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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 Palatka (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 Palatka. 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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and 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.

Palatka is located in Putnam County and is the County Seat.

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 Putnam County: Alachua, Bradford, Clay, Flagler, Marion, Saint Johns & Volusia.

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

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

Cemeteries Near Palatka ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Palatka.

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

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

  • Oak Hill Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oak Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oak Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Joseph Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Joseph Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Joseph Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Palatka Memorial Gardens
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • West View Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the West View Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the West View Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Peniel Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Peniel Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Peniel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Putnam County Poor Farm Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • San Mateo Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the San Mateo Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the San Mateo Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Etonia Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Etonia Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Etonia Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Satsuma Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Satsuma Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Satsuma Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Yelvington Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Yelvington Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Yelvington Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mei-Wun Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mei-Wun Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mei-Wun Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mary Elizabeth Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mary Elizabeth Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mary Elizabeth Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (83 more) ...
    • St. Pauls Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Pauls Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Pauls Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Naomi Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Naomi Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Naomi Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Resthaven Cemetery & Memorial Park
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Resthaven Cemetery & Memorial Park
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Resthaven Cemetery & Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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 Palatka had a population of 3,039 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Palatka had a population of 10,457 people.

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

  • Francis
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Francis have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Francis
    • Francis is located in Putnam County
  • Peniel
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Peniel. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peniel
    • Peniel is located in Putnam County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Peniel
    • From Palatka to Peniel
  • Lundy
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lundy have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lundy
    • Lundy is located in Putnam County
  • East Palatka
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Buffalo Bluff
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • San Mateo
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Orange Mills
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Orange Mills have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orange Mills
    • Orange Mills is located in Putnam County
  • Satsuma
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Teasdale
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Teasdale have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Teasdale
    • Teasdale is located in Putnam County
  • Yelvington
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Yelvington have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yelvington
    • Yelvington is located in Putnam County
  • Bostwick
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Hollister
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Nashua
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nashua have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nashua
      • Nashua is located in Putnam County
    • Sisco
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sisco have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sisco
      • Sisco is located in Putnam County
    • Bridgeport
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bridgeport have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bridgeport
      • Bridgeport is located in Putnam County

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Palatka ...

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 48 newspapers that have been published in the area around Palatka.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Palatka. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Palatka and those printed in the larger area surrounding Palatka.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 23 miles [37 km]<6> of Palatka.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we 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 Palatka:

The official website for Palatka: www.co.putnam.fl.us/palatka/

The official website for Putnam County: www.putnam-fl.com/

The official website for State of Florida: https://www.myflorida.com/

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<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 Palatka, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Palatka) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Palatka. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 29.6488, Longitude: -81.6623    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Mar 2025