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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 The Bluff (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 The Bluff. 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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

The Bluff is located in Chatham County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Chatham County: Bryan, Effingham & Jasper (SC).

Below are the counties that are near The Bluff. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to The Bluff:

  • Chatham County     (The home county of The Bluff)
    • The following are listed by their distance from The Bluff, with the one closest to The Bluff listed first.
    • Isle of Armstrong
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Isle of Armstrong have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Isle of Armstrong
      • Isle of Armstrong is located in Chatham County
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 2,402 people
    • Thunderbolt
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Thunderbolt have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thunderbolt
      • Thunderbolt is located in Chatham County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,601 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Thunderbolt <2>
    • Whitemarsh Island
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Whitemarsh Island have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitemarsh Island
      • Whitemarsh Island is located in Chatham County
    • Robert M Hitch Village
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Robert M Hitch Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robert M Hitch Village
      • Robert M Hitch Village is located in Chatham County
    • Bona Bella
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bona Bella have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bona Bella
      • Bona Bella is located in Chatham County
    • Savannah
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Golden Isles
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Abercorn Heights
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abercorn Heights
      • Abercorn Heights is located in Chatham County
    • Carver Village
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Carver Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carver Village
      • Carver Village is located in Chatham County
    • Isle of Hope
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Isle of Hope have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Isle of Hope
      • Isle of Hope is located in Chatham County
    • Florida Junction
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Florida Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florida Junction
      • Florida Junction is located in Chatham County
    • Liberty City
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Liberty City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty City
      • Liberty City is located in Chatham County
  • Bryan County
    • The following are listed by their distance from The Bluff, with the one closest to The Bluff listed first.
    • Fort McAllister
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort McAllister
      • Fort McAllister is located in Bryan County
    • Richmond Hill
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Keller
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Keller. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keller
      • Keller is located in Bryan County
    • Ellabell
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
  • Effingham County
    • The following are listed by their distance from The Bluff, with the one closest to The Bluff listed first.
    • Exley
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Exley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Exley
      • Exley is located in Effingham County
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 2,894 people
    • Rincon
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rincon have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rincon
      • Rincon is located in Effingham County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,655 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rincon <2>
    • Meldrim
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Meldrim have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meldrim
      • Meldrim is located in Effingham County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Meldrim <2>
    • Eden
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Marlow
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marlow
      • Marlow is located in Effingham County
    • Springfield
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Guyton
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guyton
      • Guyton is located in Effingham County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,371 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Guyton <2>
    • Haddonville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Haddonville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haddonville
      • Haddonville is located in Effingham County
      • Estimated population in 2019: 965 people
  • Liberty County
    • The following are listed by their distance from The Bluff, with the one closest to The Bluff listed first.
    • Sunbury
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Fleming
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Midway
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Beaufort County (SC)
    • The following are listed by their distance from The Bluff, with the one closest to The Bluff listed first.
    • Daufuskie Island
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Pritchardville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pritchardville
      • Pritchardville is located in Beaufort County (SC)
    • Harbour Town
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Harbour Town have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harbour Town
      • Harbour Town is located in Beaufort County (SC)
    • Hardeeville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Bluffton
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluffton
      • Bluffton is located in Beaufort County (SC)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 28,230 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bluffton <2>
    • Point Comfort
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Point Comfort
      • Point Comfort is located in Beaufort County (SC)
    • Okatie
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Hilton Head Island
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Battery Marina Village
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Battery Marina Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Battery Marina Village
      • Battery Marina Village is located in Beaufort County (SC)
    • Shell Point
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shell Point have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shell Point
      • Shell Point is located in Beaufort County (SC)
    • Port Royal
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Jasper County (SC)
    • The following are listed by their distance from The Bluff, with the one closest to The Bluff listed first.
    • Tillman
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Ridgeland
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)

For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to The Bluff, see our County-by-County Page for The Bluff.

Cemeteries Near The Bluff ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of The Bluff.

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.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

If not found below, our Cemetery List for The Bluff covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from The Bluff, with the one closest to The Bluff listed first.

  • East Savannah Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Forest Lawn Memory Gardens
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Forest Lawn Memory Gardens
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Forest Lawn Memory Gardens is located outside and to the southeast of Savannah.
  • Greenwich Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Greenwich Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Greenwich Cemetery is located outside and to the southeast of Savannah.
  • Bonaventure Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bonaventure Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Bonaventure Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located outside and to the southeast of Savannah.
    • The Bonaventure Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Evergreen Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #32916 <4>
  • Crest Lawn Memory Gardens
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Crest Lawn Memory Gardens
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Crest Lawn Memory Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hillcrest Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hillcrest Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hillcrest Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hillcrest Abbey East Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Catholic Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Oak Grove Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Colonial Park Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Colonial Park Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Colonial Park Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Laurel Grove North Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Laurel Grove North Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Laurel Grove North Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located in Savannah.
    • The Laurel Grove North Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Laurel Grove Cemetery (North)
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #34923 <4>
  • Laurel Grove South Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Laurel Grove South Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Laurel Grove South Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located in Savannah.
    • The Laurel Grove South Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Laurel Grove Cemetery (South)
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1611134 <4>
  • Continue List   (130 more) ...
    • Lincoln Memorial Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lincoln Memorial Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lincoln Memorial Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • New Guinea Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the New Guinea Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the New Guinea Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Old Church Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Church Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Church Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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.<5>

While we didn't find The Bluff in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of The Bluff.

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

  • Savannah
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Isle of Hope
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Isle of Hope have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Isle of Hope
    • Isle of Hope is located in Chatham County
  • Wheat Hill
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wheat Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheat Hill
    • Wheat Hill is located in Chatham County
  • Central Junction
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Central Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central Junction
    • Central Junction is located in Chatham County
  • Tybee Island
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tybee Island have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tybee Island
    • Tybee Island is located in Chatham County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,051 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tybee Island <2>
  • Monteith
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Monteith have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monteith
    • Monteith is located in Chatham County
  • Pritchardville
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pritchardville
    • Pritchardville is located in Beaufort County (SC)
  • Meinhard
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Meinhard have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meinhard
    • Meinhard is located in Chatham County
  • Pooler
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pooler have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pooler
    • Pooler is located in Chatham County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 26,022 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pooler <2>
  • Burroughs
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Burroughs have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burroughs
    • Burroughs is located in Chatham County
  • Bluffton
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluffton
    • Bluffton is located in Beaufort County (SC)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 28,230 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bluffton <2>
  • Bloomingdale
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Hardeeville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Okatie
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Keller
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Keller. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keller
      • Keller is located in Bryan County

We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around The Bluff. See our List of 1890's Communities around The Bluff.

Newspapers Published in The Bluff ...

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 178 newspapers that have been published in the area around The Bluff.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of The Bluff, there are papers which were published within 3 miles [4.8 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for The Bluff.

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 The Bluff:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for The Bluff. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Chatham County: www.chathamcounty.org/

The official website for State of Georgia: https://georgia.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<4>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.
<5>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 The Bluff, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- The Bluff) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in The Bluff. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 32.0627, Longitude: -81.0401       In this case, the coordinates for The Bluff have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025