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The Commemorative Quarter for Florida





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 Leesburg (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 Leesburg. 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 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.

Leesburg is located in Lake 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 Lake County: Marion, Orange, Osceola, Polk, Seminole, Sumter & Volusia.

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

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

Cemeteries Near Leesburg ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Leesburg.

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

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

  • Lone Oak Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lone Oak Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lone Oak Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Evergreen Memorial Gardens Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Evergreen Memorial Gardens Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Evergreen Memorial Gardens Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hillcrest Memorial Gardens
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hillcrest Memorial Gardens
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hillcrest Memorial Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Shiloh Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Shiloh Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Shiloh Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Oakridge Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oakridge Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oakridge Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Yalaha Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Yalaha Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Yalaha Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Lane Park Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lane Park Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lane Park Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Cool Spring Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cool Spring Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cool Spring Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Tavares Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Tavares Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Tavares Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Taylor Memorial Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Taylor Memorial Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Taylor Memorial Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Grand Island Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Grand Island Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Grand Island Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Sumterville Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sumterville Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sumterville Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (96 more) ...
    • Merritt Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Merritt Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Merritt Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Stanton Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Stanton Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Stanton Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Astatula Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Astatula Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Astatula Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Leesburg had a population of 722 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Leesburg had a population of 24,060 people.

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

  • Montclair
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Montclair. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montclair
    • Montclair is located in Lake County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Montclair
    • From Leesburg to Montclair
  • Fruitland Park
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Eldorado
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eldorado have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eldorado
    • Eldorado is located in Lake County
  • Whitney
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Okahumpka
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Bamboo
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bamboo have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bamboo
    • Bamboo is located in Sumter County
  • Yalaha
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Orange Bend
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Orange Home
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Orange Home have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orange Home
    • Orange Home is located in Sumter County
  • Lady Lake
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Lisbon
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lisbon have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lisbon
    • Lisbon is located in Lake County
  • Lane Park
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lane Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lane Park
    • Lane Park is located in Lake County
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Leesburg ...

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 56 newspapers that have been published in the area around Leesburg.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Leesburg. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Leesburg and those printed in the larger area surrounding Leesburg.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 24 miles [38.6 km]<5> of Leesburg.

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 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 Leesburg:

The official website for Leesburg: www.ci.leesburg.fl.us/

The official website for Lake County: www.lakegovernment.com/

The official website for State of Florida: https://www.myflorida.com/

Footnotes ...

<1>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Leesburg, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<5>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Leesburg) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Leesburg. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 28.8113, Longitude: -81.8875    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Mar 2025