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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 Ham Oaks (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 Ham Oaks. 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 northeast 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 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 east 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.

Ham Oaks is located in Hillsborough 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 Hillsborough County: Hardee, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas & Polk.

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

  • Hillsborough County     (The home county of Ham Oaks)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ham Oaks, with the one closest to Ham Oaks listed first.
    • Knights
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Knights is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knights
    • Plant City Heights
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Plant City Heights is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plant City Heights
    • Colonial Village
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Colonial Village is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colonial Village
    • Strawberry Village
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Strawberry Village is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Strawberry Village
    • Cedar Run
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Cedar Run is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Run
    • Kings Village
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Kings Village is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings Village
    • Plant City
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • West Plant City
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • West Plant City is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Plant City
    • Woodfield Village
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Woodfield Village is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodfield Village
    • South Plant City Farms
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • South Plant City Farms is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Plant City Farms
    • Kingston City
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Kingston City is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingston City
    • Dover
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Parrish
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Parrish is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parrish
  • Hernando County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ham Oaks, with the one closest to Ham Oaks listed first.
    • Richloam ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Richloam is located in Hernando County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richloam
    • Ridge Manor
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
  • Pasco County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ham Oaks, with the one closest to Ham Oaks listed first.
    • Crystal Springs
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Crystal Springs is located in Pasco County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Springs
    • Zephyrhills
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Richland
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Richland is located in Pasco County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richland
    • Wesley Chapel South
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Wesley Chapel South is located in Pasco County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wesley Chapel South
    • Wesley Chapel
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Saint Leo
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • San Antonio
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • San Antonio is located in Pasco County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for San Antonio
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,506 people
      • Former name for San Antonio:
      • Lake Jovita
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for San Antonio <1>
    • Dade City
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Land O' Lakes
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Blanton
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Blanton is located in Pasco County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blanton
    • Lacoochee
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Moss Town
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Moss Town is located in Pasco County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moss Town
    • Odessa
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
  • Polk County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ham Oaks, with the one closest to Ham Oaks listed first.
    • Winston
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Winston is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winston
    • Kathleen
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Gibsonia
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Gibsonia is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gibsonia
    • Lakeland
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Acton ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Acton is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acton
    • Medulla
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Medulla is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Medulla
    • Lakeland Highlands
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Lakeland Highlands is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeland Highlands
    • Willow Oak
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Willow Oak is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Oak
    • Combee Settlement
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Combee Settlement is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Combee Settlement
    • Crystal Lake
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Crystal Lake is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Lake
    • Eaton Park
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Fox Town
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Fox Town is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox Town
    • Nichols
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)

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

Cemeteries Near Ham Oaks ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Ham Oaks.

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 Ham Oaks - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Memorial Park
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Oaklawn Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Garden of Peace Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Hopewell Memorial Gardens
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Memorial Park
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • New Home Baptist Church Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Springhead Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Serenity Gardens
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Griffin Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Griffin Cemetery
    • The Griffin Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Galloway Cemetery
    • Sleepy Hill Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #72061 <2>
  • Crystal Springs Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Stephenson Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Socrum Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Socrum Cemetery
    • The Socrum Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Bethel Baptist Cemetery
    • Bethel Baptist Church Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #521310 <2>
  • Continue List   (113 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.<4>

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

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

  • Knights
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Knights is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knights
  • Keene
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Keene is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keene
  • Plant City
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Kathleen
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Sydney
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Seffner
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Lakeland
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Thonotosassa
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Valrico
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Mango
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Limona
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Limona is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Limona
  • Brandon
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Bloomingdale
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Bloomingdale is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bloomingdale
    • Keysville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Keysville is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keysville
    • Richland
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Richland is located in Pasco County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richland

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

Newspapers Published in Ham Oaks ...

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 8 newspapers that have been published in the area around Ham Oaks.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Ham Oaks, there are papers which were published within 3 miles [4.8 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Ham Oaks.

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 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 Ham Oaks:

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- Ham Oaks) 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 Ham Oaks, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.