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 West Pensacola (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 West Pensacola. 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 West Pensacola ...
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.
For example, a typical abbreviation for West Pensacola: W. Pensacola
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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors 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.
West Pensacola is located in Escambia 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 Escambia County: Baldwin (AL), Escambia (AL) & Santa Rosa.
Below are the counties that are near West Pensacola. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to West Pensacola:
- Escambia County (The home county of West Pensacola)
- The following are listed by their distance from West Pensacola, with the one closest to West Pensacola listed first.
- Myrtle Grove
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Myrtle Grove is located in Escambia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Myrtle Grove
- Tristan Village
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Tristan Village is located in Escambia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tristan Village
- Warrington
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Warrington is located in Escambia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warrington
- Sand Cut ‑ Historic
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Sand Cut is located in Escambia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sand Cut
- Goulding
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Goulding is located in Escambia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goulding
- Pensacola
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Brent
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Brent is located in Escambia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brent
- Bellview
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Bellview is located in Escambia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellview
- Sanders Beach
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Sanders Beach is located in Escambia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sanders Beach
- Olive
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Olive is located in Escambia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olive
- Ensley
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Bohemia
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Bohemia is located in Escambia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bohemia
- Ferry Pass
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Ferry Pass is located in Escambia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ferry Pass
- Santa Rosa County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Pensacola, with the one closest to West Pensacola listed first.
- Gulf Breeze
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Pace
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Galt City
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Galt City is located in Santa Rosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galt City
- Bagdad
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Milton
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Navarre
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Harold
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Baldwin County (AL)
- The following are listed by their distance from West Pensacola, with the one closest to West Pensacola listed first.
- Lillian
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Lillian is located in Baldwin County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lillian
- Seminole
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Seminole is located in Baldwin County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seminole
- Perdido Beach
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Perdido Beach is located in Baldwin County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perdido Beach
- Population from the 2020 Census: 652 people
- Elberta
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Orange Beach
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Foley
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Foley is located in Baldwin County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foley
- Population from the 2020 Census: 21,446 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Foley <1>
- Summerdale
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Gulf Shores
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Bon Secour
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Robertsdale
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Magnolia Springs
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Oyster Bay
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Oyster Bay is located in Baldwin County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oyster Bay
- Silverhill
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to West Pensacola, see our County-by-County Page for West Pensacola.
Cemeteries Near West Pensacola ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of West Pensacola.
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 West Pensacola - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for West Pensacola covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from West Pensacola, with the one closest to West Pensacola listed first.
- Haven Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Resthaven Gardens
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- St. Johns Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Magnolia Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Clopton Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Barrancas National Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- St. Michaels Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Holy Cross Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Milsted Family Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Pensacola Memorial Gardens
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Forest Lawn of Santa Rosa
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Bayview Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayview Cemetery
- The Bayview Cemetery has also been known as:
- Bayview Memorial Park
- Continue List (69 more) ...
- New Hope Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Eastern Gate Memorial Gardens
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Chasefield Plantation Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
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 West Pensacola in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of West Pensacola.
These communities are listed based on their distance from West Pensacola, with the one closest to West Pensacola listed first.
- Warrington
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Warrington is located in Escambia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warrington
- Pensacola
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Goulding
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Goulding is located in Escambia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goulding
- Brent
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Brent is located in Escambia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brent
- Millview
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Millview is located in Escambia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millview
- Olive
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Olive is located in Escambia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olive
- Bohemia
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Bohemia is located in Escambia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bohemia
- Ferry Pass
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Ferry Pass is located in Escambia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ferry Pass
- Yniestra
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Yniestra is located in Escambia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yniestra
- Perdido Key
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Cantonment
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Muscogee
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Muscogee is located in Escambia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Muscogee
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Josephine
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Josephine is located in Baldwin County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Josephine
- Quintette
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Quintette is located in Escambia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quintette
- Galt City
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Galt City is located in Santa Rosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galt City
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around West Pensacola. See our List of 1890's Communities around West Pensacola.
Newspapers Published in West Pensacola ...
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 91 newspapers that have been published in the area around West Pensacola.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of West Pensacola, there are papers which were published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for West Pensacola.
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 West Pensacola:
- Websites specific to Florida
- Pages specific to Escambia County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Santa Rosa County
- Baldwin County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Florida
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 West Pensacola, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | 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- West Pensacola) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |