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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 Williston (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 Williston. 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.

Williston is located in Levy 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 Levy County: Alachua, Citrus, Dixie, Gilchrist & Marion.

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

  • Levy County     (The home county of Williston)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Williston, with the one closest to Williston listed first.
    • East Williston
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • 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.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Williston
      • East Williston is located in Levy County
    • Raleigh
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raleigh
      • Raleigh is located in Levy County
    • Williston Highlands
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Williston Highlands have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williston Highlands
      • Williston Highlands is located in Levy County
    • Morriston
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • East Bronson
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Bronson
      • East Bronson is located in Levy County
    • Bronson
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Gulf Hammock
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Otter Creek
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Chiefland
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Andrews
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Andrews have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Andrews
      • Andrews is located in Levy County
    • Inglis
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Manatee Road
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Manatee Road have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manatee Road
      • Manatee Road is located in Levy County
  • Alachua County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Williston, with the one closest to Williston listed first.
    • Archer
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Micanopy
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Evinston
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Arredondo
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arredondo
      • Arredondo is located in Alachua County
    • Jonesville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Gainesville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Island Grove
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Rutledge
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rutledge
      • Rutledge is located in Alachua County
    • Newberry
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Lochloosa
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Windsor
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Windsor have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windsor
      • Windsor is located in Alachua County
    • Hague
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hague
      • Hague is located in Alachua County
  • Citrus County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Williston, with the one closest to Williston listed first.
    • Citrus Springs
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Holder
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
  • Gilchrist County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Williston, with the one closest to Williston listed first.
    • Trenton
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Waters Lake
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waters Lake
      • Waters Lake is located in Gilchrist County
  • Marion County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Williston, with the one closest to Williston listed first.
    • Heijahs Town ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Heijahs Town have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heijahs Town
      • Heijahs Town is located in Marion County
    • Fairfield
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fairfield have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairfield
      • Fairfield is located in Marion County
    • Irvine
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irvine
      • Irvine is located in Marion County
    • Paynes Town ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Paynes Town have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paynes Town
      • Paynes Town is located in Marion County
    • Fellowship
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fellowship
      • Fellowship is located in Marion County
    • McIntosh
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Orange Lake
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Lowell
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Reddick
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Martin
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martin
      • Martin is located in Marion County
    • Citra
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Sparr
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Williston ...

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 33 newspapers that have been published in the area around Williston.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Williston. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Williston and those printed in the larger area surrounding Williston.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 25 miles [40.2 km]<4> of Williston.

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 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 Williston:

Cemeteries Near Williston ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Williston.

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 Williston covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Willis Family Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Willis Family Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Willis Family Cemetery
  • Orange Hill Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Orange Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Orange Hill Cemetery
  • New Hope Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the New Hope Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the New Hope Cemetery
  • Sistrunk Family Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sistrunk Family Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sistrunk Family Cemetery
  • Plummers Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Plummers Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Plummers Cemetery
  • McFall Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the McFall Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the McFall Cemetery
  • Church of Christ Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Church of Christ Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Church of Christ Cemetery
  • Barber Family Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Barber Family Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Barber Family Cemetery
  • Pleasant Hill Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pleasant Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pleasant Hill Cemetery
  • Wacahoota Baptist Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Wacahoota Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wacahoota Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wacahoota Cemetery
  • Pine Grove Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pine Grove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pine Grove Cemetery
  • Continue List   (117 more) ...
    • Flemington Baptist Church Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Smith Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Smith Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Smith Cemetery
    • Laurel Hill Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)

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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Williston had a population of 101 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service. In 2020, Williston had a population of 2,765 people.

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

  • Blitchton
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Blitchton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blitchton
    • Blitchton is located in Marion County
  • Flemington
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Flemington have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flemington
    • Flemington is located in Marion County
  • Archer
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Meredith
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Meredith have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meredith
    • Meredith is located in Levy County
  • Romeo
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Romeo have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Romeo
    • Romeo is located in Marion County
  • Early Bird
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Early Bird have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Early Bird
    • Early Bird is located in Marion County
  • Micanopy
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Bronson
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • Fellowship
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fellowship
    • Fellowship is located in Marion County
  • Millwood
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Millwood have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millwood
    • Millwood is located in Marion County
  • Orange Lake
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
  • McIntosh
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...
    • Evinston
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Lowell
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Reddick
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)

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

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

The official website for Levy County: www.levycounty.org/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>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.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Williston) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Williston. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 29.3874, Longitude: -82.4473    
<5>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.
<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 Williston, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024