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 Vans Valley (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 Vans Valley. 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 Vans Valley ...
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 Vans Valley: Vans Vly. (or less commonly used: Vans Vally. or Vans Vlly.)
- While the name of this community is Vans Valley, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Vans Valley may originally have been Van's Valley.
Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Vans Valley might be written as Van Valley.
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Vans Valley. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Vans Valley.
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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.
Vans Valley is located in Floyd 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 Floyd County: Cherokee (AL), Bartow, Chattooga, Gordon, Polk & Walker.
Below are the counties that are near Vans Valley. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Vans Valley:
- Floyd County (The home county of Vans Valley)
- The following are listed by their distance from Vans Valley, with the one closest to Vans Valley listed first.
- Cave Spring
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Coosa
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Robealou Acres
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Robealou Acres is located in Floyd County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robealou Acres
- Estimated population in 2019: 973 people
- Brice
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Brice is located in Floyd County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brice
- Silver Creek
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Oreburg
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Oreburg is located in Floyd County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oreburg
- Atlanta Junction
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Atlanta Junction is located in Floyd County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atlanta Junction
- Lindale
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Rosemont Park
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Rosemont Park is located in Floyd County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosemont Park
- Wax
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Wax is located in Floyd County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wax
- Chiaha ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Chiaha is located in Floyd County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chiaha
- Estimated population in 2019: 3,256 people
- Mount Berry
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Rome
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Bartow County
- The following are listed by their distance from Vans Valley, with the one closest to Vans Valley listed first.
- Ligon ‑ Historic
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Ligon is located in Bartow County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ligon
- Estimated population in 2019: 12,810 people
- Taylorsville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Euharlee
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Kingston
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Stilesboro
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Stilesboro is located in Bartow County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stilesboro
- Estimated population in 2019: 518 people
- Shellman ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Shellman is located in Bartow County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shellman
- Estimated population in 2019: 933 people
- Country Village
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Country Village is located in Bartow County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Country Village
- Adairsville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Cassville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Rodgers
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Rodgers is located in Bartow County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rodgers
- Cartersville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Chattooga County
- The following are listed by their distance from Vans Valley, with the one closest to Vans Valley listed first.
- Chattoogaville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Chattoogaville is located in Chattooga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chattoogaville
- Taliaferro ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Taliaferro is located in Chattooga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taliaferro
- Estimated population in 2019: 71 people
- Lyerly
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Berryton
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Berryton is located in Chattooga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berryton
- Zula ‑ Historic
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Zula is located in Chattooga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zula
- Summerville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Menlo
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Pennville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Pennville is located in Chattooga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pennville
- Cloudland
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Trion
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Gordon County
- Plainville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Haralson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Vans Valley, with the one closest to Vans Valley listed first.
- Felton
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Buchanan
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Tabernacle
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Tabernacle is located in Haralson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tabernacle
- Tallapoosa
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Budapest
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Budapest is located in Haralson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Budapest
- Bremen
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Waco
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Morgan
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Morgan is located in Haralson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morgan
- Paulding County
- The following are listed by their distance from Vans Valley, with the one closest to Vans Valley listed first.
- Braswell
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Braswell is located in Paulding County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Braswell
- Population from the 2020 Census: 386 people
- Hanlin
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Hanlin is located in Paulding County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hanlin
- Population from the 2010 Census: 3,298 people
- Forrister
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Forrister is located in Paulding County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forrister
- Estimated population in 2019: 4,130 people
- Polk County
- The following are listed by their distance from Vans Valley, with the one closest to Vans Valley listed first.
- Cedartown
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Etna
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Etna is located in Polk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Etna
- Estimated population in 2019: 902 people
- Seney
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Seney is located in Polk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seney
- Estimated population in 2019: 4,412 people
- Greenway ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Greenway is located in Polk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenway
- Grady ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Grady is located in Polk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grady
- Estimated population in 2019: 290 people
- Esom Hill
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Aragon
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Rockmart
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Calhoun County (AL)
- The following are listed by their distance from Vans Valley, with the one closest to Vans Valley listed first.
- Dailey
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Dailey is located in Calhoun County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dailey
- Goshen ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Goshen is located in Calhoun County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goshen
- Piedmont
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Collins ‑ Historic
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Collins is located in Calhoun County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Collins
- Abernathy ‑ Historic
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Abernathy is located in Calhoun County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abernathy
- Nances Creek
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Nances Creek is located in Calhoun County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nances Creek
- Adelia ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Adelia is located in Calhoun County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adelia
- Merrellton
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Merrellton is located in Calhoun County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merrellton
- Cherokee County (AL)
- The following are listed by their distance from Vans Valley, with the one closest to Vans Valley listed first.
