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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 Lake Lorraine (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 Lake Lorraine. 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 Lake Lorraine ...

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.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Lake Lorraine: Lk. Lorraine

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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals 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.

Lake Lorraine is located in Okaloosa 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 Okaloosa County: Covington (AL), Escambia (AL), Santa Rosa & Walton.

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

  • Okaloosa County     (The home county of Lake Lorraine)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake Lorraine, with the one closest to Lake Lorraine listed first.
    • Shalimar
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Eglin Village
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eglin Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eglin Village
      • Eglin Village is located in Okaloosa County
    • Cinco Bayou
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cinco Bayou have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cinco Bayou
      • Cinco Bayou is located in Okaloosa County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 447 people
    • Ocean City
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ocean City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ocean City
      • Ocean City is located in Okaloosa County
    • Fort Walton Beach
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Wright
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wright have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wright
      • Wright is located in Okaloosa County
    • Destin
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Destin
      • Destin is located in Okaloosa County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 14,284 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Destin <1>
    • Valparaiso
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Mary Esther
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Niceville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Hurlburt Field
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Crestview
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Holt
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Santa Rosa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake Lorraine, with the one closest to Lake Lorraine listed first.
    • Navarre
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Harold
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Bagdad
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Walton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake Lorraine, with the one closest to Lake Lorraine listed first.
    • Miramar Beach
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Sandestin
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • The Village of Baytowne Wharf
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for The Village of Baytowne Wharf have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Village of Baytowne Wharf
      • The Village of Baytowne Wharf is located in Walton County
    • Four Mile Village
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Four Mile Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Four Mile Village
      • Four Mile Village is located in Walton County
    • Santa Rosa Beach
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Blue Mountain Beach
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Freeport
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Grayton Beach
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Mossy Head
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Seaside
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Point Washington
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Seagrove Beach
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)

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

Newspapers Published in Lake Lorraine ...

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 28 newspapers that have been published in the area around Lake Lorraine.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Lake Lorraine, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Lake Lorraine.

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 professional and volunteer 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 Lake Lorraine:

Cemeteries Near Lake Lorraine ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Lake Lorraine.

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

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

  • Beal Memorial Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Sunset Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Sweeney Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sweeney Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sweeney Cemetery
  • Early Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Rocky Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rocky Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rocky Cemetery
  • Carr Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Carr Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Carr Cemetery
  • Black Oak Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Black Oak Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Black Oak Cemetery
  • Brown Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Brown Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Brown Cemetery
  • Hewas Cemetery
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hewas Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hewas Cemetery
  • Santa Rosa Cemetery
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Santa Rosa Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Santa Rosa Cemetery
  • New Canoe Cemetery
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the New Canoe Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the New Canoe Cemetery
  • Flowers Field Cemetery
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (21 more) ...
    • Springhill Cemetery
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Beulah Cemetery
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Beulah Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Beulah Cemetery
    • Holt Cemetery
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Holt Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Holt 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 Lake Lorraine in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Lake Lorraine.

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

  • Portland
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Portland have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Portland
    • Portland is located in Walton County
  • Freeport
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
  • Mossy Head
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Bagdad
    (29 miles [46.7 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 Lake Lorraine. See our List of 1890's Communities around Lake Lorraine.

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

The official website for Okaloosa County: www.co.okaloosa.fl.us/

The official website for State of Florida: https://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- Lake Lorraine) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Lake Lorraine. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 30.4416, Longitude: -86.5652       In this case, the coordinates for Lake Lorraine 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 Lake Lorraine, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Nov 2024