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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 Ridgewood Park (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 Ridgewood Park. 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 doctors and 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.

Ridgewood Park 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 Ridgewood Park. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Ridgewood Park:

  • Hillsborough County     (The home county of Ridgewood Park)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ridgewood Park, with the one closest to Ridgewood Park listed first.
    • Tampa
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • 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>
    • Wellswood
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Wellswood is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellswood
    • Richardsons Village
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Richardsons Village is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richardsons Village
    • Courier City
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Courier City is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Courier City
    • Bungalow City
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • Bungalow City is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bungalow City
    • Park City
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • Park City is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park City
    • West Tampa
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • West Tampa is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Tampa
    • Ybor City
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Ybor City is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ybor City
    • 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
    • Citrus Park
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Citrus Park is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Citrus Park
    • Martin Luther King Village
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Gray Gables
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Gray Gables is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gray Gables
  • Manatee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ridgewood Park, with the one closest to Ridgewood Park listed first.
    • Parrish
      (26 miles [41.8 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 Ridgewood Park, with the one closest to Ridgewood Park listed first.
    • Odessa
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Land O' Lakes
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Trinity
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Wesley Chapel
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Wesley Chapel South
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Wesley Chapel South is located in Pasco County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wesley Chapel South
    • Holiday
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Elfers
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Fivay Junction ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Fivay Junction is located in Pasco County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fivay Junction
    • Fivay ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Fivay is located in Pasco County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fivay
    • Crystal Springs
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Crystal Springs is located in Pasco County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Springs
    • 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
    • New Port Richey
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
  • Pinellas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ridgewood Park, with the one closest to Ridgewood Park listed first.
    • Gandy
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Gandy is located in Pinellas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gandy
    • Oldsmar
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Feather Sound
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Safety Harbor
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Bayview ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Bayview is located in Pinellas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayview
    • High Point
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • High Point is located in Pinellas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Point
    • South Highpoint
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • South Highpoint is located in Pinellas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Highpoint
    • East Lake
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • East Lake is located in Pinellas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Lake
    • Lealman
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Lealman is located in Pinellas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lealman
    • Pinellas Park
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Four Corners
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Four Corners is located in Pinellas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Four Corners
    • Saint Petersburg
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Polk County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ridgewood Park, with the one closest to Ridgewood Park listed first.
    • Nichols
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Willow Oak
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Willow Oak is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Oak
    • Winston
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Winston is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winston
    • Kathleen
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Medulla
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Medulla is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Medulla
    • Mulberry
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)

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

Cemeteries Near Ridgewood Park ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Ridgewood Park.

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 Ridgewood Park - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Woodlawn Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Centro Asturiano Cemetery (Old)
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • 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>
  • Woodlawn Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • 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.
  • Beth Israel Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • 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 north)
  • Oaklawn Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Marti Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • American Legion Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Centro Espanol Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] 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
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • 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
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Garden of Memories
    (3 miles [4.8 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>
  • Continue List   (88 more) ...
    • The Home Cemetery
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Home Cemetery
      • The Home Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Oakland Cemetery
    • Jackson Cemetery
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Oak Grove Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 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 Ridgewood Park in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Ridgewood Park.

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

  • Tampa
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • 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
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Ybor City is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ybor City
  • Port Tampa
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Port Tampa is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Port Tampa
  • Limona
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Limona is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Limona
  • Mango
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Peru ‑ Historic
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Peru is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peru
  • Brandon
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Seffner
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Thonotosassa
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Bloomingdale
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Bloomingdale is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bloomingdale
  • Valrico
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
  • Odessa
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Sydney
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Keystone Park
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Keystone Park is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keystone Park
    • 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

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

Newspapers Published in Ridgewood Park ...

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 75 newspapers that have been published in the area around Ridgewood Park.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Ridgewood Park, 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 Ridgewood Park.

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 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 Ridgewood Park:

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 Ridgewood Park, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>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- Ridgewood Park) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.