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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 Sarasota (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 Sarasota. 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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

Sarasota is located in Sarasota County and is the County Seat.

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 Sarasota County: Charlotte, DeSoto & Manatee.

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

  • Sarasota County     (The home county of Sarasota)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sarasota, with the one closest to Sarasota listed first.
    • Kensington Park
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kensington Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kensington Park
      • Kensington Park is located in Sarasota County
    • North Sarasota
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Sarasota have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Sarasota
      • North Sarasota is located in Sarasota County
    • Southgate
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Southgate have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Southgate
      • Southgate is located in Sarasota County
    • Pinecraft
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Desoto Lakes
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Desoto Lakes have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Desoto Lakes
      • Desoto Lakes is located in Sarasota County
    • South Sarasota
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Sarasota have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Sarasota
      • South Sarasota is located in Sarasota County
    • Ridge Wood Heights
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ridge Wood Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridge Wood Heights
      • Ridge Wood Heights is located in Sarasota County
    • Fruitville
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • The Meadows
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for The Meadows have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Meadows
      • The Meadows is located in Sarasota County
    • Siesta Key
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Sarasota Springs
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sarasota Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sarasota Springs
      • Sarasota Springs is located in Sarasota County
    • South Gate Ridge
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Gate Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Gate Ridge
      • South Gate Ridge is located in Sarasota County
  • Charlotte County
  • Hillsborough County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sarasota, with the one closest to Sarasota listed first.
    • Sun City
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Gulf City
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gulf City
      • Gulf City is located in Hillsborough County
    • Manatee Harbor
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manatee Harbor
      • Manatee Harbor is located in Hillsborough County
    • Park Village
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Park Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park Village
      • Park Village is located in Hillsborough County
    • Bayou Pass Village
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bayou Pass Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayou Pass Village
      • Bayou Pass Village is located in Hillsborough County
    • Ruskin
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Cypress Creek Village
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cypress Creek Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cypress Creek Village
      • Cypress Creek Village is located in Hillsborough County
    • Freedom Village
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Freedom Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freedom Village
      • Freedom Village is located in Hillsborough County
    • Montero Village
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Montero Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montero Village
      • Montero Village is located in Hillsborough County
    • Sun City Center
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Wimauma
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Edgewater Village
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Edgewater Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgewater Village
      • Edgewater Village is located in Hillsborough County
  • Manatee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sarasota, with the one closest to Sarasota listed first.
    • Tallevast
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Whitfield
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Whitfield have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitfield
      • Whitfield is located in Manatee County
    • Longboat Key
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Bayshore Gardens
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bayshore Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayshore Gardens
      • Bayshore Gardens is located in Manatee County
    • Oneco
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • South Bradenton
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Bradenton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Bradenton
      • South Bradenton is located in Manatee County
    • Lakewood Ranch
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Samoset
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Samoset have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Samoset
      • Samoset is located in Manatee County
    • West Samoset
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Samoset have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Samoset
      • West Samoset is located in Manatee County
    • Bradenton
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Whitney Beach
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Cortez
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Pinellas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sarasota, with the one closest to Sarasota listed first.
    • Tierra Verde
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Saint Pete Beach
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Saint Petersburg Beach
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saint Petersburg Beach came from an uncertain source and they still need to be verified:<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Petersburg Beach
      • Saint Petersburg Beach is located in Pinellas County
    • Gulfport
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
    • Saint Petersburg
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)

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

Newspapers Published in Sarasota ...

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 24 newspapers that have been published in the area around Sarasota.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Sarasota, there are papers which were published within 17 miles [27.4 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Sarasota.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to 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 Sarasota:

Cemeteries Near Sarasota ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Sarasota.

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

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

  • Woodlawn Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Galilee Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Sarasota Memorial Park
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sarasota Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sarasota Memorial Park
  • Palms Memorial Park Gardens
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Palms Memorial Park Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Palms Memorial Park Gardens
  • Palms Memorial Park
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Palms Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Palms Memorial Park
  • Manatee Memorial Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Bethel Mennonite Church Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Braden River Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Braden River Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Braden River Cemetery
  • Major Adams Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Adams & Rogers Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Fogartyville Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Sarasota National Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Skyway Memorial Gardens
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Skyway Memorial Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Skyway Memorial Gardens
    • Mansion Memorial Park
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mansion Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mansion Memorial Park
    • Skyway Memorial Gardens
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Skyway Memorial Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Skyway Memorial Gardens

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

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

  • Manatee
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Manatee have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manatee
    • Manatee is located in Manatee County
  • Bradenton
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Ellenton
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
  • Palmetto
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
  • Palma Sola
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Rye
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rye have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rye
    • Rye is located in Manatee County
  • Erie
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Erie have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erie
    • Erie is located in Manatee County
  • Terra Ceia
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
  • Gulf City
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gulf City
    • Gulf City is located in Hillsborough County
  • Sandy
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy
    • Sandy is located in Manatee County

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

The official website for Sarasota: www.sarasotagov.com/

The official website for Sarasota County: www.co.sarasota.fl.us/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>If we found a location and have questions about the accuracy of our information, we will simply say that the marker is 'in the vicinity'. We are not confident about the location and the position of our marker is only a rough guide. If we have too many doubts about the location, we will not include it in our database.
<4>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- Sarasota) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Sarasota. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 27.3389, Longitude: -82.5387    
<5>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.
<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 Sarasota, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024