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A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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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 Watson (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 Watson. 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 southeast 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 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 east 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.

Watson is located in Hamilton 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 Hamilton County: Columbia, Madison, Suwannee, Echols (GA) & Lowndes (GA).

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

  • Hamilton County     (The home county of Watson)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Watson, with the one closest to Watson listed first.
    • Bakers Mill
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Bakers Mill is located in Hamilton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bakers Mill
    • Jasper
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Marion
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Marion is located in Hamilton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marion
    • White Springs
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Jennings
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
  • Baker County
    • Taylor
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Taylor is located in Baker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taylor
  • Columbia County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Watson, with the one closest to Watson listed first.
    • Five Points
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Five Points is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Points
    • Lake City
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Watertown
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Watertown is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Watertown
    • McColskey
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • McColskey is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McColskey
  • Suwannee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Watson, with the one closest to Watson listed first.
    • Rixford
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Rixford is located in Suwannee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rixford
    • Wellborn
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Live Oak
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Padlock
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Padlock is located in Suwannee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Padlock
  • Clinch County (GA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Watson, with the one closest to Watson listed first.
    • Fargo
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Fargo is located in Clinch County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fargo
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 315 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fargo <1>
    • Ernest
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Ernest is located in Clinch County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ernest
    • Chauncey
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Chauncey is located in Clinch County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chauncey
      • Estimated population in 2019: 326 people
    • Du Pont
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Homerville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
  • Echols County (GA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Watson, with the one closest to Watson listed first.
    • Potter
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Potter is located in Echols County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Potter
      • Estimated population in 2019: 870 people
    • Fruitland
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Fruitland is located in Echols County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fruitland
    • Statenville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Howell
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Howell is located in Echols County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howell
  • Lanier County (GA)
    • Stockton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Lowndes County (GA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Watson, with the one closest to Watson listed first.
    • Melrose
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Melrose is located in Lowndes County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melrose
    • Lake Park
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Naylor
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Watson ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Watson.

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

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

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

  • Poole Pond Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Barton Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Taylor Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Friendship Baptist Church Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Spring Branch Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • White Chimney Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Evergreen Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
  • Swift Creek Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
  • Nunn Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
  • Geiger Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
  • Peterson Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Nunn Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (52 more) ...

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

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

  • Benton
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Benton is located in Columbia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benton
  • Bakers Mill
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Bakers Mill is located in Hamilton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bakers Mill
  • Jasper
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
  • Genoa
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Genoa is located in Hamilton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Genoa
  • Tarver
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Tarver is located in Echols County (GA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tarver
  • Marion
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Marion is located in Hamilton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marion
  • White Springs
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
  • Avoca
    (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Avoca is located in Hamilton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avoca
  • Statenville
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
  • Suwannee Valley
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Suwannee Valley is located in Columbia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Suwannee Valley
  • Rixford
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Rixford is located in Suwannee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rixford
  • Withers
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Withers is located in Clinch County (GA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Withers
  • Continue List   (12 more) ...
    • Winfield
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Winfield is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winfield
    • Jennings
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Melrose
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Melrose is located in Lowndes County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melrose

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

Newspapers Published in Watson ...

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 28 newspapers that have been published in the area around Watson.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Watson, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Watson.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to 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 Watson:

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 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Watson) 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 Watson, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.