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 Alva (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 Alva. 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 hospitals and 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.
Alva is located in Harlan County .
To see how the shape of Kentucky's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries .
The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Harlan County : Bell , Leslie , Letcher , Perry , Lee (VA) & Wise (VA) .
Below are the counties that are near Alva. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Alva:
Harlan County (The home county of Alva)
The following are listed by their distance from Alva, with the one closest to Alva listed first.
Pathfork (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
Pathfork is located in Harlan County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pathfork Twila (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
Twila is located in Harlan County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twila South Wallins (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
South Wallins is located in Harlan County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Wallins Coldiron (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
Wallins Creek (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
Wallins Creek is located in Harlan County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wallins Creek Estimated population in 2016: 146 people
Mary Alice (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
Mary Alice is located in Harlan County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mary Alice Tacky Town (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
Tacky Town is located in Harlan County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tacky Town Loyall (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
Loyall is located in Harlan County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loyall Population from the 2020 Census: 585 people
Harlan (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
Bobs Creek (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
Bobs Creek is located in Harlan County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bobs Creek Baxter (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
Cawood (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
Cawood is located in Harlan County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cawood Ages (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
Ages is located in Harlan County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ages Bell County
The following are listed by their distance from Alva, with the one closest to Alva listed first.
Callaway (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
Callaway is located in Bell County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Callaway Stoney Fork (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
Stoney Fork is located in Bell County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stoney Fork Miracle (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
Miracle is located in Bell County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Miracle Varilla (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
Varilla is located in Bell County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Varilla Calvin (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
Calvin is located in Bell County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calvin Kettle Island (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
Kettle Island is located in Bell County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kettle Island Jenson (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
Jenson is located in Bell County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jenson Rella (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
Rella is located in Bell County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rella Sims Fork (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
Sims Fork is located in Bell County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sims Fork Arjay (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
Arjay is located in Bell County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arjay Straight Creek (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
Straight Creek is located in Bell County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Straight Creek Beverly (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
Beverly is located in Bell County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beverly Dorton Branch (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
Dorton Branch is located in Bell County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dorton Branch Clay County
The following are listed by their distance from Alva, with the one closest to Alva listed first.
Ashers Fork (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
Ashers Fork is located in Clay County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashers Fork Brightshade (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
Brightshade is located in Clay County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brightshade Goose Rock (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
Goose Rock is located in Clay County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goose Rock Big Creek (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
Big Creek is located in Clay County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Creek Knox County
The following are listed by their distance from Alva, with the one closest to Alva listed first.
Dewitt (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
Dewitt is located in Knox County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dewitt Scalf (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
Scalf is located in Knox County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scalf Walker (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
Walker is located in Knox County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walker Flat Lick (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
Flat Lick is located in Knox County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flat Lick Trosper (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
Trosper is located in Knox County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trosper Warren (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
Warren is located in Knox County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warren Wheeler (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
Wheeler is located in Knox County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheeler Bimble (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
Artemus (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
Artemus is located in Knox County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Artemus Hinkle (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
Hinkle is located in Knox County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hinkle Cannon (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
Cannon is located in Knox County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cannon Barbourville (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
Bryants Store (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
Bryants Store is located in Knox County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bryants Store Leslie County
The following are listed by their distance from Alva, with the one closest to Alva listed first.
Helton (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
Helton is located in Leslie County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helton Warbranch (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
Warbranch is located in Leslie County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warbranch Mozelle (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
Mozelle is located in Leslie County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mozelle Chappell (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
Chappell is located in Leslie County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chappell Roark (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
Roark is located in Leslie County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roark Asher (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
Asher is located in Leslie County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Asher Essie (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
Essie is located in Leslie County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Essie Hoskinston (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
Hoskinston is located in Leslie County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hoskinston Stinnett (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
Stinnett is located in Leslie County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stinnett Yeaddiss (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
Yeaddiss is located in Leslie County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yeaddiss Cutshin (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
Cutshin is located in Leslie County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cutshin Wendover (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
Smilax (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
Smilax is located in Leslie County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smilax Letcher County
Gordon (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
Gordon is located in Letcher County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gordon Perry County
The following are listed by their distance from Alva, with the one closest to Alva listed first.
Delphia (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
Delphia is located in Perry County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delphia Slemp (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
Slemp is located in Perry County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slemp Whitley County
Siler (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
Siler is located in Whitley County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Siler Claiborne County (TN)
The following are listed by their distance from Alva, with the one closest to Alva listed first.
Shawanee (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
Shawanee is located in Claiborne County (TN) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shawanee Cumberland Gap (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
Harrogate (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
Tazewell (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
Minton Mill (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
Minton Mill is located in Claiborne County (TN) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minton Mill Estimated population in 2014: 527 people
Caney Valley (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
Caney Valley is located in Claiborne County (TN) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caney Valley Springdale (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
Springdale is located in Claiborne County (TN) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springdale New Tazewell (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
Evans Ferry (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
Evans Ferry is located in Claiborne County (TN) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evans Ferry Population from the 2010 Census: 293 people
Raven Hill (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
Raven Hill is located in Claiborne County (TN) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raven Hill Head of Barren (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
Head of Barren is located in Claiborne County (TN) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Head of Barren Lone Mountain (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
Lone Mountain is located in Claiborne County (TN) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Mountain Goin (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
Goin is located in Claiborne County (TN) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goin Grainger County (TN)
The following are listed by their distance from Alva, with the one closest to Alva listed first.
