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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 Leo (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 Leo. 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 Leo ...

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.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might occur.

Leo has also been known as: Meldean.

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Leo. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Leo.

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 northwest 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 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 west 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.

Leo is located in White County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of White County: Habersham, Hall, Lumpkin, Towns & Union.

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

  • White County     (The home county of Leo)
  • Banks County
  • Dawson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Leo, with the one closest to Leo listed first.
    • Lumpkin
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Lumpkin is located in Dawson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lumpkin
      • Estimated population in 2019: 1,266 people
    • Dawsonville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Barrettsville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Fannin County
  • Forsyth County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Leo, with the one closest to Leo listed first.
    • Chestatee
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Silver City
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Silver City is located in Forsyth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver City
  • Franklin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Leo, with the one closest to Leo listed first.
    • Plainview
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Parhams
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
  • Habersham County
  • Hall County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Leo, with the one closest to Leo listed first.
    • Clermont
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Brookton
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Brookton is located in Hall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookton
    • Land ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Hargrove
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Hargrove is located in Hall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hargrove
      • Estimated population in 2019: 3,371 people
    • Lula
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Surf Side Club Estates
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Surf Side Club Estates is located in Hall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Surf Side Club Estates
      • Estimated population in 2019: 202 people
    • Murrayville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Whelchel
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Whelchel is located in Hall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whelchel
    • The Bluffs
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • The Bluffs is located in Hall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Bluffs
      • Estimated population in 2019: 92 people
    • White Sulphur Springs
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Price
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Gower Springs ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
  • Jackson County
  • Lumpkin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Leo, with the one closest to Leo listed first.
    • Grace ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Grace is located in Lumpkin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grace
    • Garland
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Willow ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Willow is located in Lumpkin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 15,138 people
    • Dahlonega
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • New Bridge ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • New Bridge is located in Lumpkin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Bridge
    • Auraria ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
  • Rabun County
  • Stephens County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Leo, with the one closest to Leo listed first.
    • Toccoa Falls
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Carnes Creek
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Carnes Creek is located in Stephens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carnes Creek
      • Estimated population in 2019: 601 people
    • Toccoa
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Eastanollee
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Jarrett
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Jarrett is located in Stephens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jarrett
      • Estimated population in 2019: 3,974 people
  • Towns County
  • Union County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Leo, with the one closest to Leo listed first.
    • Suches
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Choestoe
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Owltown
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Hood ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Hood is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hood
    • Blairsville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Youngcane ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Youngcane is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Youngcane
      • Estimated population in 2019: 1,661 people
    • Canal Lake
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Canal Lake is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canal Lake
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 23,025 people
  • Oconee County (SC)

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

Cemeteries Near Leo ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Leo.

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

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

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

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.<2>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Leo had a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Centerside
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Centerside is located in White County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerside
  • Mossy Creek
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Mossy Creek is located in White County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mossy Creek
  • Cleveland
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Tesnatee
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Tesnatee is located in White County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tesnatee
  • Heads Ferry
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Heads Ferry is located in Habersham County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heads Ferry
  • Pleasant Retreat ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Pleasant Retreat is located in White County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Retreat
  • Land ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Glades
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Grace ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Grace is located in Lumpkin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grace
  • Garland
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Halfway ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Halfway is located in Lumpkin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halfway
  • Alto
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Longview
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Longview is located in Habersham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longview
    • Aerial
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Aerial is located in Habersham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aerial
    • Nacoochee
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)

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

Newspapers Published in Leo ...

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 Leo.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Leo, there are papers which were published within 13 miles [20.9 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Leo.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to start with 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 Leo:

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>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 Leo, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>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- Leo) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.