RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Florida >> Hillsborough County >> Oakdale >> 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 Oakdale (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 Oakdale. 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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

Oakdale is located in Hillsborough 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 Hillsborough County: Hardee, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas & Polk.

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

  • Hillsborough County     (The home county of Oakdale)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oakdale, with the one closest to Oakdale listed first.
    • Tampa
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Tampa is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tampa
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 407,599 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tampa <1>
    • Ybor City
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Ybor City is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ybor City
    • Citrus Park
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Citrus Park is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Citrus Park
    • Martin Luther King Village
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Richardsons Village
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Richardsons Village is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richardsons Village
    • Catherine City
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Catherine City is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Catherine City
    • Central Village
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Central Village is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central Village
    • Montana City
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Montana City is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montana City
    • Wellswood
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Wellswood is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellswood
    • Bungalow City
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Bungalow City is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bungalow City
    • Courier City
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Courier City is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Courier City
    • Park City
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Park City is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park City
    • West Tampa
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • West Tampa is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Tampa
  • Manatee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oakdale, with the one closest to Oakdale listed first.
    • Parrish
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Terra Ceia
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Ellenton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
    • Memphis
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Memphis is located in Manatee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Memphis
  • Pasco County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oakdale, with the one closest to Oakdale listed first.
    • Odessa
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Land O' Lakes
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Wesley Chapel South
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Wesley Chapel South is located in Pasco County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wesley Chapel South
    • Wesley Chapel
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Trinity
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Crystal Springs
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Crystal Springs is located in Pasco County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Springs
    • Elfers
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Holiday
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Fivay ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Fivay is located in Pasco County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fivay
    • Zephyrhills
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Beacon Square
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Beacon Square is located in Pasco County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beacon Square
    • Fivay Junction ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Fivay Junction is located in Pasco County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fivay Junction
    • New Port Richey
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Pinellas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oakdale, with the one closest to Oakdale listed first.
    • Gandy
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Gandy is located in Pinellas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gandy
    • Feather Sound
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Oldsmar
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Safety Harbor
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Bayview ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Bayview is located in Pinellas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayview
    • High Point
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • High Point is located in Pinellas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Point
    • Lealman
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Lealman is located in Pinellas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lealman
    • South Highpoint
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • South Highpoint is located in Pinellas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Highpoint
    • East Lake
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • East Lake is located in Pinellas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Lake
    • Pinellas Park
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Saint Petersburg
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Four Corners
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Four Corners is located in Pinellas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Four Corners
    • Dunedin
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
  • Polk County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oakdale, with the one closest to Oakdale listed first.
    • Nichols
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Willow Oak
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Willow Oak is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Oak
    • Winston
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Winston is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winston
    • Kathleen
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Medulla
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Medulla is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Medulla
    • Mulberry
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Lakeland Highlands
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Lakeland Highlands is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeland Highlands
    • Lakeland
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)

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

Cemeteries Near Oakdale ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Oakdale.

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

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

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

  • Oaklawn Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Woodlawn Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Centro Espanol Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centro Espanol Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Centro Espanol Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Tampa.
    • The Centro Espanol Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Cemeterio Espanol
    • Centro Espanol Memorial Park Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2355874 <2>
  • La Unione Italiana Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Unione Italiana Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the La Unione Italiana Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Tampa.
    • The La Unione Italiana Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Italian Clud Cemetery
    • L'Unione Italiana Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1979335 <2>
  • Memorial Park
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Centro Asturiano Cemetery (Old)
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centro Asturiano Cemetery (Old)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Centro Asturiano Cemetery (Old) is a large cemetery that is located in Tampa.
    • The Centro Asturiano Cemetery (Old) has also been known as:
    • Old Centro Asturiano Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2346261 <2>
  • Beth Israel Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beth Israel Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Beth Israel Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Tampa.
    • The Beth Israel Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Rodeph Sholom Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2425075 <2>
  • Showmans Rest Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Woodlawn Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodlawn Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Woodlawn Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located in Tampa.
  • Garden of Memories
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden of Memories
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Garden of Memories is a very large cemetery that is located in Tampa.
    • The Garden of Memories has also been known as:
    • Garden of Memories Cemetery
    • Tampa Garden of Memories Cemetery
    • Tampa Garden of Memories
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #72022 <2>
  • Jackson Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • The Home Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Home Cemetery
    • The Home Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Oakland Cemetery
  • Continue List   (91 more) ...
    • Marti Cemetery
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • American Legion Cemetery
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Centro Asturiano Memorial Park Cemetery
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centro Asturiano Memorial Park Cemetery
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Centro Asturiano Memorial Park Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Tampa.
      • The Centro Asturiano Memorial Park Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Centro Asturiano Cemetery
      • Centro Asturiano Memorial Park
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #71836 <2>

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 Oakdale in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Oakdale.

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

  • Tampa
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Tampa is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tampa
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 407,599 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tampa <1>
  • Ybor City
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Ybor City is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ybor City
  • Port Tampa
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Port Tampa is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Port Tampa
  • Limona
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Limona is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Limona
  • Mango
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Peru ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Peru is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peru
  • Brandon
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Seffner
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Thonotosassa
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Valrico
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
  • Bloomingdale
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Bloomingdale is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bloomingdale
  • Sydney
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Odessa
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Gulf City
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Gulf City is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gulf City
    • Keystone Park
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Keystone Park is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keystone Park

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

Newspapers Published in Oakdale ...

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 74 newspapers that have been published in the area around Oakdale.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Oakdale, there are papers which were published within Less than 2 miles<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Oakdale.

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 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 Oakdale:

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 Oakdale, 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' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Oakdale) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.