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 Ralphs (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 Ralphs. 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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.
Ralphs is located in Sussex 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 Sussex County: Kent, Caroline (MD), Dorchester (MD), Wicomico (MD), Worcester (MD) & Cape May (NJ).
Below are the counties that are near Ralphs. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Ralphs:
- Sussex County (The home county of Ralphs)
- The following are listed by their distance from Ralphs, with the one closest to Ralphs listed first.
- Bethel
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Delmar
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Laurel
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Ward
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Ward is located in Sussex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ward
- Blades
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Blades is located in Sussex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blades
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,498 people
- Heritage Village
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Heritage Village is located in Sussex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heritage Village
- Ross
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Ross is located in Sussex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ross
- Seaford
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Reliance
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Reliance is located in Sussex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reliance
- Briar Hook
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Briar Hook is located in Sussex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Briar Hook
- Mission
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Mission is located in Sussex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mission
- Bridgeville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Kent County
- The following are listed by their distance from Ralphs, with the one closest to Ralphs listed first.
- Adamsville
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Adamsville is located in Kent County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adamsville
- Hickman
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Hickman is located in Kent County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickman
- Andrewsville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Andrewsville is located in Kent County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Andrewsville
- Farmington
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Vernon
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Vernon is located in Kent County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vernon
- Brownsville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Brownsville is located in Kent County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brownsville
- Williamsville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Williamsville is located in Kent County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williamsville
- Harrington
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Houston
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Milford
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Caroline County (MD)
- The following are listed by their distance from Ralphs, with the one closest to Ralphs listed first.
- Federalsburg
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Hynson
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Hynson is located in Caroline County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hynson
- Preston
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Grove
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Grove is located in Caroline County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grove
- Hickman
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Hickman is located in Caroline County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickman
- Bethlehem
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Bethlehem is located in Caroline County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bethlehem
- Tanyard
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Tanyard is located in Caroline County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tanyard
- Tuckahoe Springs
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Tuckahoe Springs is located in Caroline County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tuckahoe Springs
- Denton
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Oil City
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Oil City is located in Caroline County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oil City
- Griffin
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Griffin is located in Caroline County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Griffin
- Dorchester County (MD)
- The following are listed by their distance from Ralphs, with the one closest to Ralphs listed first.
- Galestown
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Galestown is located in Dorchester County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galestown
- Population from the 2020 Census: 135 people
- Walnut Landing
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Walnut Landing is located in Dorchester County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Landing
- Brookview
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Brookview is located in Dorchester County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookview
- Population from the 2020 Census: 58 people
- Eldorado
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Eldorado is located in Dorchester County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eldorado
- Population from the 2020 Census: 57 people
- Reliance
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Reliance is located in Dorchester County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reliance
- Rabbit Town
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Rabbit Town is located in Dorchester County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rabbit Town
- Vienna
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Finchville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Finchville is located in Dorchester County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Finchville
- Rhodesdale
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Marshyhope Village
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Marshyhope Village is located in Dorchester County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marshyhope Village
- Salem
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Salem is located in Dorchester County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salem
- Hurlock
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Somerset County (MD)
- The following are listed by their distance from Ralphs, with the one closest to Ralphs listed first.
- Eden
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Eden is located in Somerset County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eden
- Loretto
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Loretto is located in Somerset County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loretto
- Princess Anne
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Mount Vernon
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Mount Vernon is located in Somerset County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Vernon
- Monie
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Monie is located in Somerset County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monie
- Oriole
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Oriole is located in Somerset County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oriole
- Champ
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Champ is located in Somerset County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Champ
- Somersett Town ‑ Historic
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Somersett Town is located in Somerset County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Somersett Town
- Dames Quarter
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Westover
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Costen
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Costen is located in Somerset County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Costen
- Manokin
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Manokin is located in Somerset County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manokin
- Talbot County (MD)
- The following are listed by their distance from Ralphs, with the one closest to Ralphs listed first.
