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 Florence (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 Florence. 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 southeast 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 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 east 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.
Florence is located in Wright County.
To see how the shape of Iowa's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Wright County: Cerro Gordo, Franklin, Hamilton, Hancock, Hardin, Humboldt, Kossuth & Webster.
Below are the counties that are near Florence. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Florence:
- Wright County (The home county of Florence)
- The following are listed by their distance from Florence, with the one closest to Florence listed first.
- Holmes
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Holmes is located in Wright County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holmes
- Clarion
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Goldfield
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Eagle Grove
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Cornelia
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Cornelia is located in Wright County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cornelia
- Woolstock
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Woolstock is located in Wright County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woolstock
- Population from the 2020 Census: 159 people
- Galt
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Solberg ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Solberg is located in Wright County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Solberg
- Rowan
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Olaf
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Olaf is located in Wright County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olaf
- Belmond
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Dows
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Cerro Gordo County
- The following are listed by their distance from Florence, with the one closest to Florence listed first.
- Meservey
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Meservey is located in Cerro Gordo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meservey
- Population from the 2020 Census: 237 people
- Thornton
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Thornton is located in Cerro Gordo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thornton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 401 people
- Franklin County
- The following are listed by their distance from Florence, with the one closest to Florence listed first.
- Alexander
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Alexander is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alexander
- Population from the 2020 Census: 159 people
- Oakland
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Oakland is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakland
- Popejoy
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Popejoy is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Popejoy
- Population from the 2020 Census: 74 people
- Coulter
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Coulter is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coulter
- Population from the 2020 Census: 261 people
- Latimer
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Reeve
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Reeve is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reeve
- Bradford
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Bradford is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bradford
- Hamilton County
- The following are listed by their distance from Florence, with the one closest to Florence listed first.
- Webster City
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Blairsburg
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Blairsburg is located in Hamilton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blairsburg
- Population from the 2020 Census: 199 people
- Williams
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Kamrar
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Jewell
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Jewell is located in Hamilton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jewell
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,138 people
- Jewell has also been known as:
- Jewell Junction
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Jewell <1>
- Stanhope
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Stanhope is located in Hamilton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stanhope
- Population from the 2020 Census: 394 people
- Ellsworth
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Stratford
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Hancock County
- The following are listed by their distance from Florence, with the one closest to Florence listed first.
- Kanawha
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Goodell
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Goodell is located in Hancock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodell
- Population from the 2020 Census: 126 people
- Corwith
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Corwith is located in Hancock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corwith
- Population from the 2020 Census: 245 people
- Klemme
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Britt
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Hutchins
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Hutchins is located in Hancock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hutchins
- Duncan
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Duncan is located in Hancock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duncan
- Garner
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Hardin County
- The following are listed by their distance from Florence, with the one closest to Florence listed first.
- Alden
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Buckeye
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Buckeye is located in Hardin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckeye
- Population from the 2020 Census: 107 people
- Iowa Falls
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Humboldt County
- The following are listed by their distance from Florence, with the one closest to Florence listed first.
- Renwick
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Thor
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Hardy
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Hardy is located in Humboldt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hardy
- Population from the 2020 Census: 41 people
- Dakota City
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Arnold
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Arnold is located in Humboldt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arnold
- Humboldt
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Livermore
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Livermore is located in Humboldt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Livermore
- Population from the 2020 Census: 361 people
- Rutland
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Rutland is located in Humboldt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rutland
- Population from the 2020 Census: 121 people
- Bode
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Bode is located in Humboldt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bode
- Population from the 2020 Census: 286 people
- Pioneer
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Pioneer is located in Humboldt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pioneer
- Population from the 2020 Census: 22 people
- Kossuth County
- The following are listed by their distance from Florence, with the one closest to Florence listed first.
- Lu Verne
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Wesley
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Wesley is located in Kossuth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wesley
- Population from the 2020 Census: 364 people
- Irvington
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Irvington is located in Kossuth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irvington
- Sexton
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Sexton is located in Kossuth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sexton
- Webster County
- The following are listed by their distance from Florence, with the one closest to Florence listed first.
- Vincent
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Vincent is located in Webster County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vincent
- Population from the 2020 Census: 158 people
- Badger
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Duncombe
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Brushy
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Brushy is located in Webster County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brushy
- Cypsum City ‑ Historic
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Cypsum City is located in Webster County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cypsum City
- Evanston
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Evanston is located in Webster County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evanston
- Fort Dodge
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Coalville
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Coalville is located in Webster County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coalville
- Border Plains
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Border Plains is located in Webster County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Border Plains
- Kalo
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Kalo is located in Webster County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kalo
- Otho
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Lehigh
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Florence, see our County-by-County Page for Florence.
Cemeteries Near Florence ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Florence.
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 Florence - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Florence covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Florence, with the one closest to Florence listed first.
- Amish Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Holmes Lutheran Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Eagle Grove Twp. Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- St. Josephs Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Evergreen Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Evergreen Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the east of Clarion.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #94705 <3>
- Wright County Burying Grounds
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Calvary Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calvary Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Calvary Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located less than 2 miles<2> to the west of Eagle Grove.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #94389 <3>
- Rose Hill Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rose Hill Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Rose Hill Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located less than 2 miles<2> to the west of Eagle Grove.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #95993 <3>
- St. Johns Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for St. Johns Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the St. Johns Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the east of Clarion.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #96109 <3>
- Glenwood Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenwood Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Glenwood Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the northwest of Goldfield.
- The Glenwood Cemetery has also been known as:
- Goldfield Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #94877 <3>
- Schwenck Family Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Woolstock Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Continue List (148 more) ...
- Troy Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Troy Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Troy Cemetery is located 4 miles [6.4 km]<2> to the northwest of Woolstock.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #96507 <3>
- Norway Twp. Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- French Church Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 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.<4>
While we didn't find Florence in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Florence.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Florence, with the one closest to Florence listed first.
- Holmes
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Holmes is located in Wright County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holmes
- Clarion
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Goldfield
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Woolstock
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Woolstock is located in Wright County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woolstock
- Population from the 2020 Census: 159 people
- Galt
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Renwick
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Thor
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Vincent
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Vincent is located in Webster County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vincent
- Population from the 2020 Census: 158 people
- Rowan
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Olaf
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Olaf is located in Wright County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olaf
- Hardy
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Hardy is located in Humboldt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hardy
- Population from the 2020 Census: 41 people
- Belmond
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Webster City
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Dows
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Badger
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Florence. See our List of 1890's Communities around Florence.
Newspapers Published in Florence ...
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 72 newspapers that have been published in the area around Florence.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Florence, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Florence.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we 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 Florence:
- Websites specific to Iowa
- Pages specific to Wright County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Cerro Gordo County
- Franklin County
- Hamilton County
- Hancock County
- Hardin County
- Humboldt County
- Kossuth County
- Webster County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Iowa
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> | 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Florence) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <3> | 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. |
| <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 Florence, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |