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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 Rex (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 Rex. 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 northeast 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 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 east 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.

Rex is located in Alachua 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 Alachua County: Bradford, Clay, Columbia, Gilchrist, Levy, Marion, Putnam & Union.

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

  • Alachua County     (The home county of Rex)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rex, with the one closest to Rex listed first.
    • Campville
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Campville is located in Alachua County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Campville
    • Hawthorne
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Windsor
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Windsor is located in Alachua County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windsor
    • Melrose
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Lochloosa
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Rochelle
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Rochelle is located in Alachua County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rochelle
    • Earleton
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Waldo
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Island Grove
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Evinston
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Gainesville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Micanopy
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Bradford County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rex, with the one closest to Rex listed first.
    • Hampton
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Graham
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Starke
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Brooker
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Lawtey
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
  • Clay County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rex, with the one closest to Rex listed first.
    • Keystone Heights
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Lake Geneva
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Kingsley Lake
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Kingsley Lake is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingsley Lake
    • Kingsley Village
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Kingsley Village is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingsley Village
    • Kingsley
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Kingsley is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingsley
    • Penney Farms
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Levy County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rex, with the one closest to Rex listed first.
    • East Williston
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • East Williston is located in Levy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Williston
    • Raleigh
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Raleigh is located in Levy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raleigh
    • Williston
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Marion County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rex, with the one closest to Rex listed first.
    • Orange Springs
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • McIntosh
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Citra
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Orange Lake
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Paynes Town ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Paynes Town is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paynes Town
    • Reddick
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Irvine
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Irvine is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irvine
    • Fort McCoy
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Sparr
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Fairfield
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Fairfield is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairfield
    • Heijahs Town ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Heijahs Town is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heijahs Town
    • Lowell
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
  • Putnam County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rex, with the one closest to Rex listed first.
    • Edgar
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Putnam Hall
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Keuka
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Keuka is located in Putnam County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keuka
    • Interlachen
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Grandin
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Mannville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Mannville is located in Putnam County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mannville
    • Florahome
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Hollister
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Peniel
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Peniel is located in Putnam County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peniel
    • Buffalo Bluff
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Buffalo Bluff is located in Putnam County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo Bluff
    • Nashua
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Nashua is located in Putnam County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nashua
    • Palatka
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
  • Union County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rex, with the one closest to Rex listed first.
    • Worthington Springs
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Lake Butler
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Rex ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Rex.

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

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

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

  • Waters Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Townsend Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • First Baptist Church Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for First Baptist Church Cemetery
    • Former name for First Baptist Church Cemetery:
    • Pleasant Grove Baptist Cemetery
    • The First Baptist Church Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Hawthorne Baptist Cemetery
    • Hawthorne Baptist Church Cemetery
    • Hawthorne Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2252341 <2>
  • Hawthorne Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Grove Park Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Nelson - Starke Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Ochwilla Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Providence Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • St. Pauls Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Gordon Chapel Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Gilgal MB Church Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Eliam Cemetery of Melrose Florida
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (140 more) ...
    • Saluda Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saluda Cemetery
      • The Saluda Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Saluda - Orange Heights Cemetery
    • St. John Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • St. John's Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 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.<3>

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

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

  • Hawthorne
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Campville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Campville is located in Alachua County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Campville
  • Grove Park
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Grove Park is located in Alachua County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grove Park
  • McMeekin
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • McMeekin is located in Putnam County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McMeekin
  • Windsor
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Windsor is located in Alachua County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windsor
  • Orange Heights
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Orange Heights is located in Alachua County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orange Heights
  • Melrose
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Rochelle
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Rochelle is located in Alachua County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rochelle
  • Lochloosa
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Johnson
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Johnson is located in Putnam County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnson
  • Earleton
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Micanopy Junction
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Micanopy Junction is located in Alachua County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Micanopy Junction
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Putnam Hall
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Waldo
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Keuka
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Keuka is located in Putnam County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keuka

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

Newspapers Published in Rex ...

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 79 newspapers that have been published in the area around Rex.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Rex, there are papers which were published within 21 miles [33.8 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Rex.

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 Rex:

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 Rex, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Rex) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.