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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 Harvard (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 Harvard. 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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals 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.

Harvard is located in Gilchrist 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 Gilchrist County: Alachua, Columbia, Dixie, Lafayette & Levy.

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

  • Gilchrist County     (The home county of Harvard)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Harvard, with the one closest to Harvard listed first.
    • Bell
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bell
      • Bell is located in Gilchrist County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 510 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bell <1>
    • Little Lake City
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little Lake City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Lake City
      • Little Lake City is located in Gilchrist County
    • Waters Lake
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waters Lake
      • Waters Lake is located in Gilchrist County
    • Trenton
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Fanning Springs
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Alachua County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Harvard, with the one closest to Harvard listed first.
    • High Springs
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Newberry
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Alachua
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Jonesville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Burnetts Lake
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Burnetts Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burnetts Lake
      • Burnetts Lake is located in Alachua County
    • Hague
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hague
      • Hague is located in Alachua County
    • Archer
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • La Crosse
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Rutledge
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rutledge
      • Rutledge is located in Alachua County
    • Arredondo
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arredondo
      • Arredondo is located in Alachua County
  • Columbia County
    • Fort White
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Dixie County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Harvard, with the one closest to Harvard listed first.
    • Suwanee Old Town ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Suwanee Old Town have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Suwanee Old Town
      • Suwanee Old Town is located in Dixie County
    • Old Town
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Cross City
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
  • Lafayette County
    • Mayo
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayo
      • Mayo is located in Lafayette County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,289 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mayo <1>
  • Levy County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Harvard, with the one closest to Harvard listed first.
    • Andrews
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Andrews have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Andrews
      • Andrews is located in Levy County
    • Manatee Road
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Manatee Road have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manatee Road
      • Manatee Road is located in Levy County
    • Chiefland
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Bronson
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • East Bronson
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Bronson
      • East Bronson is located in Levy County
    • Otter Creek
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Suwannee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Harvard, with the one closest to Harvard listed first.
    • Branford
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • O'Brien
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • McAlpin
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
  • Union County
    • Worthington Springs
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)

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

Newspapers Published in Harvard ...

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 26 newspapers that have been published in the area around Harvard.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Harvard, there are papers which were published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Harvard.

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 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 Harvard:

Cemeteries Near Harvard ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Harvard.

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

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

  • Bell Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • New Hope Family Church Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Bethel Church of Christ Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Pleasant Hill Baptist Church Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Wayfair Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Mt. Horeb Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Townsend Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Midway Church of Christ Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Priscilla Baptist Church Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Center Hill Church of Christ Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Jennings Lake Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Spring Ridge Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Spring Ridge Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Spring Ridge Cemetery
  • Continue List   (128 more) ...
    • Old Hatchbend Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Hatchbend Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Hatchbend Cemetery
    • Fayetteville Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fayetteville Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fayetteville Cemetery
    • Pleasant Grove Advent Church Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 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 Harvard in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Harvard.

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

  • Fort White
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Branford
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
  • High Springs
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
  • Mikesville
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mikesville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mikesville
    • Mikesville is located in Columbia County
  • Chiefland
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
  • O'Brien
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
  • Jonesville
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Alachua
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
  • Newnansville
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Newnansville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newnansville
    • Newnansville is located in Alachua County
  • Columbia
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Columbia have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Columbia
    • Columbia is located in Columbia County
  • Bronson
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
  • Meredith
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Meredith have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meredith
    • Meredith is located in Levy County
  • Continue List   (8 more) ...
    • Hague
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hague
      • Hague is located in Alachua County
    • Archer
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • McAlpin
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)

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

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

The official website for Gilchrist County: www.gilchrist.fl.us/

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

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 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.
<3>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Harvard) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Harvard. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 29.7702, Longitude: -82.8332       In this case, the coordinates for Harvard have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>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.
<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 Harvard, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024