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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 Golden Isles (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 Golden Isles. 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 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.

Golden Isles 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 Golden Isles. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Golden Isles:

  • Chatham County     (The home county of Golden Isles)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Golden Isles, with the one closest to Golden Isles listed first.
    • Wilmington Island
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wilmington Island have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilmington Island
      • Wilmington Island is located in Chatham County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wilmington Island <2>
    • Whitemarsh Island
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • 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
    • Isle of Armstrong
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • 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
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • 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>
    • Bona Bella
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • 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
    • Tybee Island
      (6 miles [9.7 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>
    • Isle of Hope
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • 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
    • Fort Screven
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Robert M Hitch Village
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • 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
    • Skidaway Island
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Skidaway Island have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skidaway Island
      • Skidaway Island is located in Chatham County
    • Savannah
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Abercorn Heights
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Carver Village
      (9 miles [14.5 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
  • Bryan County
  • Effingham County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Golden Isles, with the one closest to Golden Isles listed first.
    • Exley
      (21 miles [33.8 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
      (24 miles [38.6 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
      (25 miles [40.2 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
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Marlow
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Liberty County
  • Beaufort County (SC)

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

Cemeteries Near Golden Isles ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Golden Isles.

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 Golden Isles covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Golden Isles, with the one closest to Golden Isles 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.<5>

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

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

  • Isle of Hope
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • 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
  • Tybee Island
    (6 miles [9.7 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>
  • Savannah
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Wheat Hill
    (12 miles [19.3 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
    (12 miles [19.3 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
  • Pritchardville
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
  • Bluffton
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Burroughs
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • 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
  • Monteith
    (16 miles [25.7 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
  • Meinhard
    (17 miles [27.4 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
    (17 miles [27.4 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>
  • Hardeeville
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (10 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in Golden Isles ...

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 Golden Isles.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Golden Isles, there are papers which were published within 8 miles [12.9 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Golden Isles.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we start with 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 Golden Isles:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Golden Isles. 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 Golden Isles, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Golden Isles) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Golden Isles. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 32.0250, Longitude: -80.9672    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025