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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 South Metro (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 South Metro. 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 South Metro ...

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.

For example, a typical abbreviation for South Metro: S. Metro

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 southwest 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 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 west 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.

South Metro 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 South Metro. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to South Metro:

  • Duval County     (The home county of South Metro)
    • The following are listed by their distance from South Metro, with the one closest to South Metro listed first.
    • Saint Nicholas
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Saint Nicholas is located in Duval County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Nicholas
    • San Marco
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • San Marco is located in Duval County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for San Marco
    • Bowden
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Bowden is located in Duval County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowden
    • Brooklyn
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Brooklyn is located in Duval County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brooklyn
    • Arlington
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Arlington is located in Duval County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arlington
    • Jacksonville
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Talleyrand
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Talleyrand is located in Duval County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Talleyrand
    • Magnolia Gardens
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Magnolia Gardens is located in Duval County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magnolia Gardens
    • Normandy Village
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Sans Pareil
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Sans Pareil is located in Duval County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sans Pareil
    • Loretto
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Loretto is located in Duval County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loretto
    • Jacksonville Heights
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Jacksonville Heights is located in Duval County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jacksonville Heights
  • Baker County
    • MacClenny
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Clay County
    • The following are listed by their distance from South Metro, with the one closest to South Metro listed first.
    • Bellair - Meadowbrook Terrace
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Orange Park
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Lakeside
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Lakeside is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeside
    • Doctors Inlet
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Asbury Lake
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Asbury Lake is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Asbury Lake
    • Green Cove Springs
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Middleburg
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Penney Farms
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Kingsley
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Kingsley is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingsley
  • Nassau County
    • The following are listed by their distance from South Metro, with the one closest to South Metro listed first.
    • Nassau Village
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Nassau Village is located in Nassau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nassau Village
    • Bryceville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Crawford
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Crawford is located in Nassau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crawford
    • Callahan
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Yulee
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Amelia City
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Amelia City is located in Nassau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amelia City
    • Dyal
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Dyal is located in Nassau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dyal
    • Fernandina Beach
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Evergreen
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Evergreen is located in Nassau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen
  • Saint Johns County
    • The following are listed by their distance from South Metro, with the one closest to South Metro listed first.
    • Fruit Cove
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Saint Johns
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Ponte Vedra Beach
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Ponte Vedra
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Ponte Vedra is located in Saint Johns County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ponte Vedra
    • Sawgrass
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Sawgrass is located in Saint Johns County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sawgrass
    • Palm Valley
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Palm Valley is located in Saint Johns County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palm Valley
    • Tocoi
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Tocoi is located in Saint Johns County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tocoi
    • Vilano Beach
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Charlton County (GA)

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

Cemeteries Near South Metro ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of South Metro.

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 South Metro - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Greenlawn Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Oaklawn Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Oaklawn Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Sammis Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • City Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Arlington Community Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Arlington Park Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Evergreen Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • The Evergreen Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Mt. Olive Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Parsons Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Camp Captain Mooney Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (83 more) ...
    • Chapel Hills Memory Gardens
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Daniels Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Pickett Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)

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

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

  • Bowden
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Bowden is located in Duval County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowden
  • South Jacksonville
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • South Jacksonville is located in Duval County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Jacksonville
  • Spring Glen
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Spring Glen is located in Duval County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Glen
  • Saint Nicholas
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Saint Nicholas is located in Duval County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Nicholas
  • Arlington
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Arlington is located in Duval County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arlington
  • Jacksonville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Floral Bluff
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Floral Bluff is located in Duval County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Floral Bluff
  • Beauclerc
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Beauclerc is located in Duval County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beauclerc
  • Plummers
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Plummers is located in Duval County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plummers
  • Chaseville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Chaseville is located in Duval County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chaseville
  • Panama Park
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Panama Park is located in Duval County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Panama Park
  • Gilmore
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Gilmore is located in Duval County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilmore
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Edgewood
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Edgewood is located in Duval County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgewood
    • Sweetwater
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Sweetwater is located in Duval County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sweetwater
    • Orange Park
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)

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

Newspapers Published in South Metro ...

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 137 newspapers that have been published in the area around South Metro.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of South Metro, there are papers which were published within 9 miles [14.5 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for South Metro.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to start with 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 South Metro:

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 South Metro, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- South Metro) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.