RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Florida >> Columbia County >> Mikesville >> Genealogy HelperIndex...

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 Mikesville (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 Mikesville. 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.

Mikesville is located in Columbia 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 Columbia County: Alachua, Baker, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Suwannee, Union, Clinch (GA) & Echols (GA).

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

  • Columbia County     (The home county of Mikesville)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mikesville, with the one closest to Mikesville listed first.
    • Fort White
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Lulu
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Lake City
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • McColskey
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • McColskey is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McColskey
    • Watertown
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Watertown is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Watertown
    • Five Points
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Five Points is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Points
  • Alachua County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mikesville, with the one closest to Mikesville listed first.
    • High Springs
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Alachua
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Burnetts Lake
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Burnetts Lake is located in Alachua County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burnetts Lake
    • La Crosse
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Hague
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Hague is located in Alachua County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hague
    • Jonesville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Newberry
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Rutledge
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Rutledge is located in Alachua County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rutledge
    • Arredondo
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Arredondo is located in Alachua County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arredondo
    • Gainesville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Waldo
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Archer
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
  • Baker County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mikesville, with the one closest to Mikesville listed first.
    • Olustee
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Sanderson
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Bradford County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mikesville, with the one closest to Mikesville listed first.
    • Brooker
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Graham
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Hampton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Starke
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
  • Gilchrist County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mikesville, with the one closest to Mikesville listed first.
    • Waters Lake
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Waters Lake is located in Gilchrist County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waters Lake
    • Little Lake City
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Little Lake City is located in Gilchrist County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Lake City
    • Bell
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Bell is located in Gilchrist County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bell
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 510 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bell <1>
    • Trenton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Hamilton County
    • White Springs
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
  • Suwannee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mikesville, with the one closest to Mikesville listed first.
    • Branford
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • O'Brien
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Wellborn
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • McAlpin
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Padlock
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Padlock is located in Suwannee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Padlock
  • Union County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mikesville, with the one closest to Mikesville listed first.
    • Worthington Springs
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Lake Butler
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Raiford
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)

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

Cemeteries Near Mikesville ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Mikesville.

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

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

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

  • Philippi Baptist Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Tustenuggee Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Bethlehem Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Farnell Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Shiloh Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • New Oak Grove Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • St. John Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Providence Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Mt. Tabor Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Elim Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Ft. White Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Spring Hill Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (148 more) ...
    • Damascus Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • New Hope Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Ft. Call Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)

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.<2>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Mikesville had a population of 143 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Fort White
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • High Springs
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Columbia
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Columbia is located in Columbia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Columbia
  • Alachua
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Newnansville
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Newnansville is located in Alachua County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newnansville
  • Lulu
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
  • La Crosse
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Hague
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Hague is located in Alachua County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hague
  • Lake Butler
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
  • Lake City
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
  • Watertown
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Watertown is located in Columbia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Watertown
  • Mount Carrie
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Mount Carrie is located in Columbia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Carrie
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Branford
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Jonesville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • New River
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • New River is located in Bradford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New River

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

Newspapers Published in Mikesville ...

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 70 newspapers that have been published in the area around Mikesville.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Mikesville, there are papers which were published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Mikesville.

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 helpful 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 Mikesville:

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>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 Mikesville, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>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- Mikesville) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.