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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 Riverbend (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 Riverbend. 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.

Riverbend is located in Irwin 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 Irwin County: Ben Hill, Berrien, Coffee, Tift & Turner.

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

  • Irwin County     (The home county of Riverbend)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Riverbend, with the one closest to Riverbend listed first.
    • Ocilla
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Mystic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Irwinville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Wray
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Arp
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Arp is located in Irwin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arp
  • Atkinson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Riverbend, with the one closest to Riverbend listed first.
    • Willacoochee
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Leliaton
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Leliaton is located in Atkinson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leliaton
    • Pearson
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Ben Hill County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Riverbend, with the one closest to Riverbend listed first.
    • Fitzgerald
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Abba
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Abba is located in Ben Hill County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abba
  • Berrien County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Riverbend, with the one closest to Riverbend listed first.
    • Enigma
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Alapaha
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Nashville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Ray City
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
  • Coffee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Riverbend, with the one closest to Riverbend listed first.
    • Ambrose
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Mora
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Mora is located in Coffee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mora
      • Estimated population in 2019: 444 people
    • Broxton
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Douglas
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Oak Park
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Oak Park is located in Coffee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Park
      • Estimated population in 2019: 470 people
  • Colquitt County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Riverbend, with the one closest to Riverbend listed first.
    • Ellenton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Norman Park
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Cook County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Riverbend, with the one closest to Riverbend listed first.
    • Staunton
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Staunton is located in Cook County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Staunton
    • Lenox
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Sparks
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Adel
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
  • Telfair County
    • Jacksonville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Tift County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Riverbend, with the one closest to Riverbend listed first.
    • Brookfield
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Tifton
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Abac
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Phillipsburg
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Phillipsburg is located in Tift County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Phillipsburg
    • Unionville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Unionville is located in Tift County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unionville
    • Chula
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Omega
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Ty Ty
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
  • Turner County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Riverbend, with the one closest to Riverbend listed first.
    • Rebecca
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Sycamore
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Ashburn
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Hobby
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Hobby is located in Turner County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hobby
      • Estimated population in 2019: 536 people
  • Wilcox County
    • Owensboro
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Owensboro is located in Wilcox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Owensboro
  • Worth County
    • Sumner
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)

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

Cemeteries Near Riverbend ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Riverbend.

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

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

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

  • Riverbend Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Jernigan Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jernigan Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Jernigan Cemetery is located 4 miles [6.4 km]<2> to the northeast of Enigma.
  • Pleasant Hill Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Paulks Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Luke Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Springhill Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • New Valley Grove Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Mt. Paron Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Paulk Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Old Valley Grove Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Brushy Creek Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Bethlehem Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (259 more) ...
    • Fletcher Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fletcher Cemetery
      • The Fletcher Cemetery has also been known as:
      • McMillan Cemetery
      • McMillan - Fletcher Cemetery
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #33960 <3>
    • Enigma Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Brogdon Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)

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.<4>

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

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

  • Enigma
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Alapaha
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Lax
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Lax is located in Coffee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lax
  • Brookfield
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Irwinville
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Lenox
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
  • Nashville
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
  • Abba
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Abba is located in Ben Hill County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abba
  • Broxton
    (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
  • Douglas
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
  • Sibbie
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Sibbie is located in Wilcox County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sibbie
  • Adel
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Jacksonville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • China Hill
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • China Hill is located in Telfair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for China Hill
    • Bayboro ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Bayboro is located in Colquitt County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayboro

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

Newspapers Published in Riverbend ...

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 31 newspapers that have been published in the area around Riverbend.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Riverbend, there are papers which were published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Riverbend.

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 helpful 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 Riverbend:

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>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 from Point A (ie- Riverbend) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<4>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 Riverbend, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.