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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 Ward Basin (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 Ward Basin. 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 southwest 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 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.

Ward Basin is located in Santa Rosa 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 Santa Rosa County: Escambia (AL), Escambia & Okaloosa.

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

  • Santa Rosa County     (The home county of Ward Basin)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ward Basin, with the one closest to Ward Basin listed first.
    • Bagdad
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Galt City
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Galt City is located in Santa Rosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galt City
    • Milton
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Milton is located in Santa Rosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,785 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Milton <1>
    • Harold
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Pace
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Navarre
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Gulf Breeze
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Jay
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Jay is located in Santa Rosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jay
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 653 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Jay <1>
    • Belandville ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Belandville is located in Santa Rosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belandville
  • Escambia County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ward Basin, with the one closest to Ward Basin listed first.
    • Bohemia
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Bohemia is located in Escambia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bohemia
    • Ferry Pass
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Ferry Pass is located in Escambia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ferry Pass
    • Brent
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Brent is located in Escambia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brent
    • Goulding
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Goulding is located in Escambia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goulding
    • Olive
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Olive is located in Escambia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olive
    • Pensacola
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Ensley
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Gonzalez
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Gonzalez is located in Escambia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gonzalez
    • Sanders Beach
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Sanders Beach is located in Escambia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sanders Beach
    • Tristan Village
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Tristan Village is located in Escambia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tristan Village
    • Pensacola Beach
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Quintette
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Quintette is located in Escambia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quintette
  • Okaloosa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ward Basin, with the one closest to Ward Basin listed first.
    • Holt
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Hurlburt Field
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Wright
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Wright is located in Okaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wright
    • Baker
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Otahite ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Otahite is located in Okaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Otahite
    • Mary Esther
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Milligan
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Ocean City
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Ocean City is located in Okaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ocean City
    • Cinco Bayou
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Cinco Bayou is located in Okaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cinco Bayou
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 447 people
    • Fort Walton Beach
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Shalimar
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Cannon Town
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Cannon Town is located in Okaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cannon Town
  • Baldwin County (AL)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ward Basin, with the one closest to Ward Basin listed first.
    • Lillian
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Lillian is located in Baldwin County (AL)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lillian
    • Seminole
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Seminole is located in Baldwin County (AL)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seminole

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

Cemeteries Near Ward Basin ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Ward Basin.

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 Ward Basin - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Lewis Williams Memorial Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lewis Williams Memorial Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Lewis Williams Memorial Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located 5 miles [8 km]<2> to the southeast of Milton.
    • The Lewis Williams Memorial Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Williams Memorial Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #72766 <3>
  • Hickory Hammock Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Friendship Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Magnolia Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Welcome Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Welcome Cemetery
    • The Welcome Cemetery has also been known as:
    • J.B. Watson Cemetery
    • New Elam Cemetery
  • Milton Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Strickland Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Black Hammock Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Serenity Gardens
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Mitchell Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Flowers Field Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Allen Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (70 more) ...
    • Roberts Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Chavers Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Old Spring Hill Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 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.<4>

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

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

  • Bagdad
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Galt City
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Galt City is located in Santa Rosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galt City
  • Milton
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Milton is located in Santa Rosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milton
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,785 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Milton <1>
  • Yniestra
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Yniestra is located in Escambia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yniestra
  • Bohemia
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Bohemia is located in Escambia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bohemia
  • Ferry Pass
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Ferry Pass is located in Escambia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ferry Pass
  • Olive
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Olive is located in Escambia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olive
  • Brent
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Brent is located in Escambia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brent
  • Goulding
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Goulding is located in Escambia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goulding
  • Pensacola
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Chumuckla
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Chumuckla is located in Santa Rosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chumuckla
  • Quintette
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Quintette is located in Escambia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quintette
  • Continue List   (10 more) ...
    • Warrington
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Warrington is located in Escambia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warrington
    • Berrydale
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Berrydale is located in Santa Rosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berrydale
    • Molino
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)

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

Newspapers Published in Ward Basin ...

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 79 newspapers that have been published in the area around Ward Basin.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Ward Basin, there are papers which were published within 26 miles [41.8 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Ward Basin.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we start with 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 Ward Basin:

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>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 from Point A (ie- Ward Basin) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<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 Ward Basin, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.