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 Blue John (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 Blue John. 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.
Blue John is located in Pulaski 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 Pulaski County: Casey, Laurel, Lincoln, McCreary, Rockcastle, Russell & Wayne.
Below are the counties that are near Blue John. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Blue John:
- Pulaski County (The home county of Blue John)
- The following are listed by their distance from Blue John, with the one closest to Blue John listed first.
- Alpine
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Alpine is located in Pulaski County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpine
- Sloans Valley
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Sloans Valley is located in Pulaski County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sloans Valley
- Northfield
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Northfield is located in Pulaski County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Northfield
- Tateville
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Tateville is located in Pulaski County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tateville
- Burnside
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Mount Victory
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Mount Victory is located in Pulaski County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Victory
- Bronston
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Dykes
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Dykes is located in Pulaski County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dykes
- Piney Grove
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Piney Grove is located in Pulaski County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Piney Grove
- Whetstone
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Whetstone is located in Pulaski County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whetstone
- Ferguson
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Ferguson is located in Pulaski County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ferguson
- Population from the 2020 Census: 943 people
- Grundy
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Grundy is located in Pulaski County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grundy
- Somerset
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Casey County
- The following are listed by their distance from Blue John, with the one closest to Blue John listed first.
- Mintonville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Mintonville is located in Casey County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mintonville
- Ware
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Ware is located in Casey County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ware
- Bethelridge
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Bethelridge is located in Casey County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bethelridge
- Argyle
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Argyle is located in Casey County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Argyle
- Windsor
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Evona
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Evona is located in Casey County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evona
- Honey Acre
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Honey Acre is located in Casey County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Honey Acre
- Teddy
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Teddy is located in Casey County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Teddy
- Knox County
- The following are listed by their distance from Blue John, with the one closest to Blue John listed first.
- North Corbin
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- North Corbin is located in Knox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Corbin
- Gray
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Laurel County
- The following are listed by their distance from Blue John, with the one closest to Blue John listed first.
- Keavy
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Keavy is located in Laurel County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keavy
- Dorthae
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Dorthae is located in Laurel County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dorthae
- Hopewell
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Hopewell is located in Laurel County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopewell
- Bernstadt
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Bernstadt is located in Laurel County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bernstadt
- Lily
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Lily is located in Laurel County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lily
- Sublimity City
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Sublimity City is located in Laurel County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sublimity City
- London
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- East Bernstadt
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Pittsburg
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Pittsburg is located in Laurel County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pittsburg
- Maplesville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Maplesville is located in Laurel County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maplesville
- Lincoln County
- The following are listed by their distance from Blue John, with the one closest to Blue John listed first.
- Waynesburg
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Waynesburg is located in Lincoln County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waynesburg
- Dog Walk
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Dog Walk is located in Lincoln County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dog Walk
- McCreary County
- The following are listed by their distance from Blue John, with the one closest to Blue John listed first.
- Greenwood
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Greenwood is located in McCreary County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwood
- Wiborg
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Wiborg is located in McCreary County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wiborg
- Marshes Siding
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Marshes Siding is located in McCreary County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marshes Siding
- Whitley City
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Smith Town
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Smith Town is located in McCreary County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smith Town
- Stearns
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Revelo
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Revelo is located in McCreary County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Revelo
- Pine Knot
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Strunk
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Strunk is located in McCreary County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Strunk
- Rockcastle County
- The following are listed by their distance from Blue John, with the one closest to Blue John listed first.
- Hansford
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Hansford is located in Rockcastle County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hansford
- Ottawa
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Ottawa is located in Rockcastle County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ottawa
- Livingston
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Mount Vernon
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Russell County
- The following are listed by their distance from Blue John, with the one closest to Blue John listed first.
- Salem
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Salem is located in Russell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salem
- Stokes ‑ Historic
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Stokes is located in Russell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stokes
- Wayne County
- The following are listed by their distance from Blue John, with the one closest to Blue John listed first.
- Ritner
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Ritner is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ritner
- Frazer
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Frazer is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frazer
- Mill Springs
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Mill Springs is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mill Springs
- Rankin
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Rankin is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rankin
- Monticello
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Parmleysville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Parmleysville is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parmleysville
- Sumpter
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Sumpter is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sumpter
- Parnell
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Parnell is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parnell
- Mount Pisgah
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Mount Pisgah is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Pisgah
- Shearer Valley
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Shearer Valley is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shearer Valley
- Murl
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Murl is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Murl
- Slickford
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Slickford is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slickford
- Whitley County
- The following are listed by their distance from Blue John, with the one closest to Blue John listed first.
- Liberty
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Liberty is located in Whitley County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty
- Corbin
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Rockholds
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Rockholds is located in Whitley County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockholds
- Woodbine
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Woodbine is located in Whitley County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodbine
- Williamsburg
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Ayers
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Ayers is located in Whitley County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ayers
- Emlyn
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Emlyn is located in Whitley County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emlyn
- Pleasant View
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Pleasant View is located in Whitley County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant View
- Verne
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Verne is located in Whitley County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Verne
- Louden
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Louden is located in Whitley County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Louden
- Saxton
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Saxton is located in Whitley County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saxton
- Nevisdale
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Nevisdale is located in Whitley County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nevisdale
- Packard
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Packard is located in Whitley County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Packard
- Campbell County (TN)
- Jellico
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Scott County (TN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Blue John, with the one closest to Blue John listed first.
- Isham
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Isham is located in Scott County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Isham
- State Line
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- State Line is located in Scott County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for State Line
- Foster Crossroads
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Foster Crossroads is located in Scott County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foster Crossroads
- Winfield
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Oneida
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- West Oneida
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- West Oneida is located in Scott County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Oneida
- Verdun
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Verdun is located in Scott County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Verdun
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Blue John, see our County-by-County Page for Blue John.
Cemeteries Near Blue John ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Blue John.
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 Blue John - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Blue John covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Blue John, with the one closest to Blue John listed first.
- Hamilton Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Neelys Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Calhoun Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Miller Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Hughes Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Haynes Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Massey Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Grave Hill United Baptist Church Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Cave Springs Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Gourd Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Jonesville Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Keith Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (603 more) ...
- Piney Grove Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Mill Creek Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Hollers Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
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 Blue John in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Blue John.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Blue John, with the one closest to Blue John listed first.
- Sloans Valley
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Sloans Valley is located in Pulaski County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sloans Valley
- Tateville
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Tateville is located in Pulaski County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tateville
- Burnside
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Cedar Grove
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Cedar Grove is located in Pulaski County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Grove
- Bronston
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Dykes
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Dykes is located in Pulaski County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dykes
- Kidder
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Kidder is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kidder
- Elihu
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Elihu is located in Pulaski County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elihu
- Baldrock
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Baldrock is located in Laurel County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baldrock
- Ritner
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Ritner is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ritner
- Frazer
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Frazer is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frazer
- Gregory
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Gregory is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gregory
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Somerset
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Grundy
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Grundy is located in Pulaski County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grundy
- Youngs Creek
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Youngs Creek is located in Whitley County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Youngs Creek
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Blue John. See our List of 1890's Communities around Blue John.
Newspapers Published in Blue John ...
An ongoing effort between the Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has resulted in the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP).
To share their results, the partnership has created the Chronicling America website. The goal of this partnership is to assemble a database about the current and historic newspapers of the United States. This includes a growing collection of scanned images from selected papers. All of it available to the public on their website.
Using information that we've taken from the Chronicling America website, we've identified 31 newspapers that have been published in the area around Blue John.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Blue John, 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 Blue John.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we like to start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These 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 Blue John:
- Websites specific to Kentucky
- Pages specific to Pulaski County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Casey County
- Knox County
- Laurel County
- Lincoln County
- McCreary County
- Rockcastle County
- Russell County
- Wayne County
- Whitley County
- Campbell County
- Scott County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Kentucky
Footnotes ...
| <1> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <2> | 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. |
| <3> | 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 Blue John, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Blue John) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |