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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 Waters Lake (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 Waters Lake. 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 Waters Lake ...

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 have occurred.

  • A typical abbreviation for Waters Lake: Waters Lk.
  • While the name of this community is Waters Lake, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Waters Lake may originally have been Water's Lake.

    Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Waters Lake might be written as Water Lake.

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 northwest 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 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.

Waters Lake is located in Gilchrist County.

To see how the shape of Florida's counties have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Gilchrist County: Alachua, Columbia, Dixie, Lafayette & Levy.

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

  • Gilchrist County     (The home county of Waters Lake)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Waters Lake, with the one closest to Waters Lake listed first.
    • Trenton
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Bell
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bell
      • Bell is located in Gilchrist County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 510 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bell <2>
    • Little Lake City
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little Lake City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Lake City
      • Little Lake City is located in Gilchrist County
    • Fanning Springs
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Alachua County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Waters Lake, with the one closest to Waters Lake listed first.
    • Newberry
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • High Springs
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Jonesville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Alachua
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Burnetts Lake
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Burnetts Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burnetts Lake
      • Burnetts Lake is located in Alachua County
    • Archer
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Hague
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hague
      • Hague is located in Alachua County
    • Rutledge
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rutledge
      • Rutledge is located in Alachua County
    • Arredondo
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arredondo
      • Arredondo is located in Alachua County
    • La Crosse
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Gainesville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Micanopy
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Bradford County
    • Brooker
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Columbia County
    • Fort White
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
  • Dixie County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Waters Lake, with the one closest to Waters Lake listed first.
    • Suwanee Old Town ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Suwanee Old Town have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Suwanee Old Town
      • Suwanee Old Town is located in Dixie County
    • Old Town
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Cross City
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
  • Levy County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Waters Lake, with the one closest to Waters Lake listed first.
    • Andrews
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Andrews have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Andrews
      • Andrews is located in Levy County
    • Chiefland
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Manatee Road
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Manatee Road have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manatee Road
      • Manatee Road is located in Levy County
    • Bronson
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • East Bronson
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Bronson
      • East Bronson is located in Levy County
    • Raleigh
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raleigh
      • Raleigh is located in Levy County
    • Otter Creek
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Williston Highlands
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Williston Highlands have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williston Highlands
      • Williston Highlands is located in Levy County
    • Williston
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • East Williston
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for East Williston. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Williston
      • East Williston is located in Levy County
  • Suwannee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Waters Lake, with the one closest to Waters Lake listed first.
    • Branford
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • O'Brien
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Union County
    • Worthington Springs
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)

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

Newspapers Published in Waters Lake ...

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 70 newspapers that have been published in the area around Waters Lake.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Waters Lake, there are papers which were published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Waters Lake.

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 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 Waters Lake:

Cemeteries Near Waters Lake ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Waters Lake.

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.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

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

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

  • Center Hill Church of Christ Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Osceola Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Osceola Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Osceola Cemetery
  • Union Baptist Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Trenton Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Trenton Community Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Pleasant Hill Baptist Church Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Mt. Horeb Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Jennings Lake Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Nobel Hill Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Nobel Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Nobel Hill Cemetery
  • Mt. Pleasant Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Pleasant Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Pleasant Cemetery
  • Spring Ridge Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Spring Ridge Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Spring Ridge Cemetery
  • Overstreet Family Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Overstreet Family Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Overstreet Family Cemetery is located 3 miles [4.8 km]<5> to the northwest of Trenton.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Overstreet Family Cemetery
  • Continue List   (127 more) ...
    • Newberry Municipal Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Newberry Municipal Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Newberry Municipal Cemetery
    • Bell Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Pine Grove Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pine Grove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pine Grove Cemetery

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.<6>

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

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

  • High Springs
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Jonesville
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
  • Fort White
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
  • Alachua
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
  • Newnansville
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Newnansville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newnansville
    • Newnansville is located in Alachua County
  • Chiefland
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Meredith
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Meredith have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meredith
    • Meredith is located in Levy County
  • Archer
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Bronson
    (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
  • Mikesville
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mikesville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mikesville
    • Mikesville is located in Columbia County
  • Rutledge
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rutledge
    • Rutledge is located in Alachua County
  • Hague
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hague
    • Hague is located in Alachua County
  • Continue List   (11 more) ...
    • Arredondo
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arredondo
      • Arredondo is located in Alachua County
    • Branford
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • La Crosse
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)

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

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Waters Lake. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Gilchrist County: www.gilchrist.fl.us/

The official website for State of Florida: www.myflorida.com/

Footnotes ...

<1>It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties).
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<4>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<5>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Waters Lake) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Waters Lake. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 29.7104, Longitude: -82.7338    
<6>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 Waters Lake, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024