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 Melvins Crossroads (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 Melvins Crossroads. 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 Melvins Crossroads ...
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.
- A typical abbreviation for Melvins Crossroads: Melvins Xrds.
- While the name of this community is Melvins Crossroads, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Melvins Crossroads may originally have been Melvin's Crossroads.
Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Melvins Crossroads might be written as Melvin Crossroads.
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 southeast 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 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.
Melvins Crossroads is located in Kent County.
To see how the shape of Delaware's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Kent County: New Castle, Sussex, Caroline (MD), Kent (MD), Queen Anne's (MD), Cape May (NJ), Cumberland (NJ) & Salem (NJ).
Below are the counties that are near Melvins Crossroads. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Melvins Crossroads:
- Kent County (The home county of Melvins Crossroads)
- The following are listed by their distance from Melvins Crossroads, with the one closest to Melvins Crossroads listed first.
- Houston
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Church Hill Village
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Church Hill Village is located in Kent County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Church Hill Village
- Harrington
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Riverview
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Riverview is located in Kent County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverview
- Frederica
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Felton
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Williamsville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Williamsville is located in Kent County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williamsville
- Summerfield Village
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Summerfield Village is located in Kent County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summerfield Village
- Viola
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Woods Haven
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Woods Haven is located in Kent County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woods Haven
- Milford
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Alexanders Village
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Alexanders Village is located in Kent County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alexanders Village
- Farmington
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- New Castle County
- The following are listed by their distance from Melvins Crossroads, with the one closest to Melvins Crossroads listed first.
- Deakyneville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Deakyneville is located in New Castle County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deakyneville
- Blackbird
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Blackbird is located in New Castle County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackbird
- Forest
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Forest is located in New Castle County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest
- Vandyke
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Vandyke is located in New Castle County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vandyke
- Sussex County
- The following are listed by their distance from Melvins Crossroads, with the one closest to Melvins Crossroads listed first.
- Lincoln Village
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Lincoln Village is located in Sussex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln Village
- Lincoln
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Banning ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Banning is located in Sussex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Banning
- Greenwood
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Anderson Crossroads
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Anderson Crossroads is located in Sussex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anderson Crossroads
- Argo Corners
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Argo Corners is located in Sussex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Argo Corners
- Slaughter Beach
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Ellendale
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Jefferson Crossroads
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Jefferson Crossroads is located in Sussex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jefferson Crossroads
- Scotts Corner
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Scotts Corner is located in Sussex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scotts Corner
- Bridgeville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Waples
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Waples is located in Sussex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waples
- East Side Village
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- East Side Village is located in Sussex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Side Village
- Caroline County (MD)
- The following are listed by their distance from Melvins Crossroads, with the one closest to Melvins Crossroads listed first.
- Whiteleysburg
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Whiteleysburg is located in Caroline County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whiteleysburg
- Hickman
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Hickman is located in Caroline County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickman
- Goldsboro
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Goldsboro is located in Caroline County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goldsboro
- Population from the 2020 Census: 233 people
- Henderson
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Marydel
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Marydel is located in Caroline County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marydel
- Population from the 2020 Census: 136 people
- Greensboro
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Maple Village
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Maple Village is located in Caroline County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Village
- Oil City
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Oil City is located in Caroline County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oil City
- Templeville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Templeville is located in Caroline County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Templeville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 116 people
- Denton
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Hollingsworth Circle
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Hollingsworth Circle is located in Caroline County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollingsworth Circle
- Hollingsworth Circle has also been known as:
- Hollingsworth Crossroads
- Bridgetown
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Bridgetown is located in Caroline County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bridgetown
- Ridgely
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Ridgely is located in Caroline County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgely
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,655 people
- Dorchester County (MD)
- The following are listed by their distance from Melvins Crossroads, with the one closest to Melvins Crossroads listed first.
- Reliance
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Reliance is located in Dorchester County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reliance
- Finchville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Finchville is located in Dorchester County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Finchville
- Williamsburg
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Williamsburg is located in Dorchester County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williamsburg
- Marshyhope Village
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Marshyhope Village is located in Dorchester County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marshyhope Village
- Galestown
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Galestown is located in Dorchester County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galestown
- Population from the 2020 Census: 135 people
- Eldorado
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Eldorado is located in Dorchester County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eldorado
- Population from the 2020 Census: 57 people
- Hurlock
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Waddells Corner
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Waddells Corner is located in Dorchester County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waddells Corner
- Brookview
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Brookview is located in Dorchester County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookview
- Population from the 2020 Census: 58 people
- Kent County (MD)
- The following are listed by their distance from Melvins Crossroads, with the one closest to Melvins Crossroads listed first.
- Millington
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Massey
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Lambson
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Lambson is located in Kent County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lambson
- Queen Anne's County (MD)
- The following are listed by their distance from Melvins Crossroads, with the one closest to Melvins Crossroads listed first.
- Ingleside
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Ingleside is located in Queen Anne's County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ingleside
- Barclay
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Barclay is located in Queen Anne's County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barclay
- Population from the 2020 Census: 165 people
- Roe
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Roe is located in Queen Anne's County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roe
- Roberts
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Roberts is located in Queen Anne's County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roberts
- Sudlersville
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Queen Anne
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Ruthsburg
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Ruthsburg is located in Queen Anne's County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruthsburg
- Price
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Price is located in Queen Anne's County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Price
- Willoughby
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Willoughby is located in Queen Anne's County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willoughby
- Church Hill
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- The Village at Church Hill Crossing
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Crumpton
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Centreville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Talbot County (MD)
- The following are listed by their distance from Melvins Crossroads, with the one closest to Melvins Crossroads listed first.
- Tappers Corner
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Tappers Corner is located in Talbot County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tappers Corner
- Cordova
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Woodland
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Woodland is located in Talbot County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland
- Skipton
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Skipton is located in Talbot County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skipton
- Wye Mills
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Cape May County (NJ)
- North Cape May
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- North Cape May is located in Cape May County (NJ)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Cape May
- Cumberland County (NJ)
- The following are listed by their distance from Melvins Crossroads, with the one closest to Melvins Crossroads listed first.
- Bay Side
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Bay Side is located in Cumberland County (NJ)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bay Side
- Cedarville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Cedarville is located in Cumberland County (NJ)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedarville
- Turkey Point Corner
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Turkey Point Corner is located in Cumberland County (NJ)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turkey Point Corner
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Melvins Crossroads, see our County-by-County Page for Melvins Crossroads.
Cemeteries Near Melvins Crossroads ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Melvins Crossroads.
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 Melvins Crossroads - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Melvins Crossroads covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Melvins Crossroads, with the one closest to Melvins Crossroads listed first.
- Thistlewood Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Hollywood Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- St. James Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Williamsville Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Griffiths Chapel Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- IOOF Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Milford Community Cemetery (New)
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Odd Fellows Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Odd Fellows Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Odd Fellows Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Milford.
- The Odd Fellows Cemetery has also been known as:
- Milford Community Cemetery (Old)
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1963823 <3>
- Levi Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- John Wesley Church Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Barratts Chapel Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Hopkins Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Continue List (168 more) ...
- Tharp Family Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Christ Episcopal Church Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Methodist Episcopal 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.<4>
While we didn't find Melvins Crossroads in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Melvins Crossroads.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Melvins Crossroads, with the one closest to Melvins Crossroads listed first.
- Harrington
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Frederica
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Felton
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Canterbury
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Canterbury is located in Kent County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canterbury
- Viola
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Milford
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Farmington
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Woodside
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Thompsonville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Thompsonville is located in Kent County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thompsonville
- Magnolia
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Hollandsville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Hollandsville is located in Kent County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollandsville
- Vernon
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Vernon is located in Kent County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vernon
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Lincoln
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Petersburg
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Petersburg is located in Kent County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Petersburg
- Brownsville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Brownsville is located in Kent County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brownsville
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Melvins Crossroads. See our List of 1890's Communities around Melvins Crossroads.
Newspapers Published in Melvins Crossroads ...
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 3 newspapers that have been published in the area around Melvins Crossroads.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Melvins Crossroads, there are papers which were published within 8 miles [12.9 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Melvins Crossroads.
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 helpful 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 Melvins Crossroads:
- Websites specific to Delaware
- Pages specific to Kent County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- New Castle County
- Sussex County
- Caroline County
- Dorchester County
- Kent County
- Queen Anne's County
- Talbot County
- Cape May County
- Cumberland County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Delaware
Footnotes ...
| <1> | It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties). |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 Melvins Crossroads, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <5> | 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- Melvins Crossroads) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |