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A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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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 Florida (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 Florida. 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.

Florida is located in Madison County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Madison County: Delaware, Grant, Hamilton, Hancock, Henry & Tipton.

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

  • Madison County     (The home county of Florida)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Florida, with the one closest to Florida listed first.
    • Prosperity
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Woodlawn Heights
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Woodlawn Heights is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodlawn Heights
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 73 people
    • Country Club Heights
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Country Club Heights is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Country Club Heights
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 77 people
    • North Anderson
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • River Forest
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • River Forest is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River Forest
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 22 people
    • Western Village
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Western Village is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Western Village
    • Anderson
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Edgewood
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Edgewood is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgewood
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,850 people
    • Glyn Ellen
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Edgewood Village
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Edgewood Village is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgewood Village
    • Frankton
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Gimco City
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Gimco City is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gimco City
    • Alexandria
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Blackford County
  • Delaware County
  • Grant County
  • Hamilton County
  • Hancock County
  • Henry County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Florida, with the one closest to Florida listed first.
    • Middletown
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Sulphur Springs
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Sulphur Springs is located in Henry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sulphur Springs
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 371 people
    • Cadiz
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Springport
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Luray
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Kennard
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Kennard is located in Henry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kennard
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 446 people
    • Mount Summit
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Foley
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Grant City
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Greensboro
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Greensboro is located in Henry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greensboro
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 137 people
    • New Castle
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Blountsville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Blountsville is located in Henry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blountsville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 128 people
    • Messick
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Howard County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Florida, with the one closest to Florida listed first.
    • Guy
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Jerome
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Greentown
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Hemlock
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Hemlock is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hemlock
    • Oakford
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Indian Heights
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Indian Heights is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Heights
    • Vermont
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Plevna
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Alto
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Jay County
    • Dunkirk
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Kosciusko County
  • Marion County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Florida, with the one closest to Florida listed first.
    • Castleton
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Lawrence
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Cumberland
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Williams Creek
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Williams Creek is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williams Creek
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 429 people
    • Meridian Hills
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Meridian Hills is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meridian Hills
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,718 people
  • Miami County
  • Randolph County
  • Rush County
  • Tipton County
  • Wayne County

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

Cemeteries Near Florida ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Florida.

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

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

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

  • Moss Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • West Maplewood Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Maplewood Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Funk Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • St. Marys Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Nelson Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Wesley Chapel Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Donahue Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Harmeson Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Vandeventer Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Moonville Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Holson Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (345 more) ...
    • IOOF Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Pleasant Walk Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Bronnenberg Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)

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.<3>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Florida had a population of 98 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service.

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

  • Linwood
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Linwood is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Linwood
  • Anderson
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Frankton
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Chesterfield
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Alexandria
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Orestes
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Orestes is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orestes
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 403 people
  • Dundee
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Daleville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Perkinsville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Fishersburg
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Fishersburg is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fishersburg
  • Lapel
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Lapel is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lapel
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,412 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lapel <1>
  • Alliance
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Alliance is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alliance
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in Florida ...

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 90 newspapers that have been published in the area around Florida.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Florida, there are papers which were published within 19 miles [30.6 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Florida.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin with 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 Florida:

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>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 Florida, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Florida) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.