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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 Fitzgerald (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 Fitzgerald. 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 hospitals and 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.

Fitzgerald is primarily located in Ben Hill County and is the County Seat. A portion of Fitzgerald extends into Irwin County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Ben Hill County: Coffee, Irwin, Telfair, Turner & Wilcox.

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

  • Ben Hill County     (The home county of Fitzgerald)
  • Atkinson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fitzgerald, with the one closest to Fitzgerald listed first.
    • Willacoochee
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Willacoochee have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willacoochee
      • Willacoochee is located in Atkinson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,389 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Willacoochee <2>
    • Leliaton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Leliaton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leliaton
      • Leliaton is located in Atkinson County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Leliaton
      • From Fitzgerald to Leliaton
  • Berrien County
  • Coffee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fitzgerald, with the one closest to Fitzgerald listed first.
    • Ambrose
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Broxton
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Douglas
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Mora
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Mora. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mora
      • Mora is located in Coffee County
      • Estimated population in 2019: 444 people
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Mora
      • From Fitzgerald to Mora
    • Oak Park
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oak Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Park
      • Oak Park is located in Coffee County
      • Estimated population in 2019: 470 people
  • Crisp County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fitzgerald, with the one closest to Fitzgerald listed first.
    • McKenzie
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for McKenzie. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McKenzie
      • McKenzie is located in Crisp County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to McKenzie
      • From Fitzgerald to McKenzie
    • Arabi
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Dodge County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fitzgerald, with the one closest to Fitzgerald listed first.
    • Rhine
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rhine have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rhine
      • Rhine is located in Dodge County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 364 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rhine <2>
    • Chauncey
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
  • Irwin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fitzgerald, with the one closest to Fitzgerald listed first.
    • Ocilla
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ocilla have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ocilla
      • Ocilla is located in Irwin County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,722 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ocilla <2>
    • Irwinville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Irwinville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irwinville
      • Irwinville is located in Irwin County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Irwinville <2>
    • Mystic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mystic have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mystic
      • Mystic is located in Irwin County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mystic <2>
    • Arp
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Wray
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Jeff Davis County
    • Kirkland
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Kirkland. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kirkland
      • Kirkland is located in Jeff Davis County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Kirkland
      • From Fitzgerald to Kirkland
  • Telfair County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fitzgerald, with the one closest to Fitzgerald listed first.
    • Jacksonville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Milan
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Milan have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milan
      • Milan is located in Telfair County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 649 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Milan <2>
  • Tift County
  • Turner County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fitzgerald, with the one closest to Fitzgerald listed first.
    • Rebecca
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Sycamore
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Ashburn
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Hobby
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hobby have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hobby
      • Hobby is located in Turner County
      • Estimated population in 2019: 536 people
  • Wilcox County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fitzgerald, with the one closest to Fitzgerald listed first.
    • Abbeville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Rochelle
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rochelle have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rochelle
      • Rochelle is located in Wilcox County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,081 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rochelle <2>
    • Pitts
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Seville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Seville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seville
      • Seville is located in Wilcox County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Seville <2>
    • Pineview
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Fitzgerald ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Fitzgerald.

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

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

  • Evergreen Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Evergreen Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Evergreen Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Kiokee Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Kiokee Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Kiokee Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Westwood Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Westwood Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Westwood Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Arbor Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Arbor Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Arbor Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mt. Olive Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Olive Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Olive Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Old Field Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Field Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Field Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Dixon Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Dixon Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Dixon Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Englewood Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Englewood Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Englewood Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mc Cook Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mc Cook Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mc Cook Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Troup Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Troup Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Troup Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Rinor Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rinor Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rinor Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Frank Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Frank Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Frank Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (272 more) ...
    • Penn Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Penn Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Penn Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Fairview Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fairview Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fairview Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Evergreen Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Evergreen Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Evergreen Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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

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

  • Abba
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Irwinville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Irwinville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irwinville
    • Irwinville is located in Irwin County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Irwinville <2>
  • Sibbie
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sibbie have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sibbie
    • Sibbie is located in Wilcox County
  • China Hill
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for China Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for China Hill
    • China Hill is located in Telfair County
  • Temperance
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Temperance have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Temperance
    • Temperance is located in Telfair County
  • Jacksonville
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Lax
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lax have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lax
    • Lax is located in Coffee County
  • Copeland
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Copeland have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Copeland
    • Copeland is located in Dodge County
  • Rhine
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rhine have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rhine
    • Rhine is located in Dodge County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 364 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rhine <2>
  • Abbeville
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
  • Rochelle
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rochelle have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rochelle
    • Rochelle is located in Wilcox County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,081 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rochelle <2>
  • Enigma
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (11 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in Fitzgerald ...

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 19 newspapers that have been published in the area around Fitzgerald.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Fitzgerald, there are papers which were published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Fitzgerald.

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 Fitzgerald:

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

The official website for Ben Hill County: www.benhillcounty.com/

The official website for State of Georgia: https://georgia.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<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 Fitzgerald, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<5>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Fitzgerald) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Fitzgerald. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.7149, Longitude: -83.2517    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025