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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 Holmesville (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 Holmesville. 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.

Holmesville is located in Appling 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 Appling County: Bacon, Jeff Davis, Pierce, Tattnall, Toombs & Wayne.

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

  • Appling County     (The home county of Holmesville)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Holmesville, with the one closest to Holmesville listed first.
    • Baxley
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Phillipi
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Phillipi have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Phillipi
      • Phillipi is located in Appling County
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 707 people
    • Surrency
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Graham
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Graham have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graham
      • Graham is located in Appling County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 289 people
  • Bacon County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Holmesville, with the one closest to Holmesville listed first.
    • Coffee
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coffee
      • Coffee is located in Bacon County
    • Alma
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alma
      • Alma is located in Bacon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,336 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Alma <1>
    • Guysie
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Guysie have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guysie
      • Guysie is located in Bacon County
      • Estimated population in 2019: 2,226 people
  • Coffee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Holmesville, with the one closest to Holmesville listed first.
    • Nicholls
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • West Green
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Green have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Green
      • West Green is located in Coffee County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for West Green <1>
  • Jeff Davis County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Holmesville, with the one closest to Holmesville listed first.
    • Quinn ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Quinn have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quinn
      • Quinn is located in Jeff Davis County
      • Estimated population in 2019: 3,652 people
    • Hazlehurst
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Tallahassee
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tallahassee have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tallahassee
      • Tallahassee is located in Jeff Davis County
      • Estimated population in 2019: 3,185 people
    • Denton
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Lumber City Ferry
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lumber City Ferry have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lumber City Ferry
      • Lumber City Ferry is located in Jeff Davis County
      • Estimated population in 2019: 1,257 people
    • Kirkland
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Kirkland. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kirkland
      • Kirkland is located in Jeff Davis County
  • Long County
    • Donald
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Donald
      • Donald is located in Long County
      • Estimated population in 2019: 2,466 people
  • Montgomery County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Holmesville, with the one closest to Holmesville listed first.
    • Uvalda
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Alston
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
  • Pierce County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Holmesville, with the one closest to Holmesville listed first.
    • Mershon
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Bristol
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Offerman
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Patterson
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Blackshear
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
  • Tattnall County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Holmesville, with the one closest to Holmesville listed first.
    • Glennville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Mendes
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mendes have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mendes
      • Mendes is located in Tattnall County
      • Estimated population in 2019: 456 people
    • Reidsville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Reidsville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reidsville
      • Reidsville is located in Tattnall County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,665 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Reidsville <1>
  • Telfair County
    • Lumber City
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lumber City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lumber City
      • Lumber City is located in Telfair County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,251 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lumber City <1>
  • Toombs County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Holmesville, with the one closest to Holmesville listed first.
    • Cedar Crossing
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Crossing
      • Cedar Crossing is located in Toombs County
    • Toombs Central
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Toombs Central have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toombs Central
      • Toombs Central is located in Toombs County
      • Estimated population in 2019: 486 people
    • Rock Springs
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Springs
      • Rock Springs is located in Toombs County
  • Ware County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Holmesville, with the one closest to Holmesville listed first.
    • Waltertown
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Waltertown have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waltertown
      • Waltertown is located in Ware County
      • Estimated population in 2019: 4,115 people
      • Waltertown has also been known as:
      • Watertown
    • Jamestown
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Jamestown. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamestown
      • Jamestown is located in Ware County
    • Talmo
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Talmo
      • Talmo is located in Ware County
  • Wayne County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Holmesville, with the one closest to Holmesville listed first.
    • Odum
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Madray Springs
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Madray Springs
      • Madray Springs is located in Wayne County
    • Screven
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Jesup
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Doctortown
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Doctortown. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doctortown
      • Doctortown is located in Wayne County

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

Cemeteries Near Holmesville ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Holmesville.

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

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

  • Graham Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Graham Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Graham Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Beckworth Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Beckworth Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Beckworth Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Old Pleasant Grove Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Pleasant Grove Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Pleasant Grove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Lynn Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lynn Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lynn Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Carter Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Carter Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Carter Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Deen Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Deen Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Deen Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Deen Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Deen Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Deen Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Crosby Chapel UMC Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Crosby Chapel UMC Cemetery
    • The Crosby Chapel UMC Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Crosby Cemetery
  • Miles Chapel Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Miles Chapel Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Miles Chapel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Big Creek Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Big Creek Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Big Creek Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Overstreet Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Overstreet Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Overstreet Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Surrency Grove Baptist Church Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (255 more) ...
    • Baxley Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Baxley Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Baxley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Memorial Freewill Baptist Church Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Memorial Freewill Baptist Church Cemetery
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Memorial Freewill Baptist Church Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located 5 miles [8 km]<4> to the north of Surrency.
      • The Memorial Freewill Baptist Church Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Memorial Church Cemetery
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1960031 <5>
    • Surrency Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)

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.<6>

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

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

  • Wheaton
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wheaton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheaton
    • Wheaton is located in Appling County
  • Baxley
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Surrency
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Prentiss
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Prentiss have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prentiss
    • Prentiss is located in Appling County
  • Pine Grove
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pine Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Grove
    • Pine Grove is located in Appling County
  • Brentwood
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brentwood have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brentwood
    • Brentwood is located in Wayne County
  • Graham
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Graham have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graham
    • Graham is located in Appling County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 289 people
  • Johnsonville ‑ Historic
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Johnsonville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnsonville
    • Johnsonville is located in Appling County
  • Ritch
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ritch have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ritch
    • Ritch is located in Wayne County
  • Odum
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
  • English Eddy
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for English Eddy have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for English Eddy
    • English Eddy is located in Toombs County
  • Altamaha
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Altamaha have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Altamaha
    • Altamaha is located in Tattnall County
    • Former name for Altamaha:
    • Atamaha
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Beach
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Beach have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beach
      • Beach is located in Ware County
    • Nicholls
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Offerman
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)

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

Newspapers Published in Holmesville ...

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 44 newspapers that have been published in the area around Holmesville.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Holmesville, there are papers which were published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Holmesville.

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 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 Holmesville:

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

The official website for Appling County: www.baxley.org/site/

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

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 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.
<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>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- Holmesville) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Holmesville. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.7038, Longitude: -82.3207       In this case, the coordinates for Holmesville have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>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.
<6>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 Holmesville, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025