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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 Kirkwood (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 Kirkwood. 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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

Kirkwood is located in Alachua 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 Alachua County: Bradford, Clay, Columbia, Gilchrist, Levy, Marion, Putnam & Union.

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

  • Alachua County     (The home county of Kirkwood)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Kirkwood, with the one closest to Kirkwood listed first.
    • Micanopy
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Arredondo
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Arredondo is located in Alachua County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arredondo
    • Gainesville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Rochelle
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Rochelle is located in Alachua County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rochelle
    • Evinston
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Windsor
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Windsor is located in Alachua County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windsor
    • Rutledge
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Rutledge is located in Alachua County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rutledge
    • Archer
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Lochloosa
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Jonesville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Island Grove
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Campville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Campville is located in Alachua County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Campville
  • Bradford County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Kirkwood, with the one closest to Kirkwood listed first.
    • Graham
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Brooker
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Hampton
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Clay County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Kirkwood, with the one closest to Kirkwood listed first.
    • Keystone Heights
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Lake Geneva
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Gilchrist County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Kirkwood, with the one closest to Kirkwood listed first.
    • Waters Lake
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Waters Lake is located in Gilchrist County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waters Lake
    • Trenton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Levy County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Kirkwood, with the one closest to Kirkwood listed first.
    • Raleigh
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Raleigh is located in Levy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raleigh
    • East Williston
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • East Williston is located in Levy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Williston
    • Williston
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • East Bronson
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • East Bronson is located in Levy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Bronson
    • Meredith
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Meredith is located in Levy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meredith
    • Morriston
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Williston Highlands
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Williston Highlands is located in Levy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williston Highlands
    • Bronson
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Gulf Hammock
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Otter Creek
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Marion County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Kirkwood, with the one closest to Kirkwood listed first.
    • McIntosh
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Irvine
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Irvine is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irvine
    • Orange Lake
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Paynes Town ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Paynes Town is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paynes Town
    • Heijahs Town ‑ Historic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Heijahs Town is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heijahs Town
    • Fairfield
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Fairfield is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairfield
    • Reddick
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Citra
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Lowell
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Martin
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Martin is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martin
    • Sparr
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Fellowship
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Fellowship is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fellowship
  • Putnam County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Kirkwood, with the one closest to Kirkwood listed first.
    • Edgar
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Keuka
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Keuka is located in Putnam County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keuka
    • Putnam Hall
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Interlachen
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Mannville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Mannville is located in Putnam County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mannville
    • Grandin
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Florahome
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Union County
    • Worthington Springs
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)

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

Cemeteries Near Kirkwood ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Kirkwood.

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

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

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

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

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

  • Micanopy
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Micanopy Junction
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Micanopy Junction is located in Alachua County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Micanopy Junction
  • Arredondo
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Arredondo is located in Alachua County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arredondo
  • Evinston
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Rochelle
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Rochelle is located in Alachua County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rochelle
  • Gainesville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • McIntosh
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Boardman
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Boardman is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boardman
  • Flemington
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Flemington is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flemington
  • Orange Lake
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Rutledge
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Rutledge is located in Alachua County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rutledge
  • Grove Park
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Grove Park is located in Alachua County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grove Park
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Windsor
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Windsor is located in Alachua County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windsor
    • Paradise
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Paradise is located in Alachua County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paradise
    • Archer
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)

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

Newspapers Published in Kirkwood ...

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 83 newspapers that have been published in the area around Kirkwood.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Kirkwood, there are papers which were published within 20 miles [32.2 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Kirkwood.

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 Kirkwood:

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 Kirkwood, 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Kirkwood) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.