RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Florida >> Marion County >> Rainbow Lakes Estates >> 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 Rainbow Lakes Estates (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 Rainbow Lakes Estates. 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 Rainbow Lakes Estates ...

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.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Rainbow Lakes Estates: Rainbow Lks. Ests.

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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals 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.

Rainbow Lakes Estates is located in Marion 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 Marion County: Alachua, Citrus, Lake, Levy, Putnam, Sumter & Volusia.

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

  • Marion County     (The home county of Rainbow Lakes Estates)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rainbow Lakes Estates, with the one closest to Rainbow Lakes Estates listed first.
    • Chatmire
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Chatmire is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chatmire
    • Dunnellon
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • York
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • York is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for York
    • Fellowship
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Fellowship is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fellowship
    • Heijahs Town ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Heijahs Town is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heijahs Town
    • Ocala
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Ocala is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ocala
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 61,669 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ocala <1>
    • Fairfield
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Fairfield is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairfield
    • Martin
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Martin is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martin
    • Lowell
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Irvine
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Irvine is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irvine
    • Reddick
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Danks Corner
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
  • Alachua County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rainbow Lakes Estates, with the one closest to Rainbow Lakes Estates listed first.
    • Archer
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Evinston
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Micanopy
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Citrus County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rainbow Lakes Estates, with the one closest to Rainbow Lakes Estates listed first.
    • Citrus Springs
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Holder
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Pine Ridge
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Pine Ridge is located in Citrus County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Ridge
    • Beverly Hills
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Black Diamond
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Black Diamond is located in Citrus County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Diamond
    • Citrus Hills
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Citrus Hills is located in Citrus County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Citrus Hills
    • Crystal River
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Hernando
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Inverness Highlands North
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Lecanto
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Homosassa Springs
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Inverness
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
  • Levy County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rainbow Lakes Estates, with the one closest to Rainbow Lakes Estates listed first.
    • Morriston
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Inglis
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Williston Highlands
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Williston Highlands is located in Levy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williston Highlands
    • Gulf Hammock
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Yankeetown
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Williston
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • East Williston
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • East Williston is located in Levy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Williston
    • Raleigh
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Raleigh is located in Levy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raleigh
    • Otter Creek
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Bronson
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • East Bronson
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • East Bronson is located in Levy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Bronson
    • Meredith
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Meredith is located in Levy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meredith

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

Cemeteries Near Rainbow Lakes Estates ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Rainbow Lakes Estates.

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 Rainbow Lakes Estates - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Zion Hill Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Sand Pond Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Dog Ear Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Rockwell Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Dunnellon Community Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Cedar of Lebanon Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Robinson Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Priest Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Sonshine Baptist Church Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Wesley Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • St. Johns United Methodist Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Pleasant Hill Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (76 more) ...
    • Barber Family Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Church of Christ Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Plummers Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)

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>

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

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

  • Romeo
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Romeo is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Romeo
  • Early Bird
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Early Bird is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Early Bird
  • Leroy ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Leroy is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leroy
  • York
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • York is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for York
  • Cotton Plant
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Cotton Plant is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cotton Plant
  • Citronelle
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Citronelle is located in Citrus County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Citronelle
  • Blitchton
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Blitchton is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blitchton
  • Fellowship
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Fellowship is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fellowship
  • Martel
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Martel is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martel
  • Gulf Hammock
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Williston
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
  • Crystal River
    (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Hernando
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Lecanto
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Arlington
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Arlington is located in Citrus County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arlington

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

Newspapers Published in Rainbow Lakes Estates ...

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 46 newspapers that have been published in the area around Rainbow Lakes Estates.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Rainbow Lakes Estates, 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 Rainbow Lakes Estates.

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 professional and volunteer 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 Rainbow Lakes Estates:

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 Rainbow Lakes Estates, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Rainbow Lakes Estates) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.