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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 Rotonda West (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 Rotonda West. 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 Rotonda West ...

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.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might have occurred.

Rotonda West was originally named Rotonda

Another variation: Rotunda West.

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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors 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.

Rotonda West is located in Charlotte County.

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 Charlotte County: DeSoto, Glades, Hendry, Highlands, Lee & Sarasota.

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

  • Charlotte County     (The home county of Rotonda West)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rotonda West, with the one closest to Rotonda West listed first.
    • Grove City
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Cape Haze
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Placida
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Manasota Key
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • El Jobean
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Murdock
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Port Charlotte
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Charlotte Harbor
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Charlotte Park
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Charlotte Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charlotte Park
      • Charlotte Park is located in Charlotte County
    • Fishermens Village
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fishermens Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fishermens Village
      • Fishermens Village is located in Charlotte County
    • Punta Gorda
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Harbor View
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harbor View
      • Harbor View is located in Charlotte County
    • Solana
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Solana have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Solana
      • Solana is located in Charlotte County
  • DeSoto County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rotonda West, with the one closest to Rotonda West listed first.
    • Fort Ogden
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Nocatee
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Lee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rotonda West, with the one closest to Rotonda West listed first.
    • Boca Grande
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Bokeelia
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Cayo Costa
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Burnt Store Marina
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Burnt Store Marina have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burnt Store Marina
      • Burnt Store Marina is located in Lee County
    • Pineland
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Pineland
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pineland
      • Pineland is located in Lee County
    • Matlacha Isles - Matlacha Shores
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Pine Island Center
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pine Island Center have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Island Center
      • Pine Island Center is located in Lee County
    • Matlacha
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Flamingo Bay
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Flamingo Bay have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flamingo Bay
      • Flamingo Bay is located in Lee County
    • Captiva
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Captiva
      • Captiva is located in Lee County
    • Palmona Park
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Palmona Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palmona Park
      • Palmona Park is located in Lee County
    • Suncoast Estates
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Suncoast Estates have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Suncoast Estates
      • Suncoast Estates is located in Lee County
  • Manatee County
    • Sandy
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy
      • Sandy is located in Manatee County
  • Sarasota County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rotonda West, with the one closest to Rotonda West listed first.
    • Englewood
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • North Port
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Warm Mineral Springs
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Plantation
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Plantation have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plantation
      • Plantation is located in Sarasota County
    • South Venice
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Venice Gardens
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Venice Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Venice Gardens
      • Venice Gardens is located in Sarasota County
    • Nokomis
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Venice
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Venice
      • Venice is located in Sarasota County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 24,634 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Venice <1>
    • Laurel
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Shiney Town
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shiney Town have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shiney Town
      • Shiney Town is located in Sarasota County
    • Osprey
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Vamo
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vamo have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vamo
      • Vamo is located in Sarasota County
    • Bee Ridge
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bee Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bee Ridge
      • Bee Ridge is located in Sarasota County

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

Newspapers Published in Rotonda West ...

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 38 newspapers that have been published in the area around Rotonda West.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Rotonda West, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Rotonda West.

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 Rotonda West:

Cemeteries Near Rotonda West ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Rotonda West.

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

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

  • Gulf Pines Memorial Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Gulf Pines Memorial Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Gulf Pines Memorial Cemetery
  • Gulf Pines Memorial Park
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Gulf Pines Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Gulf Pines Memorial Park
  • Restlawn Memorial Gardens
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Indian Springs Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Indian Springs Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Indian Springs Cemetery
  • Venice Memorial Gardens
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Venice Memorial Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Venice Memorial Gardens
  • Royal Palm Memorial Gardens
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Royal Palm Memorial Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Royal Palm Memorial Gardens
  • Cleveland Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cleveland Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cleveland Cemetery
  • Ft. Ogden Cemetery
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ft. Ogden Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ft. Ogden Cemetery
  • Ogden Cemetery
    (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ogden Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ogden Cemetery
  • Coral Ridge Cemetery
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
  • Sarasota National Cemetery
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
  • Hull Cemetery
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hull Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hull Cemetery
  • Continue List   (8 more) ...
    • Captiva Cemetery
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Captiva Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<5>
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Captiva Cemetery is located in Captiva.
      • The Captiva Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Chapel by the Sea Cemetery
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Captiva Cemetery
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1961480 <4>
    • Coral Ridge Gardens
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Coral Ridge Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Coral Ridge Gardens
    • Sardis Cemetery
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sardis Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sardis Cemetery

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.<6>

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

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

  • Grove City
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Charlotte Harbor
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
  • Punta Gorda
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
  • Harbor View
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harbor View
    • Harbor View is located in Charlotte County
  • Cleveland
    (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cleveland
    • Cleveland is located in Charlotte County
  • Fort Ogden
    (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
  • Sandy
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy
    • Sandy is located in Manatee County
  • Saint James City
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)

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

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Rotonda West. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Charlotte County: www.charlottecountyfl.com/

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

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 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.
<3>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Rotonda West) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Rotonda West. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 26.8926, Longitude: -82.2725    
<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>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.
<6>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 Rotonda West, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024