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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 Laurel Villa (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 Laurel Villa. 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 northeast 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 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 east 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.

Laurel Villa is located in Sarasota 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 Sarasota County: Charlotte, DeSoto & Manatee.

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

  • Sarasota County     (The home county of Laurel Villa)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Laurel Villa, with the one closest to Laurel Villa listed first.
    • Laurel
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Nokomis
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Osprey
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Venice
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Venice is located in Sarasota County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Venice
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 24,634 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Venice <1>
    • Vamo
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Vamo is located in Sarasota County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vamo
    • South Venice
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Venice Gardens
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Venice Gardens is located in Sarasota County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Venice Gardens
    • Shiney Town
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Shiney Town is located in Sarasota County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shiney Town
    • Plantation
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Plantation is located in Sarasota County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plantation
    • Gulf Gate Estates
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Gulf Gate Estates is located in Sarasota County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gulf Gate Estates
    • Bee Ridge
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Bee Ridge is located in Sarasota County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bee Ridge
    • Lake Sarasota
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Lake Sarasota is located in Sarasota County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Sarasota
    • Siesta Key
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Charlotte County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Laurel Villa, with the one closest to Laurel Villa listed first.
    • Manasota Key
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Grove City
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • El Jobean
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Murdock
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Rotonda West
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Cape Haze
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Placida
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Port Charlotte
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Charlotte Harbor
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Fishermens Village
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Fishermens Village is located in Charlotte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fishermens Village
    • Harbor View
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Harbor View is located in Charlotte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harbor View
    • Charlotte Park
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Charlotte Park is located in Charlotte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charlotte Park
    • Punta Gorda
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Lee County
  • Manatee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Laurel Villa, with the one closest to Laurel Villa listed first.
    • Lakewood Ranch
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Tallevast
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Longboat Key
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Whitfield
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Whitfield is located in Manatee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitfield
    • Verna
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Verna is located in Manatee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Verna
    • Bayshore Gardens
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Bayshore Gardens is located in Manatee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayshore Gardens
    • Oneco
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Samoset
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Samoset is located in Manatee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Samoset
    • South Bradenton
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • South Bradenton is located in Manatee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Bradenton
    • West Samoset
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • West Samoset is located in Manatee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Samoset
    • Myakka City
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Sandy
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Sandy is located in Manatee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy
    • Waterbury
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Waterbury is located in Manatee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterbury

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

Cemeteries Near Laurel Villa ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Laurel Villa.

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 Laurel Villa - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Venice Memorial Gardens
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Sarasota National Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Sarasota Memorial Park
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Gulf Pines Memorial Park
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Palms Memorial Park Gardens
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
  • Palms Memorial Park
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
  • Woodlawn Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
  • Gulf Pines Memorial Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Bethel Mennonite Church Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
  • Galilee Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
  • Myakka Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Sardis Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Braden River Cemetery
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Manatee Memorial Cemetery
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Restlawn Memorial Gardens
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)

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

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

  • Grove City
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
  • Sandy
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Sandy is located in Manatee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy
  • Manatee
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Manatee is located in Manatee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manatee
  • Bradenton
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
  • Rye
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Rye is located in Manatee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rye
  • Palmetto
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
  • Ellenton
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
  • Palma Sola
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Charlotte Harbor
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Harbor View
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Harbor View is located in Charlotte County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harbor View
  • Punta Gorda
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Pine Level
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Pine Level is located in DeSoto County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Level
  • Erie
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Erie is located in Manatee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erie

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

Newspapers Published in Laurel Villa ...

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 33 newspapers that have been published in the area around Laurel Villa.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Laurel Villa, 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 Laurel Villa.

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 Laurel Villa:

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 Laurel Villa, 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Laurel Villa) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.