Thorn Hill (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
Thorn Hill is located in Grainger County (TN) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thorn Hill Bean Station (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
Beans (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
Beans is located in Grainger County (TN) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beans Estimated population in 2014: 3,084 people
Bowen (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
Bowen is located in Grainger County (TN) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowen Wyatt Village (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
Wyatt Village is located in Grainger County (TN) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyatt Village Marshalls Ferry (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
Marshalls Ferry is located in Grainger County (TN) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marshalls Ferry Hancock County (TN)
The following are listed by their distance from Alva, with the one closest to Alva listed first.
Alanthus Hill (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
Alanthus Hill is located in Hancock County (TN) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alanthus Hill Estimated population in 2014: 2,498 people
Xenophon (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
Xenophon is located in Hancock County (TN) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Xenophon Sneedville (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
Duck Creek (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
Duck Creek is located in Hancock County (TN) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duck Creek Trent Valley (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
Trent Valley is located in Hancock County (TN) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trent Valley Estimated population in 2014: 4,157 people
Yount Town (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
Yount Town is located in Hancock County (TN) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yount Town Kyles Ford (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
Willis (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
Willis is located in Hancock County (TN) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willis Estimated population in 2014: 387 people
Hawkins County (TN)
The following are listed by their distance from Alva, with the one closest to Alva listed first.
Eidson (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
Eidson is located in Hawkins County (TN) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eidson Mooresburg Springs (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
Mooresburg Springs is located in Hawkins County (TN) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mooresburg Springs Population from the 2010 Census: 941 people
Galbraith Springs (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
Galbraith Springs is located in Hawkins County (TN) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galbraith Springs Mooresburg (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
Red Bridge Ferry (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
Red Bridge Ferry is located in Hawkins County (TN) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Bridge Ferry Estimated population in 2014: 1,135 people
Union County (TN)
Haynes ‑ Historic(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
Haynes is located in Union County (TN) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haynes Lee County (VA)
The following are listed by their distance from Alva, with the one closest to Alva listed first.
Rose Hill (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
Ewing (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
Wheeler (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
Wheeler is located in Lee County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheeler Hubbard Springs (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
Hubbard Springs is located in Lee County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hubbard Springs Fleenortown (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
Fleenortown is located in Lee County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fleenortown Jonesville (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
Van (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
Van is located in Lee County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Van Saint Charles (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
Saint Charles is located in Lee County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Charles Population from the 2020 Census: 109 people
Blackwater (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
Blackwater is located in Lee County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackwater Pennington Gap (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
Pennington Gap is located in Lee County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pennington Gap Population from the 2020 Census: 1,708 people
Ely (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
Ely is located in Lee County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ely Dryden (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
Dryden is located in Lee County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dryden Stickleyville (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
Stickleyville is located in Lee County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stickleyville
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Alva, see our County-by-County Page for Alva .
Cemeteries Near Alva ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Alva.
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 Alva - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Alva covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Alva, with the one closest to Alva listed first.
Saylor Cemetery (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
Wilson Cemetery (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
Jesse Brock Family Cemetery (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
Ely Cemetery (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
McLin Cemetery (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
Lee Family Cemetery (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
Crockett Cemetery (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
Old Mose Middleton Cemetery (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
Jackson Cemetery (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
Coldiron Cemetery (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
Rowland Cemetery (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
Brooks Cemetery (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
Continue List (872 more) ...
Richmond Cemetery (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
Gibson Cemetery (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
Shackelford Cemetery (6 miles [9.7 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 Alva in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Alva.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Alva, with the one closest to Alva listed first.
Creech (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
Creech is located in Harlan County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Creech Cubage (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
Cubage is located in Bell County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cubage Rose Hill (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
Boons Path (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
Boons Path is located in Lee County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boons Path Ewing (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
Wallins Creek (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
Wallins Creek is located in Harlan County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wallins Creek Estimated population in 2016: 146 people
Hagan (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
Hagan is located in Lee County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hagan Callaway (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
Callaway is located in Bell County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Callaway Harlan (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
Wheeler (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
Wheeler is located in Lee County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheeler Baxter (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
Alanthus Hill (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
Alanthus Hill is located in Hancock County (TN) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alanthus Hill Estimated population in 2014: 2,498 people
Continue List (16 more) ...
Hubbard Springs (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
Hubbard Springs is located in Lee County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hubbard Springs Wasioto (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
Wasioto is located in Bell County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wasioto Evarts (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Alva. See our List of 1890's Communities around Alva .
Newspapers Published in Alva ...
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 16 newspapers that have been published in the area around Alva.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Alva, there are papers which were published within 16 miles [25.7 km]<3> Extended Newspaper List for Alva.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we begin 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 Alva:
Websites specific to Kentucky Pages specific to Harlan County Genealogy information for nearby counties
Bell County Clay County Knox County Leslie County Letcher County Perry County Whitley County Claiborne County Grainger County Hancock County Hawkins County Union County Lee County Cemetery Information and Directories for Kentucky Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Alva. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page .
The official website for State of Kentucky: https://www.kentucky.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. 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 . 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- Alva) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. 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 Alva, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.