RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Florida >> Duval County >> Jacksonville Beach >> Genealogy HelperIndex...










Learn About
The Commemorative
Quarter for
Florida

The Commemorative Quarter for Florida





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 Jacksonville Beach (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 Jacksonville Beach. 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 Jacksonville Beach ...

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.

Over the years, Jacksonville Beach had several name changes:

  • Prior to its current name of Jacksonville Beach, it was known as Pablo Beach.
  • Before changing to Pablo Beach, it was named Ruby.
  • Jacksonville Beach was originally named Ruby

  • A typical abbreviation for Jacksonville Beach: Jacksonville Bch.

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.

A Few Details for Jacksonville Beach ...

While it's still very early in our research, we found that:

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.

Jacksonville Beach is located in Duval 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 Duval County: Baker, Clay, Nassau & Saint Johns.

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

  • Duval County     (The home county of Jacksonville Beach)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Jacksonville Beach, with the one closest to Jacksonville Beach listed first.
    • Neptune Beach
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • San Pablo
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for San Pablo have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for San Pablo
      • San Pablo is located in Duval County
    • Atlantic Beach
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Greenfield
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Greenfield have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenfield
      • Greenfield is located in Duval County
    • Sans Pareil
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sans Pareil
      • Sans Pareil is located in Duval County
    • Arlington
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arlington
      • Arlington is located in Duval County
    • Bowden
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowden
      • Bowden is located in Duval County
    • Polly Town
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Polly Town have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Polly Town
      • Polly Town is located in Duval County
    • Loretto
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loretto
      • Loretto is located in Duval County
    • San Marco
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for San Marco
      • San Marco is located in Duval County
    • Talleyrand
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Talleyrand
      • Talleyrand is located in Duval County
    • Jacksonville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
  • Clay County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Jacksonville Beach, with the one closest to Jacksonville Beach listed first.
    • Orange Park
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Bellair - Meadowbrook Terrace
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bellair - Meadowbrook Terrace. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellair - Meadowbrook Terrace
      • Bellair - Meadowbrook Terrace is located in Clay County
    • Lakeside
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lakeside have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeside
      • Lakeside is located in Clay County
    • Doctors Inlet
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Green Cove Springs
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Asbury Lake
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Asbury Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Asbury Lake
      • Asbury Lake is located in Clay County
  • Nassau County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Jacksonville Beach, with the one closest to Jacksonville Beach listed first.
    • Amelia City
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Amelia City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amelia City
      • Amelia City is located in Nassau County
    • Fernandina Beach
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Yulee
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Nassau Village
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nassau Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nassau Village
      • Nassau Village is located in Nassau County
  • Saint Johns County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Jacksonville Beach, with the one closest to Jacksonville Beach listed first.
    • Ponte Vedra Beach
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Ponte Vedra
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ponte Vedra have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ponte Vedra
      • Ponte Vedra is located in Saint Johns County
    • Sawgrass
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sawgrass have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sawgrass
      • Sawgrass is located in Saint Johns County
    • Palm Valley
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Palm Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palm Valley
      • Palm Valley is located in Saint Johns County
    • Fruit Cove
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Saint Johns
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Vilano Beach
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Saint Augustine
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)

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

Newspapers Published in Jacksonville Beach ...

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 134 newspapers that have been published in the area around Jacksonville Beach.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Jacksonville Beach, there are papers which were published within 16 miles [25.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Jacksonville Beach.

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 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 Jacksonville Beach:

Cemeteries Near Jacksonville Beach ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Jacksonville Beach.

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

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

  • Warren Smith Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Warren Smith Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Warren Smith Cemetery
  • Mayport Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mayport Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mayport Cemetery
  • Tillotson Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Tillotson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Tillotson Cemetery
  • Ponte Vedra Valley Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Rain Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rain Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rain Cemetery
  • Cosmo Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cosmo Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cosmo Cemetery
  • Chapel Hill Memory Garden
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Chapel Hill Memory Garden have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Chapel Hill Memory Garden
  • Gilmore Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Gilmore Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Gilmore Cemetery
  • Talbot Island Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Talbot Island Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Talbot Island Cemetery
  • Arlington Park Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Parsons Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Parsons Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Parsons Cemetery
  • Arlington Community Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (62 more) ...
    • Anderson Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Anderson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Anderson Cemetery
    • Sammis Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sammis Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sammis Cemetery
    • Greenlawn Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 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.<6>

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

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

  • San Pablo
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for San Pablo have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for San Pablo
    • San Pablo is located in Duval County
  • Greenfield
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Greenfield have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenfield
    • Greenfield is located in Duval County
  • Mayport
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mayport have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayport
    • Mayport is located in Duval County
  • Fulton
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fulton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fulton
    • Fulton is located in Duval County
  • Gilmore
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gilmore have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilmore
    • Gilmore is located in Duval County
  • Greenland
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Greenland have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenland
    • Greenland is located in Duval County
  • Bayard
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bayard have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayard
    • Bayard is located in Duval County
  • New Berlin
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Berlin have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Berlin
    • New Berlin is located in Duval County
  • Arlington
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arlington
    • Arlington is located in Duval County
  • Spring Glen
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spring Glen have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Glen
    • Spring Glen is located in Duval County
  • Floral Bluff
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Floral Bluff have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Floral Bluff
    • Floral Bluff is located in Duval County
  • Bowden
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowden
    • Bowden is located in Duval County
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Chaseville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chaseville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chaseville
      • Chaseville is located in Duval County
    • Saint Nicholas
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saint Nicholas have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Nicholas
      • Saint Nicholas is located in Duval County
    • Beauclerc
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Beauclerc have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beauclerc
      • Beauclerc is located in Duval County

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

The official website for Jacksonville Beach: www.jacksonvillebeach.org/

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>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.
<4>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- Jacksonville Beach) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Jacksonville Beach. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 30.2883, Longitude: -81.3919    
<5>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.
<6>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 Jacksonville Beach, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

Copyright 2024
All Rights Reserved

Thank you for visiting our website.

In closing, please keep in mind that we can not guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of the information on this website, so use with care. We encourage you to double-check the information that is critical to you.

If you've found an error or have additional information that you would like to share, please don't hesitate to write: Click here to contact us.

This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024