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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 Helen (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 Helen. 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 and 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.

Helen is located in Leon 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 Leon County: Gadsden, Jefferson, Liberty, Wakulla, Grady (GA) & Thomas (GA).

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

  • Leon County     (The home county of Helen)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Helen, with the one closest to Helen listed first.
    • Woodville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Tallahassee
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Capitola
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Capitola
      • Capitola is located in Leon County
    • Miccosukee
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Franklin County
  • Gadsden County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Helen, with the one closest to Helen listed first.
    • Midway
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Havana
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Quincy
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Douglas City
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Douglas City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Douglas City
      • Douglas City is located in Gadsden County
    • Gretna
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Greensboro
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Mount Pleasant
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Jefferson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Helen, with the one closest to Helen listed first.
    • Wacissa
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Thomas City
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Thomas City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thomas City
      • Thomas City is located in Jefferson County
    • Lloyd
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Waukeenah
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
  • Liberty County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Helen, with the one closest to Helen listed first.
    • Hosford
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Telogia
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
  • Wakulla County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Helen, with the one closest to Helen listed first.
    • Crawfordville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Wakulla Springs
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Saint Marks
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Sopchoppy
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Panacea
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Curtis Mill
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Curtis Mill have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Curtis Mill
      • Curtis Mill is located in Wakulla County
  • Decatur County (GA)
    • Attapulgus
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
  • Grady County (GA)

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

Newspapers Published in Helen ...

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 79 newspapers that have been published in the area around Helen.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Helen, there are papers which were published within 22 miles [35.4 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Helen.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin 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 Helen:

Cemeteries Near Helen ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Helen.

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

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

  • Sutton Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sutton Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sutton Cemetery
  • Harvey Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Harvey Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Harvey Cemetery
  • Duggar Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Duggar Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Duggar Cemetery
  • Raker Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Raker Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Raker Cemetery
  • Southside Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Southside Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Southside Cemetery
  • Arran Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Arran Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Arran Cemetery
  • Causseaux Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Causseaux Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Causseaux Cemetery
  • Russells Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Russells Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Russells Cemetery
  • Pelt Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pelt Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pelt Cemetery
  • Woodville Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Woodville Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the east of Woodville.
    • The Woodville Cemetery has also been known as:
    • White Church Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Woodville Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2152016 <4>
  • East Grove Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Rhodes Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rhodes Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rhodes Cemetery
  • Continue List   (105 more) ...
    • Council Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Council Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Council Cemetery
    • Raher Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Raher Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Raher Cemetery
    • Stewart Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Stewart Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Stewart Cemetery

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

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

  • Crawfordville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Woodville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Wakulla
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wakulla have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wakulla
    • Wakulla is located in Wakulla County
  • Tallahassee
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Holland
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Holland have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holland
    • Holland is located in Leon County
  • Midway
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
  • Bloxham
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bloxham have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bloxham
    • Bloxham is located in Leon County
  • Saint Marks
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Newport
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Newport have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newport
    • Newport is located in Wakulla County
  • Smith Creek
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Smith Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smith Creek
    • Smith Creek is located in Wakulla County
  • Sopchoppy
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
  • Wetumpka
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wetumpka have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wetumpka
    • Wetumpka is located in Gadsden County
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Scotland
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Scotland have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scotland
      • Scotland is located in Gadsden County
    • Chaires
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chaires have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chaires
      • Chaires is located in Leon County
    • Bradfordville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bradfordville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bradfordville
      • Bradfordville is located in Leon County

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

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

The official website for Leon County: www.co.leon.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 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Helen) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Helen. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 30.3074, Longitude: -84.3999       In this case, the coordinates for Helen have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>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.
<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 Helen, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024