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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 Shady Rest (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 Shady Rest. 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 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.

Shady Rest is located in Duval 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 Duval County: Baker, Clay, Nassau & Saint Johns.

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

  • Duval County     (The home county of Shady Rest)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shady Rest, with the one closest to Shady Rest listed first.
    • Polly Town
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Polly Town is located in Duval County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Polly Town
    • Mayport
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Mayport is located in Duval County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayport
    • Garden City
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Garden City is located in Duval County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden City
    • Talleyrand
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Talleyrand is located in Duval County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Talleyrand
    • Arlington
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Arlington is located in Duval County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arlington
    • Greenfield
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Greenfield is located in Duval County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenfield
    • Biscayne Village
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Biscayne Village is located in Duval County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Biscayne Village
    • Jacksonville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Magnolia Gardens
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Magnolia Gardens is located in Duval County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magnolia Gardens
    • Atlantic Beach
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Brooklyn
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Brooklyn is located in Duval County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brooklyn
    • Saint Nicholas
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Saint Nicholas is located in Duval County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Nicholas
  • Clay County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shady Rest, with the one closest to Shady Rest listed first.
    • Orange Park
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Bellair - Meadowbrook Terrace
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Lakeside
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Lakeside is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeside
  • Nassau County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shady Rest, with the one closest to Shady Rest listed first.
    • Amelia City
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Amelia City is located in Nassau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amelia City
    • Yulee
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Fernandina Beach
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Nassau Village
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Nassau Village is located in Nassau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nassau Village
    • Callahan
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Evergreen
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Evergreen is located in Nassau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen
    • Crawford
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Crawford is located in Nassau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crawford
    • Dyal
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Dyal is located in Nassau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dyal
    • Bryceville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Hilliard
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Saint Johns County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shady Rest, with the one closest to Shady Rest listed first.
    • Ponte Vedra Beach
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Ponte Vedra
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Ponte Vedra is located in Saint Johns County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ponte Vedra
    • Sawgrass
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Sawgrass is located in Saint Johns County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sawgrass
    • Palm Valley
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Palm Valley is located in Saint Johns County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palm Valley
    • Saint Johns
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Fruit Cove
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
  • Camden County (GA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shady Rest, with the one closest to Shady Rest listed first.
    • Dungeness
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Dungeness is located in Camden County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dungeness
    • Saint Marys
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Scotchville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Scotchville is located in Camden County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scotchville
      • Estimated population in 2019: 337 people
    • Kingsland
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • London Hill
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • London Hill is located in Camden County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for London Hill
      • Estimated population in 2019: 91 people
    • Harrietts Bluff Village
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Greenville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Greenville is located in Camden County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenville
      • Estimated population in 2019: 845 people
  • Charlton County (GA)

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

Cemeteries Near Shady Rest ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Shady Rest.

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 Shady Rest - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Ferreira Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Dunn Creek Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Anderson Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Bowles Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Talbot Island Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Parsons Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Gilmore Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Yulee Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Higginbotham Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Chapel Hills Memory Gardens
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • The Evergreen Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Cosmo Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (80 more) ...
    • Rain Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Restlawn Memorial Park
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Pickett Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)

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

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

  • New Berlin
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • New Berlin is located in Duval County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Berlin
  • Fulton
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Fulton is located in Duval County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fulton
  • Chaseville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Chaseville is located in Duval County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chaseville
  • Gilmore
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Gilmore is located in Duval County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilmore
  • Mayport
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Mayport is located in Duval County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayport
  • Panama Park
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Panama Park is located in Duval County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Panama Park
  • Floral Bluff
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Floral Bluff is located in Duval County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Floral Bluff
  • Arlington
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Arlington is located in Duval County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arlington
  • Greenfield
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Greenfield is located in Duval County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenfield
  • Chester
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Chester is located in Nassau County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chester
  • Jacksonville
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Italia
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Italia is located in Nassau County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Italia
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • South Jacksonville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • South Jacksonville is located in Duval County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Jacksonville
    • Saint Nicholas
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Saint Nicholas is located in Duval County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Nicholas
    • Spring Glen
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Spring Glen is located in Duval County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Glen

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

Newspapers Published in Shady Rest ...

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 135 newspapers that have been published in the area around Shady Rest.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Shady Rest, there are papers which were published within 14 miles [22.5 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Shady Rest.

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 helpful 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 Shady Rest:

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 Shady Rest, 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- Shady Rest) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.