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 Bel-Air (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 Bel-Air. 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 doctors and 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.
Bel-Air is located in McIntosh County.
To see how the shape of Georgia's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of McIntosh County: Glynn, Liberty, Long & Wayne.
Below are the counties that are near Bel-Air. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Bel-Air:
- McIntosh County (The home county of Bel-Air)
- The following are listed by their distance from Bel-Air, with the one closest to Bel-Air listed first.
- Darien
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Doboy ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Doboy is located in McIntosh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doboy
- Population from the 2010 Census: 7,721 people
- Meridian
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Sapelo Island
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Valona
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Crescent
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Credit Hill
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Credit Hill is located in McIntosh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Credit Hill
- Townsend
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Shellman Bluff
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Brantley County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bel-Air, with the one closest to Bel-Air listed first.
- Popwellville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Popwellville is located in Brantley County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Popwellville
- Estimated population in 2019: 692 people
- Waynesville
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Camden County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bel-Air, with the one closest to Bel-Air listed first.
- Hickory Bluff
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Hickory Bluff is located in Camden County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Bluff
- Ella Park ‑ Historic
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Ella Park is located in Camden County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ella Park
- Estimated population in 2019: 1,867 people
- Waverly
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- White Oak
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Glynn County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bel-Air, with the one closest to Bel-Air listed first.
- Groveside Park
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Groveside Park is located in Glynn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Groveside Park
- Estimated population in 2019: 15,152 people
- Country Club Estates
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- German Village
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- German Village is located in Glynn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for German Village
- Glynco
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Shady Acres
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Shady Acres is located in Glynn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Acres
- Estimated population in 2019: 236 people
- Altamaha Park
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Altamaha Park is located in Glynn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Altamaha Park
- Dock Junction
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Dock Junction is located in Glynn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dock Junction
- Epworth Acres
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Epworth Acres is located in Glynn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Epworth Acres
- Population from the 2010 Census: 480 people
- Saint Simon Mills
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Saint Simon Mills is located in Glynn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Simon Mills
- Population from the 2010 Census: 12,743 people
- Sea Island
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Jewtown
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Jewtown is located in Glynn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jewtown
- Blythe Island
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Blythe Island is located in Glynn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blythe Island
- Estimated population in 2019: 711 people
- Liberty County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bel-Air, with the one closest to Bel-Air listed first.
- Riceboro
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Screven Fork
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Screven Fork is located in Liberty County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Screven Fork
- Estimated population in 2019: 771 people
- Sunbury
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Midway
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Walthourville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Allenhurst
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Long County
- Ludowici
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Wayne County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bel-Air, with the one closest to Bel-Air listed first.
- Pendarvis
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Pendarvis is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pendarvis
- Estimated population in 2019: 562 people
- Doctortown
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Doctortown is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doctortown
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Bel-Air, see our County-by-County Page for Bel-Air.
Cemeteries Near Bel-Air ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Bel-Air.
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 Bel-Air - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Bel-Air covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Bel-Air, with the one closest to Bel-Air listed first.
- Indian Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Butler Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- St. Andrews Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Upper Mill Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Whispering Pines Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Powell Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Old Slave Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Petersville Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Cuthbert - Grant Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- King Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Hudson Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Freedman Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Continue List (93 more) ...
- Memory Gardens
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Hutchinson Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Old Sailors Burying Ground
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
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.<2>
While we didn't find Bel-Air in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Bel-Air.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Bel-Air, with the one closest to Bel-Air listed first.
- Darien
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Ridgeville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Ridgeville is located in McIntosh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgeville
- Evelyn
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Evelyn is located in Glynn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evelyn
- Doboy ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Doboy is located in McIntosh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doboy
- Population from the 2010 Census: 7,721 people
- Pennick
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Pennick is located in Glynn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pennick
- Dock Junction
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Dock Junction is located in Glynn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dock Junction
- Jamaica
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Jamaica is located in Glynn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamaica
- Brunswick
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Mount Pleasant
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Mount Pleasant is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Pleasant
- Fancy Bluff
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Fancy Bluff is located in Glynn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fancy Bluff
- South Newport
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- South Newport is located in McIntosh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Newport
- Ella Park ‑ Historic
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Ella Park is located in Camden County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ella Park
- Estimated population in 2019: 1,867 people
- Continue List (4 more) ...
- Riceboro
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Gardi
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Gardi is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gardi
- Walthourville
(29 miles [46.7 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 Bel-Air. See our List of 1890's Communities around Bel-Air.
Newspapers Published in Bel-Air ...
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 35 newspapers that have been published in the area around Bel-Air.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Bel-Air, there are papers which were published within 15 miles [24.1 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Bel-Air.
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 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 Bel-Air:
- Websites specific to Georgia
- Pages specific to McIntosh County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Brantley County
- Camden County
- Glynn County
- Liberty County
- Long County
- Wayne County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Georgia
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> | 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 Bel-Air, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Bel-Air) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |