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 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 Rutherford County.
To see how the shape of Tennessee's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Rutherford County: Bedford, Cannon, Coffee, Davidson, Marshall, Williamson & Wilson.
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:
- Rutherford County (The home county of Florence)
- The following are listed by their distance from Florence, with the one closest to Florence listed first.
- Colonial Village
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Colonial Village is located in Rutherford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colonial Village
- Jamestown
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Jamestown is located in Rutherford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamestown
- Estimated population in 2014: 1,940 people
- Leanna
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Leanna is located in Rutherford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leanna
- Smyrna
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Walter Hill Estates
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Walter Hill Estates is located in Rutherford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walter Hill Estates
- Population from the 2010 Census: 401 people
- Walterhill
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Walterhill is located in Rutherford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walterhill
- Fairfield Estates
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Fairfield Estates is located in Rutherford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairfield Estates
- Population from the 2010 Census: 131 people
- Jefferson Pike
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Jefferson Pike is located in Rutherford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jefferson Pike
- Estimated population in 2014: 8,370 people
- Murfreesboro
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Snell ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Snell is located in Rutherford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Snell
- Estimated population in 2014: 1,361 people
- Compton
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Compton is located in Rutherford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Compton
- Murphree
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Murphree is located in Rutherford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Murphree
- Estimated population in 2014: 120,954 people
- La Vergne
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Bedford County
- The following are listed by their distance from Florence, with the one closest to Florence listed first.
- Longview
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Longview is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longview
- Vannatta
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Vannatta is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vannatta
- Estimated population in 2014: 398 people
- Unionville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Bell Buckle
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Anchor Mill ‑ Historic
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Anchor Mill is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anchor Mill
- Wartrace
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Shelbyville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Haley
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Haley is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haley
- Cannon County
- The following are listed by their distance from Florence, with the one closest to Florence listed first.
- Bradyville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Bradyville is located in Cannon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bradyville
- Auburntown
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Auburntown is located in Cannon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Auburntown
- Population from the 2020 Census: 266 people
- Burt
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Burt is located in Cannon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burt
- Woodbury
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Burgen
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Burgen is located in Cannon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burgen
- Hollow Springs
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Hollow Springs is located in Cannon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollow Springs
- Estimated population in 2014: 706 people
- Gassaway
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Gassaway is located in Cannon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gassaway
- Manus Town ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Manus Town is located in Cannon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manus Town
- Bluewing
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Bluewing is located in Cannon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluewing
- Thomas Town ‑ Historic
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Thomas Town is located in Cannon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thomas Town
- Woods
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Woods is located in Cannon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woods
- Coffee County
- The following are listed by their distance from Florence, with the one closest to Florence listed first.
- Gossburg
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Gossburg is located in Coffee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gossburg
- Beechgrove
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Davidson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Florence, with the one closest to Florence listed first.
- Rural Hill
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Rural Hill is located in Davidson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rural Hill
- Population from the 2010 Census: 2,007 people
- Priest Lake Park
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Priest Lake Park is located in Davidson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Priest Lake Park
- Wrencoe
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Wrencoe is located in Davidson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wrencoe
- Antioch
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Nashboro Village
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Nashboro Village is located in Davidson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nashboro Village
- Whispering Hills
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Whispering Hills is located in Davidson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whispering Hills
- Paragon Mills
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Paragon Mills is located in Davidson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paragon Mills
- Dog Town ‑ Historic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Dog Town is located in Davidson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dog Town
- Donelson
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Donelson is located in Davidson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Donelson
- Mudtavern
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Mudtavern is located in Davidson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mudtavern
- Oak Hill
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Oak Hill is located in Davidson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Hill
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,432 people
- Berry Hill
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Berry Hill is located in Davidson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berry Hill
- Population from the 2020 Census: 492 people
- Hermitage
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- DeKalb County
- The following are listed by their distance from Florence, with the one closest to Florence listed first.
- Alexandria
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Liberty
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Liberty is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty
- Population from the 2020 Census: 330 people
- Dowelltown
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Marshall County
- The following are listed by their distance from Florence, with the one closest to Florence listed first.
