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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 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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

Florence is located in Williamson County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Williamson County: Bastrop, Bell, Burnet, Lee, Milam & Travis.

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:

  • Williamson County     (The home county of Florence)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Florence, with the one closest to Florence listed first.
    • Andice
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Sun City
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Sun City is located in Williamson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sun City
    • Jarrell
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Serenada
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Serenada is located in Williamson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Serenada
    • Walburg
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Liberty Hill
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Georgetown
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Schwertner
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Weir
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Weir is located in Williamson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weir
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 549 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Weir <1>
    • Leander
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Leander is located in Williamson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leander
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 70,519 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Leander <1>
    • Granger
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Brushy Creek
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Brushy Creek is located in Williamson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brushy Creek
    • Cedar Park
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
  • Bell County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Florence, with the one closest to Florence listed first.
    • Ding Dong
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Ding Dong is located in Bell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ding Dong
    • Maxdale ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Maxdale is located in Bell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maxdale
    • Harker Heights
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Salado
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Killeen
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Nolanville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Chaffee Village
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Chaffee Village is located in Bell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chaffee Village
    • Copperas Cove
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Fort Hood
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • McNair Village
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • McNair Village is located in Bell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McNair Village
    • Walker Village
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Walker Village is located in Bell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walker Village
    • Bartlett
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Holland
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
  • Burnet County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Florence, with the one closest to Florence listed first.
    • Briggs
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Bertram
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Oatmeal
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Burnet
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Mormon Mill ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Mormon Mill is located in Burnet County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mormon Mill
      • Mormon Mill has also been known as:
      • Mormon Colony
  • Coryell County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Florence, with the one closest to Florence listed first.
    • Montague Village
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Montague Village is located in Coryell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montague Village
    • Comanche Village I
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Comanche Village I is located in Coryell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Comanche Village I
    • Comanche Village II
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Comanche Village II is located in Coryell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Comanche Village II
    • Comanche Village III
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Comanche Village III is located in Coryell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Comanche Village III
    • Mason Crossing ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Mason Crossing is located in Coryell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mason Crossing
    • Saint Elijah Village
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Saint Elijah Village is located in Coryell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Elijah Village
  • Lampasas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Florence, with the one closest to Florence listed first.
    • Kempner
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Sparks Crossing ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Sparks Crossing is located in Lampasas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sparks Crossing
    • Lampasas
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Milam County
  • Travis County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Florence, with the one closest to Florence listed first.
    • Nameless ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Nameless is located in Travis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nameless
      • Nameless has also been known as:
      • Cross Creek
      • Fairview
    • Jonestown
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Three Points
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Three Points is located in Travis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Three Points
    • Windemere
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Windemere is located in Travis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windemere
    • Kings Village
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Kings Village is located in Travis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings Village
    • Volente
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Wells Branch
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Wells Branch is located in Travis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wells Branch
    • Pflugerville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Lago Vista
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Hudson Bend
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Hudson Bend is located in Travis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hudson Bend

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.

  • Ratliff Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Smart Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Lawler Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Matsler Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Andice Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Wesley Chapel Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Rocky Hollow Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Fairview Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Mahomet Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Gabriel Mills Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Mt. Horeb Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Fore Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (140 more) ...
    • Bullion Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Land Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Buck Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)

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 Florence had a population of 263 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service. In 2020, Florence had a population of 1,304 people.

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

  • Mahomet
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Mahomet is located in Burnet County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mahomet
  • Youngsport
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Youngsport is located in Bell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Youngsport
  • Maxdale ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Maxdale is located in Bell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maxdale
  • Corn Hill
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Corn Hill is located in Williamson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corn Hill
  • Theon
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Theon is located in Williamson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Theon
  • Oakalla
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Oakalla is located in Burnet County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakalla
  • Liberty Hill
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Walburg
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Georgetown
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Bertram
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Salado
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Killeen
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Leander
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Leander is located in Williamson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leander
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 70,519 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Leander <1>
    • Nolanville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Kempner
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)

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 the Vicinity of 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 71 newspapers that have been published in the area around Florence.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Florence. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Florence and those printed in the larger area surrounding Florence.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<4> of Florence.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to 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:

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' (or point-to-point) 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'.