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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 Oak Terrace (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 Oak Terrace. 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.

Name Variations for Oak Terrace ...

When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might have occurred.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Oak Terrace: Oak Ter. (or less commonly used: Oak Terr.)

If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.

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 southwest 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 south.

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 south 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.

Oak Terrace is located in Polk 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 Polk County: Hardee, Highlands, Hillsborough, Lake, Manatee, Orange, Osceola, Pasco & Sumter.

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

  • Polk County     (The home county of Oak Terrace)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oak Terrace, with the one closest to Oak Terrace listed first.
    • Mulberry
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Nichols
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Willow Oak
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Willow Oak have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Oak
      • Willow Oak is located in Polk County
    • Brewster ‑ Historic
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brewster have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brewster
      • Brewster is located in Polk County
    • Lakeland Highlands
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeland Highlands
      • Lakeland Highlands is located in Polk County
    • Medulla
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Medulla have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Medulla
      • Medulla is located in Polk County
    • Armour ‑ Historic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Armour. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Armour
      • Armour is located in Polk County
    • Lyle Corner
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyle Corner
      • Lyle Corner is located in Polk County
    • Homeland
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Bartow
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Highland City
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Oponys Town ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oponys Town have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oponys Town
      • Oponys Town is located in Polk County
    • Connersville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Connersville
      • Connersville is located in Polk County
  • Hardee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oak Terrace, with the one closest to Oak Terrace listed first.
    • Bowling Green
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Wauchula
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Ona
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Zolfo Springs
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Hillsborough County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oak Terrace, with the one closest to Oak Terrace listed first.
    • Welcome
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Welcome
      • Welcome is located in Hillsborough County
    • Lithia
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Pinecrest
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Parrish
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Parrish have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parrish
      • Parrish is located in Hillsborough County
    • South Plant City Farms
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Plant City Farms have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Plant City Farms
      • South Plant City Farms is located in Hillsborough County
    • West Plant City Farms
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Plant City Farms have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Plant City Farms
      • West Plant City Farms is located in Hillsborough County
    • West Plant City
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Plant City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Plant City
      • West Plant City is located in Hillsborough County
    • Durant
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Kings Village
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kings Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings Village
      • Kings Village is located in Hillsborough County
    • Woodfield Village
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Woodfield Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodfield Village
      • Woodfield Village is located in Hillsborough County
    • Fish Hawk
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fish Hawk have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fish Hawk
      • Fish Hawk is located in Hillsborough County
    • Colonial Village
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Colonial Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colonial Village
      • Colonial Village is located in Hillsborough County
    • Boyette
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Boyette have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boyette
      • Boyette is located in Hillsborough County
  • Manatee County
  • Pasco County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oak Terrace, with the one closest to Oak Terrace listed first.
    • Crystal Springs
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Springs
      • Crystal Springs is located in Pasco County
    • Zephyrhills
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)

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

Newspapers Published in Oak Terrace ...

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 16 newspapers that have been published in the area around Oak Terrace.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Oak Terrace, there are papers which were published within 10 miles [16.1 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Oak Terrace.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 Oak Terrace:

Cemeteries Near Oak Terrace ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Oak Terrace.

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

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

  • Mt. Olive Primitive Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Little Alafia Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Prairie Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • The Prairie Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Bone Valley Cemetery
    • Fuller Heights Cemetery
    • Laurel Hill Cemetery
    • Shiloh Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Prairie Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #72484 <5>
  • Willow Oak Baptist Church Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Blue Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Blue Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Blue Cemetery
  • Old Elim Church Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Crum - Durrance Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Crum - Durrance Cemetery is located outside and to the west of Homeland.
    • The Crum - Durrance Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Crum Cemetery
    • Durrance Cemetery
    • Homeland Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Crum - Durrance Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2198368 <5>
  • Hunter Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hunter Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hunter Cemetery
  • Watson Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Shady Oaks Gardens
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Wildwood Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Oak Hill Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (98 more) ...
    • Evergreen Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Palm Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Seward Family Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)

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.<6>

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

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

  • Keysville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Keysville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keysville
    • Keysville is located in Hillsborough County
  • Homeland
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Bartow
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Fort Meade
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Gordonville
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gordonville
    • Gordonville is located in Polk County
  • Lakeland
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
  • Plant City
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Bowling Green
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Eagle Lake
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Sydney
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Bloomingdale
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bloomingdale have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bloomingdale
    • Bloomingdale is located in Hillsborough County
  • Wahneta
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wahneta
    • Wahneta is located in Polk County
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Valrico
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Winter Haven
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Knights
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knights
      • Knights is located in Hillsborough County

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

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

The official website for Polk County: www.polk-county.net/

The official website for State of Florida: 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>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- Oak Terrace) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Oak Terrace. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 27.8392, Longitude: -81.9773       In this case, the coordinates for Oak Terrace have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>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.
<6>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 Oak Terrace, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024