- Holts Corner
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Holts Corner is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holts Corner
- Chapel Hill
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Caney Spring
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Caney Spring is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caney Spring
- Anes
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Anes is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anes
- Maury County
- New Town
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- New Town is located in Maury County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Town
- Smith County
- The following are listed by their distance from Florence, with the one closest to Florence listed first.
- Brush Creek
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Brush Creek is located in Smith County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brush Creek
- Shaver Town
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Shaver Town is located in Smith County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shaver Town
- Sumner County
- The following are listed by their distance from Florence, with the one closest to Florence listed first.
- Driftwood Park
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Driftwood Park is located in Sumner County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Driftwood Park
- Estimated population in 2014: 2,908 people
- Hendersonville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Williamson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Florence, with the one closest to Florence listed first.
- Nolensville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Arrington
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- College Grove
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Clovercroft
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Clovercroft is located in Williamson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clovercroft
- Brentwood
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Peytonsville
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Peytonsville is located in Williamson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peytonsville
- McEwen ‑ Historic
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- McEwen is located in Williamson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McEwen
- Estimated population in 2014: 1,699 people
- Franklin
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Harpeth
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Harpeth is located in Williamson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harpeth
- Lynnwood Downs
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Lynnwood Downs is located in Williamson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lynnwood Downs
- Estimated population in 2014: 282 people
- Duplex
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Duplex is located in Williamson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duplex
- Parry
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Parry is located in Williamson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parry
- Estimated population in 2014: 262 people
- Wildwood Estates
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Wildwood Estates is located in Williamson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wildwood Estates
- Population from the 2010 Census: 1,098 people
- Wilson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Florence, with the one closest to Florence listed first.
- Cainsville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Cainsville is located in Wilson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cainsville
- Gladeville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Rural Hill
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Rural Hill is located in Wilson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rural Hill
- Belinda City
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Belinda City is located in Wilson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belinda City
- Leeville
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Leeville is located in Wilson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leeville
- Lynn Christie
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Lynn Christie is located in Wilson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lynn Christie
- Estimated population in 2011: 6,411 people
- Doaks Crossroads
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Doaks Crossroads is located in Wilson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doaks Crossroads
- Doaks Crossroads has also been known as:
- Doaks
- Beckwith
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Beckwith is located in Wilson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beckwith
- Mount Juliet
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Statesville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Statesville is located in Wilson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Statesville
- Greenwood
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Greenwood is located in Wilson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwood
- Lebanon
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Linwood
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Linwood is located in Wilson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Linwood
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.
- Seward Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Tucker Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Roselawn Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Hicks Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Miles Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Bell Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Neal - Wade Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Sikes Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Burleson Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Baugh Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Ward Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Bass Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (1498 more) ...
- Howse Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Reed - Woods Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Seminary Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 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>
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.
- Smyrna
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Walterhill
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Walterhill is located in Rutherford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walterhill
- Snell ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Snell is located in Rutherford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Snell
- Estimated population in 2014: 1,361 people
- Murfreesboro
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Rocky Fork
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Rocky Fork is located in Rutherford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Fork
- Almaville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Almaville is located in Rutherford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Almaville
- Overall
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Overall is located in Rutherford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Overall
- Compton
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Compton is located in Rutherford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Compton
- La Vergne
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Patterson
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Patterson is located in Rutherford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Patterson
- Sharpsville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Sharpsville is located in Rutherford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sharpsville
- Vesta
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Vesta is located in Wilson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vesta
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- Triune
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Triune is located in Williamson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Triune
- Rockvale
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Crescent
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Crescent is located in Rutherford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crescent
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 36 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 6 miles [9.7 km]<4>. 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 like to start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These websites either 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 Tennessee
- Pages specific to Rutherford County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Bedford County
- Cannon County
- Coffee County
- Davidson County
- DeKalb County
- Marshall County
- Maury County
- Smith County
- Sumner County
- Williamson County
- Wilson County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Tennessee
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 Florence, 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Florence) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |