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A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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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 Riviera Lagoons (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 Riviera Lagoons. 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.

Riviera Lagoons is located in Charlotte 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 Charlotte County: DeSoto, Glades, Hendry, Highlands, Lee & Sarasota.

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

  • Charlotte County     (The home county of Riviera Lagoons)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Riviera Lagoons, with the one closest to Riviera Lagoons listed first.
    • Charlotte Park
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Charlotte Park is located in Charlotte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charlotte Park
    • Solana
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Solana is located in Charlotte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Solana
    • Fishermens Village
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Fishermens Village is located in Charlotte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fishermens Village
    • Punta Gorda
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Cleveland
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Cleveland is located in Charlotte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cleveland
    • Harbor View
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Harbor View is located in Charlotte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harbor View
    • Charlotte Harbor
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Harbour Heights
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Harbour Heights is located in Charlotte County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harbour Heights
    • Port Charlotte
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Murdock
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • El Jobean
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Placida
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Rotonda West
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
  • DeSoto County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Riviera Lagoons, with the one closest to Riviera Lagoons listed first.
    • Fort Ogden
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Nocatee
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Arcadia
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
  • Lee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Riviera Lagoons, with the one closest to Riviera Lagoons listed first.
    • Burnt Store Marina
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Burnt Store Marina is located in Lee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burnt Store Marina
    • Slater
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Slater is located in Lee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slater
    • Suncoast Estates
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Suncoast Estates is located in Lee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Suncoast Estates
    • Palmona Park
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Palmona Park is located in Lee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palmona Park
    • Samville ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Samville is located in Lee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Samville
    • Bokeelia
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • North Fort Myers
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Lochmoor Waterway Estates
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Matlacha Isles - Matlacha Shores
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Matlacha
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Pineland
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Fort Myers
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Boca Grande
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
  • Manatee County
    • Sandy
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Sandy is located in Manatee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy
  • Sarasota County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Riviera Lagoons, with the one closest to Riviera Lagoons listed first.
    • North Port
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Warm Mineral Springs
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Englewood
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Plantation
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Plantation is located in Sarasota County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plantation
    • South Venice
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Venice Gardens
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Venice Gardens is located in Sarasota County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Venice Gardens
    • Shiney Town
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Shiney Town is located in Sarasota County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shiney Town

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

Cemeteries Near Riviera Lagoons ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Riviera Lagoons.

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 Riviera Lagoons - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Royal Palm Memorial Gardens
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Indian Springs Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Cleveland Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Restlawn Memorial Gardens
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Ft. Ogden Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
  • Coral Ridge Gardens
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Ogden Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
  • Prospect Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Hull Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
  • Coral Ridge Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
  • Calvary Gardens
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
  • Ft. Myers Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (20 more) ...

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

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

  • Punta Gorda
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Cleveland
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Cleveland is located in Charlotte County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cleveland
  • Harbor View
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Harbor View is located in Charlotte County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harbor View
  • Charlotte Harbor
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Fort Ogden
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
  • Nocatee
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
  • Grove City
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
  • Buckingham
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Buckingham is located in Lee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckingham
  • Arcadia
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
  • Saint James City
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
  • Alva
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Pine Level
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Pine Level is located in DeSoto County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Level
  • Sandy
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Sandy is located in Manatee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy
  • Punta Rassa
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Punta Rassa is located in Lee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Punta Rassa

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

Newspapers Published in Riviera Lagoons ...

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 50 newspapers that have been published in the area around Riviera Lagoons.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Riviera Lagoons, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Riviera Lagoons.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin with 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 Riviera Lagoons:

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 Riviera Lagoons, 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Riviera Lagoons) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.