- Trappe
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Easton
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Talbot Village
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Talbot Village is located in Talbot County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Talbot Village
- Wicomico County (MD)
- The following are listed by their distance from Ralphs, with the one closest to Ralphs listed first.
- Delmar
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Sharptown
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Sharptown is located in Wicomico County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sharptown
- Population from the 2020 Census: 664 people
- Hebron
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Cedar Hurst Village
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Cedar Hurst Village is located in Wicomico County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Hurst Village
- Rockawalking Village
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Rockawalking Village is located in Wicomico County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockawalking Village
- Mardela Springs
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Mardela Springs is located in Wicomico County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mardela Springs
- Population from the 2020 Census: 351 people
- Centennial Village
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Centennial Village is located in Wicomico County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centennial Village
- Salisbury
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- White Plains
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- White Plains is located in Wicomico County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Plains
- Quantico
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Dogwood Village
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Dogwood Village is located in Wicomico County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dogwood Village
- Parsonsburg
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Worcester County (MD)
- The following are listed by their distance from Ralphs, with the one closest to Ralphs listed first.
- Whaleyville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Bishop
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Bishop is located in Worcester County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bishop
- Bishopville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Showell
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Showell is located in Worcester County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Showell
- Berlin
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Berlin is located in Worcester County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berlin
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,940 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Berlin <1>
- Newark
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Snow Hill
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Ocean Pines
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Cedartown
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Cedartown is located in Worcester County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedartown
- West Ocean City
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- West Ocean City is located in Worcester County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Ocean City
- Pocomoke City
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Pocomoke City is located in Worcester County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pocomoke City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,095 people
- Former names for Pocomoke City:
- New Town
- Stevens Landing
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pocomoke City <1>
- Girdletree
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Girdletree is located in Worcester County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Girdletree
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Ralphs, see our County-by-County Page for Ralphs.
Cemeteries Near Ralphs ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Ralphs.
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 Ralphs - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Ralphs covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Ralphs, with the one closest to Ralphs listed first.
- Ralphs Hill Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- St. Stephens Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Odd Fellows Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Odd Fellows Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Odd Fellows Cemetery is located outside and to the southwest of Laurel.
- Laurel Hill Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurel Hill Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Laurel Hill Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the southwest of Laurel.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #104388 <2>
- New Mt. Zion Methodist Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Robinson Family Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Firemans Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Zion UMC Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Zion Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Spring Hill Memorial Garden
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Nichols Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Hebron Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (249 more) ...
- Oliphant Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Woodland Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Barren Creek Springs Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 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>
While we didn't find Ralphs in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Ralphs.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Ralphs, with the one closest to Ralphs listed first.
- Columbia
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Columbia is located in Sussex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Columbia
- Delmar
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Bethel
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Hebron
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Laurel
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Sharptown
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Sharptown is located in Wicomico County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sharptown
- Population from the 2020 Census: 664 people
- Broad Creek
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Broad Creek is located in Sussex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Broad Creek
- Galestown
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Galestown is located in Dorchester County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galestown
- Population from the 2020 Census: 135 people
- Riverton
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Riverton is located in Wicomico County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverton
- Woodland
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Woodland is located in Sussex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland
- Walnut Landing
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Walnut Landing is located in Dorchester County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Landing
- Ward
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Ward is located in Sussex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ward
- Continue List (16 more) ...
- Athol
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Athol is located in Wicomico County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Athol
- Salisbury
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Brookview
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Brookview is located in Dorchester County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookview
- Population from the 2020 Census: 58 people
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Ralphs. See our List of 1890's Communities around Ralphs.
Newspapers Published in Ralphs ...
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 29 newspapers that have been published in the area around Ralphs.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Ralphs, there are papers which were published within 9 miles [14.5 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Ralphs.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 Ralphs:
- Websites specific to Delaware
- Pages specific to Sussex County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Kent County
- Caroline County
- Dorchester County
- Somerset County
- Talbot County
- Wicomico County
- Worcester County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Delaware
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 Ralphs, 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- Ralphs) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |