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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 Torrens (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 Torrens. 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 hospitals 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.

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

  • Hillsborough County     (The home county of Torrens)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Torrens, with the one closest to Torrens listed first.
    • Balm
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Summerfield Village
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Summerfield Village is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summerfield Village
    • Boyette
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Boyette is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boyette
    • Stelling Village
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Stelling Village is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stelling Village
    • Wimauma
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Sun City Center
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Countryside Village
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Countryside Village is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Countryside Village
    • Indian Hills
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Indian Hills is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Hills
    • Parkside Village
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Parkside Village is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkside Village
    • East Bay Lakes
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • East Bay Lakes is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Bay Lakes
    • Cypress Creek Village
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Cypress Creek Village is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cypress Creek Village
    • Freedom Village
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Freedom Village is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freedom Village
    • Montero Village
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Montero Village is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montero Village
  • Hardee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Torrens, with the one closest to Torrens listed first.
    • Bowling Green
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Ona
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Manatee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Torrens, with the one closest to Torrens listed first.
    • Duette
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Parrish
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Waterbury
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Waterbury is located in Manatee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterbury
    • Ellenton
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Terra Ceia
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Memphis
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Memphis is located in Manatee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Memphis
    • Palmetto
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Bradenton
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Lakewood Ranch
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Verna
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Verna is located in Manatee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Verna
    • Samoset
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Samoset is located in Manatee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Samoset
    • West Samoset
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • West Samoset is located in Manatee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Samoset
    • Oneco
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Pasco County
    • Crystal Springs
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Crystal Springs is located in Pasco County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Springs
  • Pinellas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Torrens, with the one closest to Torrens listed first.
    • Gandy
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Gandy is located in Pinellas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gandy
    • Saint Petersburg
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Lealman
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Lealman is located in Pinellas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lealman
    • Feather Sound
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Gulfport
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Pinellas Park
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • High Point
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • High Point is located in Pinellas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Point
    • Kenneth City
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Tierra Verde
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Saint Pete Beach
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • South Highpoint
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • South Highpoint is located in Pinellas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Highpoint
    • South Pasadena
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • South Pasadena is located in Pinellas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Pasadena
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,067 people
    • Bayview ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Bayview is located in Pinellas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayview
  • Polk County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Torrens, with the one closest to Torrens listed first.
    • Nichols
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Bradley Junction
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Bradley Junction is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bradley Junction
    • Brewster ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Brewster is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brewster
    • Willow Oak
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Willow Oak is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Oak
    • Mulberry
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Medulla
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Medulla is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Medulla
    • Lakeland Highlands
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Lakeland Highlands is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeland Highlands
    • Winston
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Winston is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winston
    • Armour ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Armour is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Armour
    • Lyle Corner
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Lyle Corner is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyle Corner
    • Homeland
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Lakeland
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Acton ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Acton is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acton
  • Sarasota County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Torrens, with the one closest to Torrens listed first.
    • The Meadows
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • The Meadows is located in Sarasota County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Meadows
    • Desoto Lakes
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Desoto Lakes is located in Sarasota County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Desoto Lakes
    • North Sarasota
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • North Sarasota is located in Sarasota County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Sarasota

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

Cemeteries Near Torrens ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Torrens.

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

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

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

  • Samford Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Hackney - Riverview Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hackney - Riverview Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Hackney - Riverview Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Tampa.
    • The Hackney - Riverview Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Hackney Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #72067 <2>
  • Serenity Meadows Memorial Park
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Lithia Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Ruskin Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Ruskin Memorial Gardens
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Brandon Family Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Commemorative Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Hunter Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Hillsboro Memorial Gardens
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
  • Limona Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Limona Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Limona Cemetery is located in Brandon.
  • Keen Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (96 more) ...
    • Bethlehem Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bethlehem Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Bethlehem Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery is located 6 miles [9.7 km]<3> to the southwest of Bradley Junction.
      • The Bethlehem Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Bethlehem Cemetery
    • Blue Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Fortner Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 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.<4>

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

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

  • Peru ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Peru is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peru
  • Bloomingdale
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Bloomingdale is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bloomingdale
  • Gulf City
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Gulf City is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gulf City
  • Brandon
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Valrico
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
  • Limona
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Limona is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Limona
  • Keysville
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Keysville is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keysville
  • Sydney
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
  • Seffner
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
  • Mango
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
  • Ybor City
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Ybor City is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ybor City
  • Port Tampa
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Port Tampa is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Port Tampa
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Tampa
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Tampa is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tampa
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 407,599 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tampa <1>
    • Erie
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Erie is located in Manatee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erie
    • Rye
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Rye is located in Manatee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rye

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

Newspapers Published in Torrens ...

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 1 newspapers that have been published in the area around Torrens.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Torrens, there are papers which were published within 5 miles [8 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Torrens.

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 websites either 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 Torrens:

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- Torrens) 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 Torrens, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.