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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 Holmes Valley (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 Holmes Valley. 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 Holmes Valley ...

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.

  • A typical abbreviation for Holmes Valley: Holmes Vly. (or less commonly used: Holmes Vally. or Holmes Vlly.)
  • While the name of this community is Holmes Valley, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Holmes Valley may originally have been Holme's Valley.

    Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Holmes Valley might be written as Holme Valley.

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 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.

Holmes Valley is located in Washington 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 Washington County: Bay, Holmes, Jackson & Walton.

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

  • Washington County     (The home county of Holmes Valley)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Holmes Valley, with the one closest to Holmes Valley listed first.
    • Vernon
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Millers Ferry
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Millers Ferry have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millers Ferry
      • Millers Ferry is located in Washington County
    • Five Points
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Points
      • Five Points is located in Washington County
    • Wausau
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Brock Crossroad
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brock Crossroad
      • Brock Crossroad is located in Washington County
    • Coosada Old Town ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Coosada Old Town have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coosada Old Town
      • Coosada Old Town is located in Washington County
    • Ebro
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ebro
      • Ebro is located in Washington County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 285 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ebro <2>
    • Caryville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Chipley
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
  • Bay County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Holmes Valley, with the one closest to Holmes Valley listed first.
    • Vicksburg ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vicksburg have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vicksburg
      • Vicksburg is located in Bay County
      • Former name for Vicksburg:
      • Vickerburg
    • Fountain
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Southport
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Lynn Haven
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Youngstown
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Laguna Beach
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Sunnyside
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Cedar Grove
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cedar Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Grove
      • Cedar Grove is located in Bay County
    • Hiland Park
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hiland Park have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hiland Park
      • Hiland Park is located in Bay County
    • Pretty Bayou
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pretty Bayou have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pretty Bayou
      • Pretty Bayou is located in Bay County
    • Panama City Beach
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • West Panama City Beach
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Panama City Beach have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Panama City Beach
      • West Panama City Beach is located in Bay County
    • Magnolia Beach
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magnolia Beach
      • Magnolia Beach is located in Bay County
  • Holmes County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Holmes Valley, with the one closest to Holmes Valley listed first.
    • Bonifay
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Ponce de Leon
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Westville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Izagora
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Izagora have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Izagora
      • Izagora is located in Holmes County
    • Esto
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Esto have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Esto
      • Esto is located in Holmes County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 358 people
    • Noma
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
  • Jackson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Holmes Valley, with the one closest to Holmes Valley listed first.
    • Alford
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Steele City
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Steele City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Steele City
      • Steele City is located in Jackson County
    • Cottondale
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Graceville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Jacob City
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jacob City
      • Jacob City is located in Jackson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 247 people
  • Walton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Holmes Valley, with the one closest to Holmes Valley listed first.
    • Knox Hill
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knox Hill
      • Knox Hill is located in Walton County
    • Argyle
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • De Funiak Springs
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Freeport
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Pleasant Grove
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Grove
      • Pleasant Grove is located in Walton County
    • Alys Beach
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Inlet Beach
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Point Washington
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Rosemary Beach
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Grayton Beach
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Seagrove Beach
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Seaside
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Geneva County (AL)
    • Black
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Black have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black
      • Black is located in Geneva County (AL)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 203 people

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

Newspapers Published in Holmes Valley ...

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 32 newspapers that have been published in the area around Holmes Valley.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Holmes Valley, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Holmes Valley.

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 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 Holmes Valley:

Cemeteries Near Holmes Valley ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Holmes Valley.

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

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

  • Weeks Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Weeks Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Weeks Cemetery
  • Potter Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Potter Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Potter Cemetery
  • Clarkston Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Clarkston Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Clarkston Cemetery
  • Greenhead Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Greenhead Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Greenhead Cemetery
  • Tiller Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Tiller Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Tiller Cemetery
  • Wilcox Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wilcox Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wilcox Cemetery
  • Dunn - Raley Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Dunn - Raley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Dunn - Raley Cemetery
  • Miller Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Miller Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Miller Cemetery
  • Hardy Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hardy Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hardy Cemetery
  • Deadening Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Deadening Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Deadening Cemetery
  • Barfield Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Barfield Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Barfield Cemetery
  • Lay Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lay Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lay Cemetery
  • Continue List   (66 more) ...
    • Dead River Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Dead River Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Dead River Cemetery
    • Ebro Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ebro Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ebro Cemetery
    • Wood Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wood Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wood 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 Holmes Valley in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Holmes Valley.

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

  • Millers Ferry
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Millers Ferry have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millers Ferry
    • Millers Ferry is located in Washington County
  • Redbay
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Redbay have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redbay
    • Redbay is located in Walton County
  • Knox Hill
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knox Hill
    • Knox Hill is located in Walton County
  • Caryville
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
  • Westville
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Bonifay
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
  • Ponce de Leon
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Chipley
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
  • Eucheeanna
    (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eucheeanna have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eucheeanna
    • Eucheeanna is located in Walton County
  • Cerrogordo
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cerrogordo have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cerrogordo
    • Cerrogordo is located in Holmes County
  • Argyle
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Izagora
    (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Izagora have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Izagora
    • Izagora is located in Holmes County
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Union
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Union have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union
      • Union is located in Walton County
    • Freeport
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Cottondale
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)

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

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

The official website for Washington County: www.washingtonfl.com/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties).
<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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Holmes Valley) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Holmes Valley. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 30.5769, Longitude: -85.7430       In this case, the coordinates for Holmes Valley have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<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 Holmes Valley, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024