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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 Smyrna (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 Smyrna. 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.

Smyrna is located in Holmes 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 Holmes County: Geneva (AL), Jackson, Walton & Washington.

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

  • Holmes County     (The home county of Smyrna)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Smyrna, with the one closest to Smyrna listed first.
    • Bonifay
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Westville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Ponce de Leon
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Cerrogordo
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Cerrogordo is located in Holmes County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cerrogordo
    • Izagora
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Izagora is located in Holmes County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Izagora
    • Esto
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Esto is located in Holmes County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Esto
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 358 people
    • Noma
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
  • Bay County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Smyrna, with the one closest to Smyrna listed first.
    • Fountain
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Vicksburg ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Vicksburg is located in Bay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vicksburg
      • Former name for Vicksburg:
      • Vickerburg
    • Southport
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Youngstown
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Lynn Haven
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Cedar Grove
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Cedar Grove is located in Bay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Grove
    • Hiland Park
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Hiland Park is located in Bay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hiland Park
    • Pretty Bayou
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Pretty Bayou is located in Bay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pretty Bayou
    • Laguna Beach
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Sunnyside
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Panama City Beach
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Magnolia Beach
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Magnolia Beach is located in Bay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magnolia Beach
    • Panama City
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Jackson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Smyrna, with the one closest to Smyrna listed first.
    • Alford
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Steele City
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Steele City is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Steele City
    • Cottondale
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Jacob City
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Jacob City is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jacob City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 247 people
    • Graceville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Campbellton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Marianna
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Walton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Smyrna, with the one closest to Smyrna listed first.
    • Knox Hill
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Knox Hill is located in Walton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knox Hill
    • Argyle
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Union
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Union is located in Walton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union
    • Pleasant Grove
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Pleasant Grove is located in Walton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Grove
    • De Funiak Springs
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Freeport
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Inlet Beach
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Alys Beach
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Point Washington
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Rosemary Beach
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Washington County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Smyrna, with the one closest to Smyrna listed first.
    • Vernon
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Wausau
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Brock Crossroad
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Brock Crossroad is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brock Crossroad
    • Five Points
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Five Points is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Points
    • Millers Ferry
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Millers Ferry is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millers Ferry
    • Coosada Old Town ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Coosada Old Town is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coosada Old Town
    • Chipley
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Caryville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Ebro
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Ebro is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ebro
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 285 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ebro <1>
  • Geneva County (AL)
    • Black
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Black is located in Geneva County (AL)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 203 people

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

Cemeteries Near Smyrna ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Smyrna.

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 Smyrna - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Potter Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Tiller Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Lay Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Barfield Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Wood Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Weeks Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Greenhead Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Deadening Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Clarkston Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Everett Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Wilcox Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • White Oak Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (82 more) ...
    • Scarlett Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Hardy Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Dunn - Raley Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)

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.<4>

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

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

  • Millers Ferry
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Millers Ferry is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millers Ferry
  • Bonifay
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
  • Chipley
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Caryville
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Westville
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Redbay
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Redbay is located in Walton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redbay
  • Knox Hill
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Knox Hill is located in Walton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knox Hill
  • Ponce de Leon
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Cerrogordo
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Cerrogordo is located in Holmes County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cerrogordo
  • Cottondale
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Eucheeanna
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Eucheeanna is located in Walton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eucheeanna
  • Izagora
    (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Izagora is located in Holmes County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Izagora
  • Continue List   (7 more) ...
    • Argyle
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Union
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Union is located in Walton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union
    • Graceville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)

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

Newspapers Published in Smyrna ...

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 45 newspapers that have been published in the area around Smyrna.

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

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 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 Smyrna:

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>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Smyrna) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<4>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 Smyrna, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.