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A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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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 of the Hills (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 of the Hills. 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.

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

  • Polk County     (The home county of Lake of the Hills)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake of the Hills, with the one closest to Lake of the Hills listed first.
    • Waverly
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Lake Wales
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Dundee
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Lake Hamilton
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Highland Park
      (6 miles [9.7 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
    • Cypress Gardens
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Crooked Lake Park
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Crooked Lake Park is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crooked Lake Park
    • Wahneta
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Wahneta is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wahneta
    • Babson Park
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Hillcrest Heights
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Hillcrest Heights is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillcrest Heights
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 305 people
    • Alturas
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Eloise
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Hardee County
    • Bowling Green
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Highlands County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake of the Hills, with the one closest to Lake of the Hills listed first.
    • Alpine
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Alpine is located in Highlands County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpine
    • Avon Park
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
  • Hillsborough County
    • South Plant City Farms
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • South Plant City Farms is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Plant City Farms
  • Lake County
    • Four Corners
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
  • Orange County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake of the Hills, with the one closest to Lake of the Hills listed first.
    • Bay Lake
      (29 miles [46.7 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
    • Hunters Creek
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Hunters Creek is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunters Creek
    • Lake Buena Vista
      (30 miles [48.3 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
  • Osceola County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake of the Hills, with the one closest to Lake of the Hills listed first.
    • Poinciana Place
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Poinciana Place is located in Osceola County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poinciana Place
    • Poinciana
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • ChampionsGate
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • ChampionsGate is located in Osceola County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for ChampionsGate
    • Intercession City
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Campbell
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Campbell is located in Osceola County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Campbell
    • Reunion
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Celebration
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Kissimmee
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Saint Cloud
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Buena Ventura Lakes
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Runnymede
      (30 miles [48.3 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 Lake of the Hills, see our County-by-County Page for Lake of the Hills.

Cemeteries Near Lake of the Hills ...

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

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 Lake of the Hills - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Willow Lawn Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Garden Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Lake Wales Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Friendship MB Church Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Wahneta Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Oakland Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Oaklawn Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Forest Hill Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Rolling Hills Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Lakeside Memorial Park
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Inman Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Church of Christ Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Church of Christ Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Church of Christ Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the southwest of Eagle Lake.
    • The Church of Christ Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Eagle Lake Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #71920 <2>
  • Continue List   (71 more) ...
    • Gandy Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gandy Cemetery
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Gandy Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located 3 miles [4.8 km]<3> to the northeast of Bartow.
      • The Gandy Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Connersville Cemetery
      • Polk Lake Cemetery
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #72018 <2>
    • Lake Lowery Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Oak Grove Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)

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.<4>

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

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

  • Wahneta
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Wahneta is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wahneta
  • Winter Haven
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Eagle Lake
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Haines City
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Gordonville
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Gordonville is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gordonville
  • Auburndale
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Bartow
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
  • Homeland
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Fort Meade
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Lakeland
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Bowling Green
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Avon Park
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Kissimmee
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Saint Cloud
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Kathleen
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)

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

Newspapers Published in Lake of the Hills ...

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 74 newspapers that have been published in the area around Lake of the Hills.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Lake of the Hills, there are papers which were published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Lake of the Hills.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 of the Hills:

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>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Lake of the Hills) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<4>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 of the Hills, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.