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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 Harper (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 Harper. 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 doctors 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.

Harper is located in Santa Rosa 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 Santa Rosa County: Escambia (AL), Escambia & Okaloosa.

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

  • Santa Rosa County     (The home county of Harper)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Harper, with the one closest to Harper listed first.
    • Navarre
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Harold
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Bagdad
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Galt City
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Galt City is located in Santa Rosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galt City
    • Milton
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Milton is located in Santa Rosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,785 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Milton <1>
    • Gulf Breeze
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Pace
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
  • Escambia County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Harper, with the one closest to Harper listed first.
    • Pensacola Beach
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Bohemia
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Bohemia is located in Escambia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bohemia
    • Ferry Pass
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Ferry Pass is located in Escambia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ferry Pass
    • Goulding
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Goulding is located in Escambia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goulding
    • Pensacola
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Brent
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Brent is located in Escambia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brent
    • Sanders Beach
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Sanders Beach is located in Escambia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sanders Beach
    • Olive
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Olive is located in Escambia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olive
    • Tristan Village
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Tristan Village is located in Escambia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tristan Village
    • Ensley
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • West Pensacola
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • West Pensacola is located in Escambia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Pensacola
    • Warrington
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Warrington is located in Escambia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warrington
    • Bellview
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Bellview is located in Escambia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellview
  • Okaloosa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Harper, with the one closest to Harper listed first.
    • Hurlburt Field
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Mary Esther
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Wright
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Wright is located in Okaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wright
    • Fort Walton Beach
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Ocean City
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Ocean City is located in Okaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ocean City
    • Cinco Bayou
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Cinco Bayou is located in Okaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cinco Bayou
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 447 people
    • Shalimar
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Lake Lorraine
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Lake Lorraine is located in Okaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Lorraine
    • Eglin Village
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Eglin Village is located in Okaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eglin Village
    • Holt
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Destin
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Destin is located in Okaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Destin
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 14,284 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Destin <1>
    • Valparaiso
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Niceville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)

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

Cemeteries Near Harper ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Harper.

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 Harper - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Flowers Field Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Hickory Hammock Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Lewis Williams Memorial Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lewis Williams Memorial Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Lewis Williams Memorial Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located 5 miles [8 km]<2> to the southeast of Milton.
    • The Lewis Williams Memorial Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Williams Memorial Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #72766 <3>
  • Black Hammock Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Friendship Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Memorial Serenity Gardens
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Rose Lawn Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Welcome Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Welcome Cemetery
    • The Welcome Cemetery has also been known as:
    • J.B. Watson Cemetery
    • New Elam Cemetery
  • Beal Memorial Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
  • Magnolia Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
  • New Canoe Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
  • Milton Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (45 more) ...
    • Strickland Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Serenity Gardens
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • New Hope Cemetery
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)

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

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

  • Bagdad
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Galt City
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Galt City is located in Santa Rosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galt City
  • Milton
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Milton is located in Santa Rosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milton
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,785 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Milton <1>
  • Yniestra
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Yniestra is located in Escambia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yniestra
  • Bohemia
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Bohemia is located in Escambia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bohemia
  • Ferry Pass
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Ferry Pass is located in Escambia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ferry Pass
  • Goulding
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Goulding is located in Escambia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goulding
  • Pensacola
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
  • Brent
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Brent is located in Escambia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brent
  • Olive
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Olive is located in Escambia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olive
  • Warrington
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Warrington is located in Escambia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warrington
  • Millview
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Millview is located in Escambia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millview
  • Quintette
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Quintette is located in Escambia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quintette

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

Newspapers Published in Harper ...

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 94 newspapers that have been published in the area around Harper.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Harper, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Harper.

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 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 Harper:

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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Harper) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<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 Harper, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.