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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 McDonald (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 McDonald. 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.

McDonald is located in Orange 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 Orange County: Brevard, Lake, Osceola, Polk & Seminole.

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

  • Orange County     (The home county of McDonald)
    • The following are listed by their distance from McDonald, with the one closest to McDonald listed first.
    • Plymouth
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Apopka
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Zellwood
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • South Apopka
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Apopka have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Apopka
      • South Apopka is located in Orange County
    • Tangerine
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Paradise Heights
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Paradise Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paradise Heights
      • Paradise Heights is located in Orange County
    • Clarcona
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Ocoee
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ocoee
      • Ocoee is located in Orange County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 49,168 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ocoee <1>
    • Tildenville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tildenville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tildenville
      • Tildenville is located in Orange County
    • Winter Garden
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Lockhart
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Minorville ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Minorville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minorville
      • Minorville is located in Orange County
    • Oakland
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Lake County
    • The following are listed by their distance from McDonald, with the one closest to McDonald listed first.
    • Lake Jem
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Jem
      • Lake Jem is located in Lake County
    • Mount Plymouth
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Plymouth have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Plymouth
      • Mount Plymouth is located in Lake County
    • Sorrento
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Mount Dora
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Oakland Park
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oakland Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakland Park
      • Oakland Park is located in Lake County
    • Ferndale
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Montverde
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Astatula
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Tavares
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Waits Junction
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Waits Junction. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waits Junction
      • Waits Junction is located in Lake County
    • Eustis
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Howey-in-the-Hills
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Minneola
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Marion County
    • The following are listed by their distance from McDonald, with the one closest to McDonald listed first.
    • Weirsdale
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Eastlake Weir
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Osceola County
    • The following are listed by their distance from McDonald, with the one closest to McDonald listed first.
    • Celebration
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Kissimmee
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Reunion
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Buena Ventura Lakes
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • ChampionsGate
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for ChampionsGate
      • ChampionsGate is located in Osceola County
    • Intercession City
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Seminole County
    • The following are listed by their distance from McDonald, with the one closest to McDonald listed first.
    • Forest City
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Forest City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest City
      • Forest City is located in Seminole County
    • Wekiwa Springs
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wekiwa Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wekiwa Springs
      • Wekiwa Springs is located in Seminole County
    • Sanlando Springs
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sanlando Springs
      • Sanlando Springs is located in Seminole County
    • Altamonte Springs
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Heathrow
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Fern Park
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Longwood
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Casselberry
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Lake Mary
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Winter Springs
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Lake Monroe
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Sanford
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Cameron City
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cameron City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cameron City
      • Cameron City is located in Seminole County
  • Sumter County
    • The following are listed by their distance from McDonald, with the one closest to McDonald listed first.
    • Center Hill
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Mabel
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mabel
      • Mabel is located in Sumter County
    • Adamsville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adamsville
      • Adamsville is located in Sumter County
    • The Villages
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for The Villages have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Villages
      • The Villages is located in Sumter County
    • Linden
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Linden. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Linden
      • Linden is located in Sumter County
    • Sumterville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Webster
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Coleman
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
    • Tarrytown
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tarrytown
      • Tarrytown is located in Sumter County
    • Wildwood
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Volusia County
    • The following are listed by their distance from McDonald, with the one closest to McDonald listed first.
    • Fort Florida
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Florida
      • Fort Florida is located in Volusia County
    • Valdez
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valdez
      • Valdez is located in Volusia County
    • De Bary
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Orange City Hills
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orange City Hills
      • Orange City Hills is located in Volusia County
    • Deltona
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Enterprise
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Orange City
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Beresford
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beresford
      • Beresford is located in Volusia County
    • De Land Southwest
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for De Land Southwest
      • De Land Southwest is located in Volusia County
    • Osteen
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • West De Land
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West De Land
      • West De Land is located in Volusia County
    • Cassadaga
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • De Land
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)

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

Cemeteries Near McDonald ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of McDonald.

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

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

  • Plymouth Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Plymouth Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Plymouth Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Zellwood Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Zellwood Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Zellwood Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bay Ridge Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bay Ridge Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bay Ridge Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Florida Memorial Park
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Florida Memorial Park
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Florida Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Edgewood - Greenwood Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Greenwood Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Greenwood Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Greenwood Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Tangerine Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • West Orange Memorial Gardens
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the West Orange Memorial Gardens
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the West Orange Memorial Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Sorrento Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sorrento Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sorrento Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Lake Jem Burying Grounds
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Highland Memory Gardens
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Highland Memory Gardens
    • The Highland Memory Gardens has also been known as:
    • Highland Memorial Garden
    • Highland Memorial Gardens
  • Pine Forest Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pine Forest Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pine Forest Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (104 more) ...
    • Montverde Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Montverde Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Montverde Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • West Orange Memorial Park
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the West Orange Memorial Park
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the West Orange Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Ocoee Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ocoee Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ocoee 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.<5>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, McDonald had railroad service and no post office.

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

  • Plymouth
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Apopka
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Zellwood
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Bay Ridge
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bay Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bay Ridge
    • Bay Ridge is located in Orange County
  • Tangerine
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Crown Point
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crown Point have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crown Point
    • Crown Point is located in Orange County
  • Clarcona
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Sorrento
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Piedmont
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Piedmont have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Piedmont
    • Piedmont is located in Orange County
  • Mount Dora
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Montverde
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Tildenville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tildenville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tildenville
    • Tildenville is located in Orange County
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...
    • Winter Garden
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Ocoee
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ocoee
      • Ocoee is located in Orange County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 49,168 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ocoee <1>
    • Astatula
      (9 miles [14.5 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 McDonald. See our List of 1890's Communities around McDonald.

Newspapers Published in McDonald ...

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 47 newspapers that have been published in the area around McDonald.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of McDonald, there are papers which were published within 16 miles [25.7 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for McDonald.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to 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 McDonald:

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

The official website for Orange County: www.orangecountyfl.net/

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>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.
<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 McDonald, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- McDonald) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in McDonald. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 28.6992, Longitude: -81.5740       In this case, the coordinates for McDonald have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Mar 2025