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 Ritchie (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 Ritchie. 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 doctors and 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.
Ritchie is located in Knott 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 Knott County : Breathitt , Floyd , Letcher , Magoffin , Perry & Pike .
Below are the counties that are near Ritchie. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Ritchie:
Knott County (The home county of Ritchie)
The following are listed by their distance from Ritchie, with the one closest to Ritchie listed first.
Emmalena (Less than 2 miles to the north)
Emmalena is also located in Knott County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emmalena Fisty (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
Fisty is also located in Knott County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fisty Carrie (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
Carrie is also located in Knott County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carrie Tina (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
Tina is also located in Knott County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tina Hindman (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
Sassafras (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
Leburn (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
Vest (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
Littcarr (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
Littcarr is also located in Knott County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Littcarr Garner (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
Garner is also located in Knott County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garner Redfox (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
Redfox is also located in Knott County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redfox Pine Top (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
Pine Top is also located in Knott County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Top Pippa Passes (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
Pippa Passes is also located in Knott County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pippa Passes Population from the 2020 Census: 606 people
Breathitt County
The following are listed by their distance from Ritchie, with the one closest to Ritchie listed first.
Hardshell (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
Hardshell is located in Breathitt County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hardshell Clayhole (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
Clayhole is located in Breathitt County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clayhole Flintville (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
Flintville is located in Breathitt County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flintville Lost Creek (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
Lost Creek is located in Breathitt County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lost Creek Whick (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
Whick is located in Breathitt County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whick Kragon (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
Kragon is located in Breathitt County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kragon Quicksand (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
Quicksand is located in Breathitt County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quicksand Rousseau (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
Rousseau is located in Breathitt County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rousseau Jackson (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
Bays (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
Bays is located in Breathitt County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bays Wolverine (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
Wolverine is located in Breathitt County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolverine Frozen Creek (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
Frozen Creek is located in Breathitt County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frozen Creek Rock Lick (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
Rock Lick is located in Breathitt County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Lick Clay County
The following are listed by their distance from Ritchie, with the one closest to Ritchie listed first.
Big Creek (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
Big Creek is located in Clay County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Creek Eriline (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
Eriline is located in Clay County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eriline Floyd County
The following are listed by their distance from Ritchie, with the one closest to Ritchie listed first.
Dema (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
Dema is located in Floyd County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dema Lackey (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
Lackey is located in Floyd County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lackey Garrett (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
Garrett is located in Floyd County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garrett Hueysville (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
Wayland (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
Wayland is located in Floyd County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wayland Population from the 2020 Census: 373 people
Bypro (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
Hi Hat (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
Wheelwright Junction (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
Wheelwright (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
Wheelwright is located in Floyd County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheelwright Population from the 2020 Census: 487 people
Eastern (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
Eastern is located in Floyd County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastern Melvin (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
Melvin is located in Floyd County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melvin Drift (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
Drift is located in Floyd County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drift McDowell (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
Harlan County
The following are listed by their distance from Ritchie, with the one closest to Ritchie listed first.
Chad (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
Chad is located in Harlan County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chad Cumberland (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
Big Laurel (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
Big Laurel is located in Harlan County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Laurel Benham (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
Lynch (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
Totz (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
Louellen (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
Louellen is located in Harlan County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Louellen Closplint (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
Closplint is located in Harlan County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Closplint Putney (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
Bailey Creek (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
Bailey Creek is located in Harlan County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bailey Creek Darkmont (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
Darkmont is located in Harlan County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Darkmont Holmes Mill (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
Holmes Mill is located in Harlan County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holmes Mill Bledsoe (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
Bledsoe is located in Harlan County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bledsoe Leslie County
The following are listed by their distance from Ritchie, with the one closest to Ritchie listed first.
Wooton (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
Wooton is located in Leslie County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wooton Smilax (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
Smilax is located in Leslie County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smilax Confluence (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
Confluence is located in Leslie County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Confluence Cutshin (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
Cutshin is located in Leslie County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cutshin Hyden (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
Yeaddiss (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
Yeaddiss is located in Leslie County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yeaddiss Wendover (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
Thousandsticks (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
Thousandsticks is located in Leslie County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thousandsticks Stinnett (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
Stinnett is located in Leslie County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stinnett Hoskinston (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
Hoskinston is located in Leslie County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hoskinston Sizerock (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
Sizerock is located in Leslie County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sizerock Asher (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
Asher is located in Leslie County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Asher Chappell (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
Chappell is located in Leslie County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chappell Letcher County
The following are listed by their distance from Ritchie, with the one closest to Ritchie listed first.
Blackey (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
Blackey is located in Letcher County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackey Population from the 2020 Census: 141 people
Colson (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
Colson is located in Letcher County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colson Isom (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
Isom is located in Letcher County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Isom Jeremiah (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
Letcher (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
Letcher is located in Letcher County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Letcher Hallie (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
Hot Spot (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
Hot Spot is located in Letcher County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hot Spot Hot Spot has also been known as:
Hotspot Roxana (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
Roxana is located in Letcher County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roxana Deane (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
Deane is located in Letcher County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deane Uz (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
Uz is located in Letcher County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Uz Bellcraft (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
Bellcraft is located in Letcher County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellcraft West Whitesburg (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
West Whitesburg is located in Letcher County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Whitesburg Farraday (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
Farraday is located in Letcher County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farraday Magoffin County
The following are listed by their distance from Ritchie, with the one closest to Ritchie listed first.
