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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 Johnson (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 Johnson. 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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

Johnson is located in Polk 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 Polk County: Hardee, Highlands, Hillsborough, Lake, Manatee, Orange, Osceola, Pasco & Sumter.

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

  • Polk County     (The home county of Johnson)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Johnson, with the one closest to Johnson listed first.
    • Davenport
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Loughman
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Haines City
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Lake Hammock Village
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Lake Hamilton
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Dundee
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Waverly
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Lake Alfred
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Cypress Gardens
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Lake Wales
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Winter Haven
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Highland Park
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Highland Park is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland Park
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 221 people
    • Eloise
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
  • Lake County
    • Four Corners
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Orange County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Johnson, with the one closest to Johnson listed first.
    • Hunters Creek
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Hunters Creek is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunters Creek
    • Bay Lake
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Bay Lake is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bay Lake
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 48 people
    • Lake Buena Vista
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Lake Buena Vista is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Buena Vista
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 26 people
    • Meadow Woods
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Meadow Woods is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Woods
    • Southchase
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Southchase is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Southchase
    • Williamsburg
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Williamsburg is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williamsburg
    • Doctor Phillips
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Doctor Phillips is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doctor Phillips
    • Taft
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Taft is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taft
    • Sand Lake
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Sky Lake
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Sky Lake is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sky Lake
    • Tangelo Park
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Tangelo Park is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tangelo Park
    • Lake Hart
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Lake Hart is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Hart
    • Bay Hill
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Bay Hill is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bay Hill
  • Osceola County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Johnson, with the one closest to Johnson listed first.
    • Poinciana
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Poinciana Place
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Poinciana Place is located in Osceola County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poinciana Place
    • Campbell
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Campbell is located in Osceola County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Campbell
    • Intercession City
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Kissimmee
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • ChampionsGate
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • ChampionsGate is located in Osceola County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for ChampionsGate
    • Celebration
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Saint Cloud
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Reunion
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Buena Ventura Lakes
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Runnymede
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Runnymede is located in Osceola County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Runnymede

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

Cemeteries Near Johnson ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Johnson.

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

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

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

  • Pleasant Hill Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Finney Point Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Finney Point Cemetery
    • The Finney Point Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Whaley Cemetery
  • Evergreen Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Evergreen Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the north of Davenport.
    • The Evergreen Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Davenport Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #71888 <2>
  • Ret Row Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Forest Hill Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Loughman Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Oakland Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Friendship MB Church Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Oak Hill Baptist Church Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Osceola Memory Gardens
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Rose Hill Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rose Hill Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Rose Hill Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Kissimmee.
    • The Rose Hill Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Rosehill Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #72538 <2>
  • Howard Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (61 more) ...

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.<3>

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

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

  • Haines City
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Kissimmee
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
  • Saint Cloud
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Runnymede
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Runnymede is located in Osceola County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Runnymede
  • Winter Haven
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Narcoossee
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Narcoossee is located in Osceola County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Narcoossee
  • Auburndale
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
  • Eagle Lake
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Wahneta
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Wahneta is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wahneta
  • Gordonville
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Gordonville is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gordonville
  • Pine Castle
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
  • Windermere
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Conway
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Conway is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conway
    • Bartow
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Gotha
      (27 miles [43.5 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 Johnson. See our List of 1890's Communities around Johnson.

Newspapers Published in Johnson ...

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 80 newspapers that have been published in the area around Johnson.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Johnson, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Johnson.

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 Johnson:

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 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.
<3>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 Johnson, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Johnson) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.