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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 Whitfield (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 Whitfield. 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 doctors 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.

Whitfield is located in Manatee 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 Manatee County: DeSoto, Hardee, Hillsborough, Polk & Sarasota.

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

  • Manatee County     (The home county of Whitfield)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Whitfield, with the one closest to Whitfield listed first.
    • Tallevast
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Bayshore Gardens
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Bayshore Gardens is located in Manatee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayshore Gardens
    • Oneco
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • South Bradenton
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • South Bradenton is located in Manatee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Bradenton
    • Samoset
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Samoset is located in Manatee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Samoset
    • West Samoset
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • West Samoset is located in Manatee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Samoset
    • Longboat Key
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Bradenton
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • West Bradenton
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • West Bradenton is located in Manatee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Bradenton
    • Ellenton
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Palmetto
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Whitney Beach
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Cortez
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Hillsborough County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Whitfield, with the one closest to Whitfield listed first.
    • Fort Dade ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Fort Dade is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Dade
    • Sun City
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Gulf City
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Gulf City is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gulf City
    • Manatee Harbor
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Manatee Harbor is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manatee Harbor
    • Park Village
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Park Village is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park Village
    • Ruskin
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Bayou Pass Village
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Bayou Pass Village is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayou Pass Village
    • Freedom Village
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Freedom Village is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freedom Village
    • Montero Village
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Montero Village is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montero Village
    • Sun City Center
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Golf and Sea Village
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Golf and Sea Village is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Golf and Sea Village
    • Cypress Creek Village
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Cypress Creek Village is located in Hillsborough County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cypress Creek Village
    • Apollo Beach
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
  • Pinellas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Whitfield, with the one closest to Whitfield listed first.
    • Tierra Verde
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Saint Pete Beach
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Gulfport
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Saint Petersburg Beach
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Saint Petersburg
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • South Pasadena
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • South Pasadena is located in Pinellas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Pasadena
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,067 people
    • Treasure Island
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Kenneth City
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Lealman
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Lealman is located in Pinellas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lealman
    • Madeira Beach
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Pinellas Park
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
    • Bay Pines
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Sarasota County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Whitfield, with the one closest to Whitfield listed first.
    • North Sarasota
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • North Sarasota is located in Sarasota County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Sarasota
    • Sarasota
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Desoto Lakes
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Desoto Lakes is located in Sarasota County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Desoto Lakes
    • Kensington Park
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Kensington Park is located in Sarasota County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kensington Park
    • The Meadows
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • The Meadows is located in Sarasota County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Meadows
    • Pinecraft
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Southgate
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Southgate is located in Sarasota County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Southgate
    • South Sarasota
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • South Sarasota is located in Sarasota County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Sarasota
    • Fruitville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Sarasota Springs
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Sarasota Springs is located in Sarasota County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sarasota Springs
    • Ridge Wood Heights
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Ridge Wood Heights is located in Sarasota County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridge Wood Heights
    • South Gate Ridge
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • South Gate Ridge is located in Sarasota County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Gate Ridge
    • Bee Ridge
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Bee Ridge is located in Sarasota County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bee Ridge

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

Cemeteries Near Whitfield ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Whitfield.

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

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

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

  • Manatee Memorial Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Galilee Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Woodlawn Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Major Adams Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Braden River Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Fogartyville Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Adams & Rogers Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adams & Rogers Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Adams & Rogers Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Bradenton.
    • The Adams & Rogers Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Adams Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1989096 <2>
  • Skyway Memorial Gardens
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Palms Memorial Park Gardens
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Palms Memorial Park
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Mansion Memorial Park
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Palma Sola Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (22 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 Whitfield in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Whitfield.

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

  • Bradenton
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Manatee
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Manatee is located in Manatee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manatee
  • Ellenton
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Palmetto
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Palma Sola
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Terra Ceia
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Erie
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Erie is located in Manatee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erie
  • Rye
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Rye is located in Manatee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rye
  • Gulf City
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Gulf City is located in Hillsborough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gulf City
  • Sandy
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Sandy is located in Manatee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy

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

Newspapers Published in Whitfield ...

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 26 newspapers that have been published in the area around Whitfield.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Whitfield, there are papers which were published within 22 miles [35.4 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Whitfield.

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 Whitfield:

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' (or 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- Whitfield) 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 Whitfield, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.