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 Benham (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 Benham. 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 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.
Benham 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 Benham. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Benham:
Harlan County (The home county of Benham)
The following are listed by their distance from Benham, with the one closest to Benham listed first.
Lynch (Less than 2 miles to the east)
Cumberland (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
Chad (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
Chad is located in Harlan County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chad Holmes Mill (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
Holmes Mill is located in Harlan County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holmes Mill Closplint (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
Closplint is located in Harlan County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Closplint Louellen (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
Louellen is located in Harlan County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Louellen Totz (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
Dizney (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
Dizney is located in Harlan County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dizney Short Town (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
Short Town is located in Harlan County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Short Town Kenvir (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
Kenvir is located in Harlan County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kenvir Redbud (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
Redbud is located in Harlan County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redbud Bailey Creek (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
Bailey Creek is located in Harlan County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bailey Creek Big Laurel (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
Big Laurel is located in Harlan County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Laurel Floyd County
The following are listed by their distance from Benham, with the one closest to Benham listed first.
Wheelwright (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
Wheelwright is located in Floyd County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheelwright Population from the 2020 Census: 487 people
Weeksbury (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
Weeksbury is located in Floyd County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weeksbury Wheelwright Junction (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
Bypro (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
Melvin (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
Melvin is located in Floyd County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melvin Knott County
The following are listed by their distance from Benham, with the one closest to Benham listed first.
Redfox (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
Redfox is located in Knott County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redfox Sassafras (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
Littcarr (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
Littcarr is located in Knott County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Littcarr Pine Top (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
Pine Top is located in Knott County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Top Carrie (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
Carrie is located in Knott County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carrie Hindman (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
Pippa Passes (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
Pippa Passes is located in Knott County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pippa Passes Population from the 2020 Census: 606 people
Emmalena (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
Emmalena is located in Knott County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emmalena Fisty (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
Fisty is located in Knott County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fisty Kite (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
Kite is located in Knott County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kite Leburn (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
Garner (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
Garner is located in Knott County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garner Tina (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
Tina is located in Knott County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tina Leslie County
The following are listed by their distance from Benham, with the one closest to Benham listed first.
Yeaddiss (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
Yeaddiss is located in Leslie County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yeaddiss Cutshin (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
Cutshin is located in Leslie County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cutshin Smilax (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
Smilax is located in Leslie County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smilax Chappell (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
Chappell is located in Leslie County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chappell Wooton (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
Wooton is located in Leslie County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wooton Helton (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
Helton is located in Leslie County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helton Mozelle (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
Mozelle is located in Leslie County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mozelle Wendover (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
Asher (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
Asher is located in Leslie County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Asher Hoskinston (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
Hoskinston is located in Leslie County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hoskinston Stinnett (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
Stinnett is located in Leslie County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stinnett Hyden (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
Warbranch (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
Warbranch is located in Leslie County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warbranch Letcher County
The following are listed by their distance from Benham, with the one closest to Benham listed first.
Linefork (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
Linefork is located in Letcher County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Linefork Partridge (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
Partridge is located in Letcher County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Partridge Gordon (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
Gordon is located in Letcher County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gordon Flint (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
Flint is located in Letcher County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flint Kings Creek (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
Kings Creek is located in Letcher County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings Creek Hallie (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
Roxana (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
Roxana is located in Letcher County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roxana Eolia (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
Eolia is located in Letcher County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eolia Oven Fork (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
Oven Fork is located in Letcher County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oven Fork Hot Spot (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
Hot Spot is located in Letcher County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hot Spot Hot Spot has also been known as:
Hotspot Uz (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
Uz is located in Letcher County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Uz Blackey (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
Blackey is located in Letcher County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackey Population from the 2020 Census: 141 people
Letcher (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
Letcher is located in Letcher County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Letcher Perry County
The following are listed by their distance from Benham, with the one closest to Benham listed first.
Delphia (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
Delphia is located in Perry County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delphia Slemp (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
Slemp is located in Perry County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slemp Cornettsville (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
Cornettsville is located in Perry County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cornettsville Vicco (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
Vicco is located in Perry County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vicco Population from the 2020 Census: 295 people
Happy (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
Happy is located in Perry County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Happy Scuddy (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
Viper (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
Viper is located in Perry County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Viper Acup (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
Acup is located in Perry County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acup Jeff (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
Hazard (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
Avawam (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
Avawam is located in Perry County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avawam Combs (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
Combs is located in Perry County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Combs Hardburly (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
Hardburly is located in Perry County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hardburly Pike County
The following are listed by their distance from Benham, with the one closest to Benham listed first.
Dorton (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
Myra (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
Myra is located in Pike County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Myra Hancock County (TN)
The following are listed by their distance from Benham, with the one closest to Benham listed first.
