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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 Sparkman Oaks (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 Sparkman Oaks. 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 northeast 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 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 east 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.

Sparkman Oaks is located in Hillsborough 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 Hillsborough County: Hardee, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas & Polk.

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

  • Hillsborough County     (The home county of Sparkman Oaks)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sparkman Oaks, with the one closest to Sparkman Oaks listed first.
    • South Plant City Farms
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • South Plant City Farms is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Plant City Farms
    • Kings Village
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Kings Village is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings Village
    • Plant City
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Parrish
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Parrish is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parrish
    • West Plant City
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • West Plant City is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Plant City
    • Woodfield Village
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Woodfield Village is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodfield Village
    • Colonial Village
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Colonial Village is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colonial Village
    • Cedar Run
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Cedar Run is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Run
    • Plant City Heights
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Plant City Heights is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plant City Heights
    • Strawberry Village
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Strawberry Village is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Strawberry Village
    • West Plant City Farms
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • West Plant City Farms is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Plant City Farms
    • Durant
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Hardee County
    • Bowling Green
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Manatee County
  • Pasco County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sparkman Oaks, with the one closest to Sparkman Oaks listed first.
    • Crystal Springs
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Crystal Springs is located in Pasco County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Springs
    • Zephyrhills
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Richland
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Richland is located in Pasco County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richland
    • Wesley Chapel South
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Wesley Chapel South is located in Pasco County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wesley Chapel South
    • Wesley Chapel
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Dade City
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Saint Leo
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • San Antonio
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • San Antonio is located in Pasco County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for San Antonio
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,506 people
      • Former name for San Antonio:
      • Lake Jovita
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for San Antonio <1>
    • Land O' Lakes
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Polk County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sparkman Oaks, with the one closest to Sparkman Oaks listed first.
    • Winston
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Winston is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winston
    • Willow Oak
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Willow Oak is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Oak
    • Medulla
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Medulla is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Medulla
    • Nichols
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Lakeland Highlands
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Lakeland Highlands is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeland Highlands
    • Mulberry
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Lakeland
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Kathleen
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Acton ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Acton is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acton
    • Crystal Lake
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Crystal Lake is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Lake
    • Eaton Park
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Gibsonia
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Gibsonia is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gibsonia

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

Cemeteries Near Sparkman Oaks ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Sparkman Oaks.

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 Sparkman Oaks - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Springhead Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Hopewell Memorial Gardens
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Garden of Peace Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Memorial Park
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Oaklawn Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Willow Oak Baptist Church Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Memorial Park
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Prairie Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Cemetery
    • The Prairie Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Bone Valley Cemetery
    • Fuller Heights Cemetery
    • Laurel Hill Cemetery
    • Shiloh Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #72484 <2>
  • New Home Baptist Church Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Little Alafia Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Medulla Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Fitzgerald Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (118 more) ...
    • Hunter Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Blue Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Stephenson Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)

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

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

  • Plant City
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Keysville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Keysville is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keysville
  • Knights
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Knights is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knights
  • Sydney
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Valrico
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Keene
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Keene is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keene
  • Lakeland
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Kathleen
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Bloomingdale
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Bloomingdale is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bloomingdale
  • Seffner
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Brandon
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • Mango
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Limona
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Limona is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Limona
    • Thonotosassa
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Peru ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Peru is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peru

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

Newspapers Published in Sparkman Oaks ...

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 8 newspapers that have been published in the area around Sparkman Oaks.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Sparkman Oaks, there are papers which were published within 3 miles [4.8 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Sparkman Oaks.

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 Sparkman Oaks:

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 Sparkman Oaks, 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Sparkman Oaks) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.