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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 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 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.

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 doctors and 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.

Lorraine is located in Manatee 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 Manatee County: DeSoto, Hardee, Hillsborough, Polk & Sarasota.

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

  • Manatee County     (The home county of Lorraine)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lorraine, with the one closest to Lorraine listed first.
    • Lakewood Ranch
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Waterbury
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Waterbury is located in Manatee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterbury
    • Verna
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Verna is located in Manatee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Verna
    • Oneco
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Samoset
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Samoset is located in Manatee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Samoset
    • Tallevast
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Parrish
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Ellenton
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • West Samoset
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • West Samoset is located in Manatee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Samoset
    • Whitfield
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Whitfield is located in Manatee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitfield
    • Bayshore Gardens
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Bayshore Gardens is located in Manatee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayshore Gardens
    • Bradenton
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • South Bradenton
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • South Bradenton is located in Manatee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Bradenton
  • Hardee County
  • Hillsborough County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lorraine, with the one closest to Lorraine listed first.
    • Sun City
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Bayou Pass Village
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Bayou Pass Village is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayou Pass Village
    • Park Village
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Park Village is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park Village
    • Freedom Village
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Freedom Village is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freedom Village
    • Gulf City
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Gulf City is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gulf City
    • Manatee Harbor
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Manatee Harbor is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manatee Harbor
    • Montero Village
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Montero Village is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montero Village
    • Sun City Center
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Cypress Creek Village
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Cypress Creek Village is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cypress Creek Village
    • Ruskin
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Wimauma
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Golf and Sea Village
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Golf and Sea Village is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Golf and Sea Village
    • Apollo Beach
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
  • Pinellas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lorraine, with the one closest to Lorraine listed first.
    • Tierra Verde
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Gulfport
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Saint Pete Beach
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Saint Petersburg
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Saint Petersburg Beach
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
    • South Pasadena
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • South Pasadena is located in Pinellas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Pasadena
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,067 people
  • Sarasota County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lorraine, with the one closest to Lorraine listed first.
    • The Meadows
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • The Meadows is located in Sarasota County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Meadows
    • Desoto Lakes
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Desoto Lakes is located in Sarasota County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Desoto Lakes
    • Kensington Park
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Kensington Park is located in Sarasota County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kensington Park
    • Fruitville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • North Sarasota
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • North Sarasota is located in Sarasota County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Sarasota
    • Lake Sarasota
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Lake Sarasota is located in Sarasota County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Sarasota
    • Pinecraft
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Sarasota Springs
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Sarasota Springs is located in Sarasota County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sarasota Springs
    • Sarasota
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Bee Ridge
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Bee Ridge is located in Sarasota County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bee Ridge
    • South Gate Ridge
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • South Gate Ridge is located in Sarasota County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Gate Ridge
    • Southgate
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Southgate is located in Sarasota County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Southgate
    • Ridge Wood Heights
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Ridge Wood Heights is located in Sarasota County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridge Wood Heights

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

Cemeteries Near Lorraine ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of 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.

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

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

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

  • Bethel Mennonite Church Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Braden River Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Palms Memorial Park Gardens
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Palms Memorial Park
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Galilee Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Fortner Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Manatee Memorial Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Woodlawn Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Mansion Memorial Park
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Myakka Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Major Adams Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Sarasota National Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (19 more) ...
    • Skyway Memorial Gardens
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Sarasota Memorial Park
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Skyway Memorial Gardens
      (13 miles [20.9 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.<3>

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

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

  • Rye
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Rye is located in Manatee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rye
  • Manatee
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Manatee is located in Manatee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manatee
  • Erie
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Erie is located in Manatee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erie
  • Ellenton
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Bradenton
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Palmetto
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Terra Ceia
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Palma Sola
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
  • Gulf City
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Gulf City is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gulf City
  • Sandy
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Sandy is located in Manatee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy
  • Pine Level
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Pine Level is located in DeSoto County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Level

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

Newspapers Published in 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 20 newspapers that have been published in the area around Lorraine.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Lorraine, there are papers which were published within 19 miles [30.6 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Lorraine.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to start 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 Lorraine:

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 Lorraine, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Lorraine) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.