Willis (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
Willis is located in Hancock County (TN) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willis Estimated population in 2014: 387 people
Kyles Ford (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
Hawkins County (TN)
Waycross (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
Waycross is located in Hawkins County (TN) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waycross Estimated population in 2014: 4,091 people
Dickenson County (VA)
The following are listed by their distance from Benham, with the one closest to Benham listed first.
Darwin (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
Darwin is located in Dickenson County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Darwin Omaha (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
Omaha is located in Dickenson County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Omaha Herald (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
Herald is located in Dickenson County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Herald Clintwood (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
Lee County (VA)
The following are listed by their distance from Benham, with the one closest to Benham listed first.
Keokee (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
Keokee is located in Lee County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keokee Rawhide (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
Rawhide is located in Lee County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rawhide Darnell Town (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
Darnell Town is located in Lee County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Darnell Town Dryden (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
Dryden is located in Lee County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dryden Saint Charles (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
Saint Charles is located in Lee County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Charles Population from the 2020 Census: 109 people
Ely (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
Ely is located in Lee County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ely Pennington Gap (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
Pennington Gap is located in Lee County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pennington Gap Population from the 2020 Census: 1,708 people
Stickleyville (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
Stickleyville is located in Lee County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stickleyville Fleenortown (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
Fleenortown is located in Lee County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fleenortown Jonesville (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
Hubbard Springs (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
Hubbard Springs is located in Lee County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hubbard Springs Blackwater (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
Blackwater is located in Lee County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackwater Van (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
Van is located in Lee County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Van Norton City (VA)
Norton (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
Scott County (VA)
The following are listed by their distance from Benham, with the one closest to Benham listed first.
Duffield (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
Lano (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
Lano is located in Scott County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lano Clinchport (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
Clinchport is located in Scott County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clinchport Population from the 2020 Census: 65 people
Fort Blackmore (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
Kermit (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
Kermit is located in Scott County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kermit Dungannon (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
Dungannon is located in Scott County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dungannon Population from the 2020 Census: 299 people
Gate City (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
Yuma (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
Yuma is located in Scott County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yuma Wise County (VA)
The following are listed by their distance from Benham, with the one closest to Benham listed first.
Osaka (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
Osaka is located in Wise County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osaka Exeter (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
Exeter is located in Wise County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Exeter Appalachia (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
Big Stone Gap (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
Kent Junction (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
Kent Junction is located in Wise County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kent Junction East Stone Gap (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
East Stone Gap is located in Wise County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Stone Gap Blackwood (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
Blackwood is located in Wise County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackwood Esserville (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
Esserville is located in Wise County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Esserville Hamilton town (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
Hamilton town is located in Wise County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hamilton town Wise (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
Almira (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
Almira is located in Wise County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Almira Pound (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
Haddonfield (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
Haddonfield is located in Wise County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haddonfield
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Benham, see our County-by-County Page for Benham .
Cemeteries Near Benham ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Benham.
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 Benham - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Benham covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Benham, with the one closest to Benham listed first.
Creech Cemetery (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
Israel Blair Cemetery (Less than 2 miles to the north)
Hall Cemetery (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
Adams Cemetery (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
Cornetts Cemetery (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
Kelly Cemetery (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
Maggard Cemetery (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
Cornett Cemetery (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
Eden Cemetery (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
Riddle Cemetery (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
Lewis Cemetery (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
Smith Cemetery (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
Continue List (897 more) ...
Lewis Cemetery (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
Morgan Cemetery (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
Exeter Cemetery (8 miles [12.9 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.<3>
While we didn't find Benham in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Benham.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Benham, with the one closest to Benham listed first.
Partridge (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
Partridge is located in Letcher County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Partridge Linefork (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
Linefork is located in Letcher County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Linefork Kings Creek (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
Kings Creek is located in Letcher County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings Creek Oven Fork (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
Oven Fork is located in Letcher County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oven Fork Roxana (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
Roxana is located in Letcher County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roxana Olinger (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
Olinger is located in Lee County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olinger Big Stone Gap (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
Indian Bottom (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
Indian Bottom is located in Letcher County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Bottom Dryden (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
Dryden is located in Lee County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dryden Whitesburg (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
Ely (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
Ely is located in Lee County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ely Smoot Creek (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
Smoot Creek is located in Letcher County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smoot Creek Continue List (13 more) ...
Jeremiah (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
Evarts (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
Flat Gap (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
Flat Gap is located in Wise County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flat Gap
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Benham. See our List of 1890's Communities around Benham .
Newspapers Published in Benham ...
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 10 newspapers that have been published in the area around Benham.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Benham, there are papers which were published within 14 miles [22.5 km]<4> Extended Newspaper List for Benham.
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 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 Benham:
Websites specific to Kentucky Pages specific to Harlan County Genealogy information for nearby counties
Floyd County Knott County Leslie County Letcher County Perry County Pike County Hancock County Hawkins County Dickenson County Lee County Norton City Scott County Wise County Cemetery Information and Directories for Kentucky Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Benham. 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 . 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 Benham, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. 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- Benham) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.