- Grantville ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Grantville is located in Cherokee County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grantville
- Kirk's Grove
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Kirk's Grove is located in Cherokee County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kirk's Grove
- Tecumseh
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Tecumseh is located in Cherokee County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tecumseh
- Sterling ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Sterling is located in Cherokee County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sterling
- Rock Run
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Rock Run is located in Cherokee County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Run
- Lawrence
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Lawrence is located in Cherokee County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawrence
- Howells Crossroads
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Howells Crossroads is located in Cherokee County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howells Crossroads
- Howells Crossroads has also been known as:
- Howells Cross Roads
- Noah
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Noah is located in Cherokee County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Noah
- Exie
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Exie is located in Cherokee County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Exie
- Tucker Crossroads
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Tucker Crossroads is located in Cherokee County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tucker Crossroads
- Cedar Springs ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Cedar Springs is located in Cherokee County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Springs
- Gaylesville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Cedar Bluff
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Cleburne County (AL)
- The following are listed by their distance from Vans Valley, with the one closest to Vans Valley listed first.
- Palestine
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Palestine is located in Cleburne County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palestine
- Borden Springs
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Borden Springs is located in Cleburne County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Borden Springs
- Oak Level
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Oak Level is located in Cleburne County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Level
- Grantley
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Grantley is located in Cleburne County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grantley
- Muscadine
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Muscadine is located in Cleburne County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Muscadine
- Fruithurst
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Fruithurst is located in Cleburne County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fruithurst
- Population from the 2020 Census: 284 people
- DeKalb County (AL)
- The following are listed by their distance from Vans Valley, with the one closest to Vans Valley listed first.
- Lickskillet
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Lickskillet is located in DeKalb County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lickskillet
- Sigsbee
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Sigsbee is located in DeKalb County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sigsbee
- Adamsburg
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Adamsburg is located in DeKalb County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adamsburg
- Dog Town
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Dog Town is located in DeKalb County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dog Town
- Mount Vernon
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Mount Vernon is located in DeKalb County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Vernon
- Alpine
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Alpine is located in DeKalb County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpine
- Douglas
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Douglas is located in DeKalb County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Douglas
- Etowah County (AL)
- The following are listed by their distance from Vans Valley, with the one closest to Vans Valley listed first.
- Banner
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Banner is located in Etowah County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Banner
- Ballplay
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Ballplay is located in Etowah County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ballplay
- Hale ‑ Historic
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Hale is located in Etowah County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hale
- Coato Bend ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Coato Bend is located in Etowah County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coato Bend
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Vans Valley, see our County-by-County Page for Vans Valley.
Cemeteries Near Vans Valley ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Vans Valley.
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 Vans Valley - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Vans Valley covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Vans Valley, with the one closest to Vans Valley listed first.
- Cave Spring Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Hemphill Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Cedar Creek Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Chubb Road Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Montgomery Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Flat Rock Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Rehobeth Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Ellis Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Mountain Spring Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Sanders Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Round Hill Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- New Prospect Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Continue List (439 more) ...
- Mountain View Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Bush Arbor Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Community Chapel Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
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>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Vans Valley had a post office and no railroad service.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Vans Valley, with the one closest to Vans Valley listed first.
- Cave Spring
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Foster Mills
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Foster Mills is located in Floyd County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foster Mills
- Landers ‑ Historic
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Landers is located in Floyd County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Landers
- Cunningham
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Cunningham is located in Floyd County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cunningham
- Livingston
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Livingston is located in Floyd County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Livingston
- Melson
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Melson is located in Floyd County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melson
- Lake Creek
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Lake Creek is located in Polk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Creek
- Forney
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Forney is located in Cherokee County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forney
- Prior
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Prior is located in Polk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prior
- Cedartown
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Reeseburg
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Reeseburg is located in Floyd County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reeseburg
- Grantville ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Grantville is located in Cherokee County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grantville
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- Kirk's Grove
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Kirk's Grove is located in Cherokee County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kirk's Grove
- Coosa
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Etna
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Etna is located in Polk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Etna
- Estimated population in 2019: 902 people
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Vans Valley. See our List of 1890's Communities around Vans Valley.
Newspapers Published in Vans Valley ...
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 34 newspapers that have been published in the area around Vans Valley.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Vans Valley, there are papers which were published within 12 miles [19.3 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Vans Valley.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to 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 Vans Valley:
- Websites specific to Georgia
- Pages specific to Floyd County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Bartow County
- Chattooga County
- Gordon County
- Haralson County
- Paulding County
- Polk County
- Calhoun County
- Cherokee County
- Cleburne County
- DeKalb County
- Etowah County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Georgia
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> | 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 Vans Valley, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <5> | 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- Vans Valley) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |