RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Georgia >> Liberty County >> Dorchester >> Genealogy HelperIndex...

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 Dorchester (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 Dorchester. 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 hospitals and 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.

Dorchester is located in Liberty 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 Liberty County: Bryan, Evans, Long, McIntosh & Tattnall.

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

  • Liberty County     (The home county of Dorchester)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Dorchester, with the one closest to Dorchester listed first.
    • Midway
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Riceboro
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Screven Fork
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Screven Fork is located in Liberty County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Screven Fork
      • Estimated population in 2019: 771 people
    • Fleming
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Sunbury
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Flemington
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Doe Run Estates
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Doe Run Estates is located in Liberty County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doe Run Estates
      • Estimated population in 2019: 736 people
    • Tupelo Trail
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Tupelo Trail is located in Liberty County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tupelo Trail
      • Estimated population in 2019: 347 people
    • Cherokee Village
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Cherokee Village is located in Liberty County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherokee Village
    • Garden Acres
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Garden Acres is located in Liberty County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden Acres
      • Estimated population in 2019: 8,713 people
    • Hinesville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Martin Woods
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Martin Woods is located in Liberty County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martin Woods
      • Estimated population in 2019: 383 people
    • Allenhurst
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • Bryan County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Dorchester, with the one closest to Dorchester listed first.
    • Keller
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Keller is located in Bryan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keller
    • Richmond Hill
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Fort McAllister
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Fort McAllister is located in Bryan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort McAllister
    • Ellabell
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Pembroke
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Chatham County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Dorchester, with the one closest to Dorchester listed first.
    • Ogeechee Farms
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Ogeechee Farms is located in Chatham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ogeechee Farms
    • Georgetown
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Coffee Bluff
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Coffee Bluff is located in Chatham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coffee Bluff
    • Grubbs
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Grubbs is located in Chatham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grubbs
    • Montgomery
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Montgomery is located in Chatham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montgomery
      • Estimated population in 2019: 2,719 people
    • Nicholsonville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Nicholsonville is located in Chatham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nicholsonville
      • Estimated population in 2019: 1,869 people
    • Vernonburg
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Vernonburg is located in Chatham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vernonburg
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 123 people
    • Bloomingdale
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Pooler
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Abercorn Heights
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Abercorn Heights is located in Chatham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abercorn Heights
    • Isle of Hope
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Isle of Hope is located in Chatham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Isle of Hope
    • Liberty City
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Liberty City is located in Chatham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty City
    • Richfield
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Richfield is located in Chatham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richfield
      • Estimated population in 2019: 1,643 people
  • Effingham County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Dorchester, with the one closest to Dorchester listed first.
    • Meldrim
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Eden
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
  • Glynn County
    • Altamaha Park
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Altamaha Park is located in Glynn County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Altamaha Park
  • Long County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Dorchester, with the one closest to Dorchester listed first.
    • Ludowici
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Donald
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Donald is located in Long County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Donald
      • Estimated population in 2019: 2,466 people
  • McIntosh County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Dorchester, with the one closest to Dorchester listed first.
    • Shellman Bluff
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Townsend
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Crescent
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Credit Hill
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Credit Hill is located in McIntosh County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Credit Hill
    • Valona
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Meridian
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Doboy ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Doboy is located in McIntosh County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doboy
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 7,721 people
    • Sapelo Island
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Darien
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
  • Wayne County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Dorchester, with the one closest to Dorchester listed first.
    • Doctortown
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Doctortown is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doctortown
    • Pendarvis
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Pendarvis is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pendarvis
      • Estimated population in 2019: 562 people
    • Jesup
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Dorchester ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Dorchester.

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 Dorchester - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

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 Dorchester had a population of 200 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Riceboro
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Fleming
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • McIntosh
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • McIntosh is located in Liberty County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McIntosh
  • Keller
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Keller is located in Bryan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keller
  • Flemington
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • South Newport
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • South Newport is located in McIntosh County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Newport
  • Hinesville
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Walthourville
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • Burroughs
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Burroughs is located in Chatham County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burroughs
  • Taylors Creek ‑ Historic
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Taylors Creek is located in Liberty County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taylors Creek
  • Gum Branch
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Gum Branch is located in Liberty County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gum Branch
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 269 people
  • Ellabell
    (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Isle of Hope
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Isle of Hope is located in Chatham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Isle of Hope
    • Pooler
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Bloomingdale
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)

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

Newspapers Published in Dorchester ...

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 6 newspapers that have been published in the area around Dorchester.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Dorchester, there are papers which were published within 20 miles [32.2 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Dorchester.

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 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 Dorchester:

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 Dorchester, 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Dorchester) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.