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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 Shorts Mill (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 Shorts Mill. 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.

Name Variations for Shorts Mill ...

When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might occur.

  • A typical abbreviation for Shorts Mill: Shorts Ml. (or less commonly used: Shorts Mll.)
  • While the name of this community is Shorts Mill, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Shorts Mill may originally have been Short's Mill.

    Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Shorts Mill might be written as Short Mill.

If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.

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 southwest 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 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 west 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.

Shorts Mill is located in Habersham 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 Habersham County: Banks, Hall, Rabun, Stephens, Towns, White & Oconee (SC).

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

  • Habersham County     (The home county of Shorts Mill)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shorts Mill, with the one closest to Shorts Mill listed first.
    • Hills
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Hills is located in Habersham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hills
    • Clarkesville
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Mount Airy
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Demorest
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Cornelia
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Baldwin
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Turnerville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Alto
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Alto is located in Habersham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alto
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,207 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Alto <2>
    • Mauldins ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Mauldins is located in Habersham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mauldins
      • Estimated population in 2019: 225 people
    • Raoul
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Raoul is located in Habersham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raoul
    • Tugaloo
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Tugaloo is located in Habersham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tugaloo
  • Banks County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shorts Mill, with the one closest to Shorts Mill listed first.
    • Homer
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Maysville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
  • Franklin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shorts Mill, with the one closest to Shorts Mill listed first.
    • Plainview
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Plainview is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plainview
    • Parhams
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Parhams is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parhams
    • Aquilla ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Aquilla is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aquilla
    • Carnesville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Gumlog
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Gumlog is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gumlog
    • Lavonia
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Cromers
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Cromers is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cromers
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 639 people
    • Canon
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Franklin Springs
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Royston
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Hall County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shorts Mill, with the one closest to Shorts Mill listed first.
    • Lula
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Clermont
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Brookton
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Brookton is located in Hall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookton
    • Gillsville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Land ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Land is located in Hall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Land
    • Surf Side Club Estates
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Surf Side Club Estates is located in Hall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Surf Side Club Estates
      • Estimated population in 2019: 202 people
    • Hargrove
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Hargrove is located in Hall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hargrove
      • Estimated population in 2019: 3,371 people
    • White Sulphur Springs
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • The Bluffs
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • The Bluffs is located in Hall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Bluffs
      • Estimated population in 2019: 92 people
    • Whelchel
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Whelchel is located in Hall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whelchel
    • Jarrett
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Jarrett is located in Hall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jarrett
    • Murrayville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Hart County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shorts Mill, with the one closest to Shorts Mill listed first.
    • Bowersville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Maretts
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Maretts is located in Hart County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maretts
  • Jackson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shorts Mill, with the one closest to Shorts Mill listed first.
    • Holly Springs
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Holly Springs is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly Springs
    • Commerce
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Dry Pond
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Dry Pond is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dry Pond
      • Estimated population in 2019: 15,881 people
    • Talmo
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Pendergrass
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Lumpkin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shorts Mill, with the one closest to Shorts Mill listed first.
    • Grace ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Grace is located in Lumpkin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grace
    • Garland
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Garland is located in Lumpkin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garland
    • Willow ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Willow is located in Lumpkin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 15,138 people
    • Dahlonega
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • New Bridge ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • New Bridge is located in Lumpkin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Bridge
    • Auraria ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Auraria is located in Lumpkin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Auraria
  • Madison County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shorts Mill, with the one closest to Shorts Mill listed first.
    • Shiloh
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Shiloh is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shiloh
    • Ila
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Ila is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ila
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 359 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ila <2>
    • Madison Springs
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Madison Springs is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Madison Springs
      • Estimated population in 2019: 4,210 people
      • Former name for Madison Springs:
      • Alexanderville
  • Rabun County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shorts Mill, with the one closest to Shorts Mill listed first.
    • Tallulah Falls
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Lakemont
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Wiley
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Tiger
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Clayton
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Germany
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Germany is located in Rabun County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Germany
    • Mountain City
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Antioch
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Antioch is located in Rabun County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Antioch
    • Dillard
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Sky Valley
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
  • Stephens County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shorts Mill, with the one closest to Shorts Mill listed first.
    • Toccoa Falls
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Carnes Creek
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Carnes Creek is located in Stephens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carnes Creek
      • Estimated population in 2019: 601 people
    • Toccoa
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Eastanollee
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Jarrett
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Jarrett is located in Stephens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jarrett
      • Estimated population in 2019: 3,974 people
    • Avalon
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Avalon is located in Stephens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avalon
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 226 people
    • Martin
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
  • Towns County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shorts Mill, with the one closest to Shorts Mill listed first.
    • Tate City
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Tate City is located in Towns County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tate City
    • Hiawassee
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Union County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shorts Mill, with the one closest to Shorts Mill listed first.
    • Choestoe
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Choestoe is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Choestoe
    • Hood ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Hood is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hood
    • Owltown
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Owltown is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Owltown
      • Estimated population in 2019: 2,346 people
  • White County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shorts Mill, with the one closest to Shorts Mill listed first.
    • Sautee - Nacoochee
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Nacoochee
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Nacoochee is located in White County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nacoochee
    • Naguchee ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Naguchee is located in White County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Naguchee
      • Estimated population in 2019: 1,141 people
    • Leo
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Leo is located in White County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leo
      • Leo has also been known as:
      • Meldean
    • Cleveland
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Yonah
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Yonah is located in White County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yonah
    • Helen
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Robertstown
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Robertstown is located in White County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robertstown
  • Macon County (NC)
    • Orlando
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Orlando is located in Macon County (NC)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orlando
  • Oconee County (SC)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shorts Mill, with the one closest to Shorts Mill listed first.
    • Madison
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Madison is located in Oconee County (SC)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Madison
    • Battle Creek
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Battle Creek is located in Oconee County (SC)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Battle Creek
    • Harbin ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Harbin is located in Oconee County (SC)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harbin
    • Longcreek
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Westminster
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Oakway
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Oakway is located in Oconee County (SC)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakway
    • Richland
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Walhalla
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Mountain Rest
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • West Union
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Fair Play
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)

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

Cemeteries Near Shorts Mill ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Shorts Mill.

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 Shorts Mill - one of the links might be able to help.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Shorts Mill, with the one closest to Shorts Mill 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 Shorts Mill in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Shorts Mill.

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

  • Mount Airy
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Clarkesville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Demorest
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Cornelia
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Anandale ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Anandale is located in Habersham County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anandale
  • Heads Ferry
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Heads Ferry is located in Habersham County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heads Ferry
  • Alto
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Alto is located in Habersham County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alto
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,207 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Alto <2>
  • Longview
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Longview is located in Habersham County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longview
  • Turnerville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Hollingsworth
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Hollingsworth is located in Banks County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollingsworth
  • Aerial
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Aerial is located in Habersham County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aerial
  • Mossy Creek
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Mossy Creek is located in White County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mossy Creek
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Tugaloo
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Tugaloo is located in Habersham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tugaloo
    • Tallulah Falls
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Centerside
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Centerside is located in White County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerside

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

Newspapers Published in Shorts Mill ...

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 35 newspapers that have been published in the area around Shorts Mill.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Shorts Mill, there are papers which were published within 21 miles [33.8 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Shorts Mill.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 Shorts Mill:

Footnotes ...

<1>It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties).
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Shorts Mill) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Shorts Mill, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.