenwood
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Marianna
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Sycamore
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Sycamore. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sycamore
    • Sycamore is located in Gadsden County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Sycamore
    • From Grand Ridge to Sycamore
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Chipola
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Chipola. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chipola
      • Chipola is located in Calhoun County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Chipola
      • From Grand Ridge to Chipola
    • Bascom
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Recovery
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Recovery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Recovery
      • Recovery is located in Decatur County (GA)
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 33,015 people

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

Newspapers Published in Grand 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 57 newspapers that have been published in the area around Grand Ridge.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Grand Ridge, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Grand Ridge.

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 Grand Ridge:

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

The official website for Jackson County: www.jacksoncounty-fl.com/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<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 Grand Ridge, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<5>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- Grand Ridge) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Grand Ridge. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 30.7107, Longitude: -85.0202    









 

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In closing, please keep in mind that we can not guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of the information on this website, so use with care. We encourage you to double-check the information that is critical to you.

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Mar 2025