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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 Port (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 Port. 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 Port ...

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 occur.

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

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 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 Port is located in Osceola 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 Osceola County: Brevard, Highlands, Indian River, Lake, Okeechobee, Orange & Polk.

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

  • Osceola County     (The home county of South Port)
    • The following are listed by their distance from South Port, with the one closest to South Port listed first.
    • Poinciana
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Saint Cloud
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Poinciana Place
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Poinciana Place is located in Osceola County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poinciana Place
    • Campbell
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Campbell is located in Osceola County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Campbell
    • Runnymede
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Runnymede is located in Osceola County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Runnymede
    • Kissimmee
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Intercession City
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Buena Ventura Lakes
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Celebration
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • ChampionsGate
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • ChampionsGate is located in Osceola County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for ChampionsGate
    • Reunion
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Kenansville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Lake County
    • Four Corners
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Orange County
    • The following are listed by their distance from South Port, with the one closest to South Port listed first.
    • Hunters Creek
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Hunters Creek is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunters Creek
    • Meadow Woods
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Meadow Woods is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Woods
    • Southchase
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Southchase is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Southchase
    • Lake Hart
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Lake Hart is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Hart
    • Williamsburg
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Williamsburg is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williamsburg
    • Taft
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Taft is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taft
    • Lake Buena Vista
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Lake Buena Vista is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Buena Vista
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 26 people
    • Bay Lake
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Bay Lake is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bay Lake
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 48 people
    • Sky Lake
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Sky Lake is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sky Lake
    • Tangelo Park
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Tangelo Park is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tangelo Park
    • Belle Isle
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Belle Isle is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belle Isle
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,294 people
    • Doctor Phillips
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Doctor Phillips is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doctor Phillips
    • Edgewood
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
  • Polk County
    • The following are listed by their distance from South Port, with the one closest to South Port listed first.
    • Loughman
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Davenport
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Haines City
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Lake Hamilton
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Lake Hammock Village
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Dundee
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Lakeshore
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Nalcrest
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Waverly
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Lake Wales
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Cypress Gardens
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Highland Park
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Highland Park is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland Park
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 221 people
    • Lake Alfred
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)

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

Cemeteries Near South Port ...

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

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

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

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

  • Finney Point Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Finney Point Cemetery
    • The Finney Point Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Whaley Cemetery
  • Pleasant Hill Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Mt. Peace Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Osceola Memory Gardens
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Rose Hill Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rose Hill Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Rose Hill Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Kissimmee.
    • The Rose Hill Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Rosehill Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #72538 <2>
  • Barber Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
  • Howard Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
  • Narcoossee Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • East Lake Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Lake Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the East Lake Cemetery is located in Kissimmee.
    • The East Lake Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Boggy Creek Cemetery
    • Mt. Carmel Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2238544 <2>
  • Loughman Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Ret Row Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
  • Evergreen Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Evergreen Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the north of Davenport.
    • The Evergreen Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Davenport Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #71888 <2>
  • Continue List   (36 more) ...
    • Oakland Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Forest Hill Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Lock Cemetery
      (17 miles [27.4 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 Port in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of South Port.

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

  • Saint Cloud
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Runnymede
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Runnymede is located in Osceola County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Runnymede
  • Kissimmee
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
  • Narcoossee
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Narcoossee is located in Osceola County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Narcoossee
  • Haines City
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
  • Pine Castle
    (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
  • Winter Haven
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
  • Conway
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Conway is located in Orange County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conway
  • Wahneta
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Wahneta is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wahneta
  • Auburndale
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
  • Eagle Lake
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Windermere
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Orlando
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
  • Gotha
    (28 miles [45.1 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 South Port. See our List of 1890's Communities around South Port.

Newspapers Published in South Port ...

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 51 newspapers that have been published in the area around South Port.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of South Port, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for South Port.

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 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 South Port:

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 Port, 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- South Port) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.