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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 Lynch (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 Lynch. 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 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 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.

Lynch 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 Lynch. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Lynch:

  • Harlan County     (The home county of Lynch)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lynch, with the one closest to Lynch listed first.
    • Benham
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Cumberland
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Chad
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Holmes Mill
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Holmes Mill is located in Harlan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holmes Mill
    • Closplint
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Closplint is located in Harlan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Closplint
    • Louellen
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Totz
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Dizney
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Short Town
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Short Town is located in Harlan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Short Town
    • Darkmont
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Kenvir
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Kenvir is located in Harlan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kenvir
    • Redbud
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Floyd County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lynch, with the one closest to Lynch listed first.
    • Wheelwright
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Wheelwright is located in Floyd County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheelwright
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 487 people
    • Weeksbury
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Weeksbury is located in Floyd County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weeksbury
    • Bypro
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Wheelwright Junction
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Melvin
      (29 miles [46.7 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 Lynch, with the one closest to Lynch listed first.
    • Redfox
      (17 miles [27.4 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
    • Sassafras
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Pine Top
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Hindman
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Kite
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Kite is located in Knott County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kite
    • 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
    • Carrie
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Leburn
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Emmalena
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Fisty
      (27 miles [43.5 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
  • Leslie County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lynch, with the one closest to Lynch listed first.
    • Yeaddiss
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Yeaddiss is located in Leslie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yeaddiss
    • Cutshin
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Smilax
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Smilax is located in Leslie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smilax
    • Chappell
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Wooton
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Helton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Helton is located in Leslie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helton
    • Mozelle
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Wendover
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Asher
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Hoskinston
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Hoskinston is located in Leslie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hoskinston
    • Stinnett
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Stinnett is located in Leslie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stinnett
    • Hyden
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Letcher County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lynch, with the one closest to Lynch listed first.
    • Partridge
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Partridge is located in Letcher County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Partridge
    • Linefork
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Flint
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Kings Creek
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Gordon
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Gordon is located in Letcher County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gordon
    • Oven Fork
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Eolia
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Eolia is located in Letcher County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eolia
    • Roxana
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Roxana is located in Letcher County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roxana
    • Uz
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Hot Spot
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • West Whitesburg
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Hallie
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Perry County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lynch, with the one closest to Lynch listed first.
    • Delphia
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Delphia is located in Perry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delphia
    • Slemp
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Slemp is located in Perry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slemp
    • Cornettsville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Cornettsville is located in Perry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cornettsville
    • Scuddy
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Happy
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Happy is located in Perry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Happy
    • Vicco
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Vicco is located in Perry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vicco
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 295 people
    • Viper
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Viper is located in Perry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Viper
    • Acup
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Jeff
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Hardburly
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Hazard
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Avawam
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Pike County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lynch, with the one closest to Lynch listed first.
    • Dorton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Myra
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Myra is located in Pike County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Myra
    • Jonancy
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Jonancy is located in Pike County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jonancy
  • Hancock County (TN)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lynch, with the one closest to Lynch 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
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
  • Hawkins County (TN)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lynch, with the one closest to Lynch listed first.
    • Waycross
      (29 miles [46.7 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
    • Frisco
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Greenvale
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Dickenson County (VA)
  • Lee County (VA)
  • Norton City (VA)
    • Norton
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Norton is located in Norton City (VA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,985 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Norton <1>
  • Scott County (VA)
  • Wise County (VA)

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

Cemeteries Near Lynch ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Lynch.

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 Lynch - one of the links might be able to help.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Lynch, with the one closest to Lynch 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.<4>

While we didn't find Lynch in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Lynch.

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

  • Partridge
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Partridge is located in Letcher County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Partridge
  • Linefork
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Kings Creek
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Oven Fork
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Roxana
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Roxana is located in Letcher County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roxana
  • Olinger
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Olinger is located in Lee County (VA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olinger
  • Big Stone Gap
    (10 miles [16.1 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
  • Whitesburg
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Dryden
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
  • Jeremiah
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
  • Flat Gap
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Flat Gap is located in Wise County (VA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flat Gap
  • Continue List   (18 more) ...
    • Ely
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Ely is located in Lee County (VA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ely
    • Lipps
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Lipps is located in Wise County (VA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lipps
    • Sergent
      (14 miles [22.5 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 Lynch. See our List of 1890's Communities around Lynch.

Newspapers Published in Lynch ...

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 9 newspapers that have been published in the area around Lynch.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Lynch, there are papers which were published within 11 miles [17.7 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Lynch.

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 Lynch:

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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Lynch) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Lynch, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.