Gunlock (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
Gunlock is located in Magoffin County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gunlock Gapville (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
Gapville is located in Magoffin County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gapville Gypsy (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
Gypsy is located in Magoffin County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gypsy Marshallville (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
Marshallville is located in Magoffin County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marshallville Royalton (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
Royalton is located in Magoffin County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Royalton Sublett (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
Sublett is located in Magoffin County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sublett Hendricks (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
Hendricks is located in Magoffin County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hendricks Ivyton (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
Ivyton is located in Magoffin County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivyton Lakeville (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
Lakeville is located in Magoffin County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeville Ova (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
Ova is located in Magoffin County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ova Salyersville (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
Owsley County
The following are listed by their distance from Ritchie, with the one closest to Ritchie listed first.
Mistletoe (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
Mistletoe is located in Owsley County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mistletoe Ricetown (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
Ricetown is located in Owsley County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ricetown Sebastian (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
Sebastian is located in Owsley County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sebastian Perry County
The following are listed by their distance from Ritchie, with the one closest to Ritchie listed first.
Hardburly (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
Hardburly is located in Perry County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hardburly Dwarf (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
Dwarf is located in Perry County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dwarf Tribbey (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
Tribbey is located in Perry County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tribbey Bulan (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
Bulan is located in Perry County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bulan Ary (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
Acup (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
Acup is located in Perry County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acup Vicco (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
Vicco is located in Perry County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vicco Population from the 2020 Census: 295 people
Happy (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
Happy is located in Perry County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Happy Jeff (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
Scuddy (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
Combs (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
Combs is located in Perry County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Combs Hazard (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
Bonnyman (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
Bonnyman is located in Perry County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonnyman Pike County
The following are listed by their distance from Ritchie, with the one closest to Ritchie listed first.
Myra (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
Myra is located in Pike County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Myra Dorton (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
Jonancy (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
Jonancy is located in Pike County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jonancy Virgie (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
Virgie is located in Pike County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virgie Robinson Creek (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
Robinson Creek is located in Pike County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robinson Creek Owsley (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
Owsley is located in Pike County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Owsley Wolfe County
Belknap (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
Belknap is located in Wolfe County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belknap Wise County (VA)
The following are listed by their distance from Ritchie, with the one closest to Ritchie listed first.
Almira (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
Almira is located in Wise County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Almira Haddonfield (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
Haddonfield is located in Wise County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haddonfield Osaka (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
Osaka is located in Wise County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osaka Pound (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Ritchie, see our County-by-County Page for Ritchie .
Cemeteries Near Ritchie ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Ritchie.
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 Ritchie - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Ritchie covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Ritchie, with the one closest to Ritchie listed first.
Owen Cemetery (Less than 2 miles to the east)
Clear Creek Cemetery (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
Fuller Cemetery (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
Lotts Creek United Baptist Church Cemetery (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
Young Cemetery (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
Smith Cemetery (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
Ulous Hurt Cemetery (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ulous Hurt Cemetery The Ulous Hurt Cemetery has also been known as:
Eulis Hurt Cemetery Hurt Family Cemetery Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2523285 <2>
Combs Cemetery (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
Balis Napier Cemetery (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
Curt Napier Cemetery (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
Upper Kelly Cemetery (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
Adam Terry Cemetery (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
Continue List (476 more) ...
Franklin Cemetery (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
Ary Cemetery (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
Richard Smith Cemetery (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
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 Ritchie in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Ritchie.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Ritchie, with the one closest to Ritchie listed first.
Dwarf (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
Dwarf is located in Perry County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dwarf Hindman (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
Sassafras (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
Hazard (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
Vest (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
Viper (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
Viper is located in Perry County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Viper Stacy (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
Stacy is located in Perry County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stacy Pine Top (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
Pine Top is also located in Knott County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Top Ned (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
Ned is located in Breathitt County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ned Indian Bottom (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
Indian Bottom is located in Letcher County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Bottom Jeremiah (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
Roxana (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
Roxana is located in Letcher County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roxana Continue List (13 more) ...
Smoot Creek (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
Smoot Creek is located in Letcher County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smoot Creek Chavies (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
Chavies is located in Perry County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chavies Raven (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
Raven is also located in Knott County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raven
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Ritchie. See our List of 1890's Communities around Ritchie .
Newspapers Published in Ritchie ...
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 21 newspapers that have been published in the area around Ritchie.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Ritchie, there are papers which were published within 7 miles [11.3 km]<4> Extended Newspaper List for Ritchie.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These helpful 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 Ritchie:
Websites specific to Kentucky Pages specific to Knott County Genealogy information for nearby counties
Breathitt County Clay County Floyd County Harlan County Leslie County Letcher County Magoffin County Owsley County Perry County Pike County Wolfe County Wise County Cemetery Information and Directories for Kentucky Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Ritchie. 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 Ritchie, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. 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- Ritchie) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.