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 Shields (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 Shields. 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 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.
Shields 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 Shields. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Shields:
Harlan County (The home county of Shields)
The following are listed by their distance from Shields, with the one closest to Shields listed first.
Short Town (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
Short Town is located in Harlan County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Short Town Louellen (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
Louellen is located in Harlan County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Louellen Bailey Creek (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
Bailey Creek is located in Harlan County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bailey Creek Darkmont (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
Darkmont is located in Harlan County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Darkmont Totz (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
Kenvir (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
Kenvir is located in Harlan County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kenvir Dizney (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
Dizney is located in Harlan County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dizney Evarts (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
Redbud (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
Redbud is located in Harlan County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redbud Closplint (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
Closplint is located in Harlan County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Closplint Draper (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
Draper is located in Harlan County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Draper Putney (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
Verda (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
Verda is located in Harlan County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Verda Bell County
The following are listed by their distance from Shields, with the one closest to Shields listed first.
Beverly (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
Beverly is located in Bell County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beverly Stoney Fork (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
Stoney Fork is located in Bell County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stoney Fork Callaway (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
Callaway is located in Bell County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Callaway Kettle Island (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
Kettle Island is located in Bell County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kettle Island Miracle (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
Miracle is located in Bell County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Miracle Varilla (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
Varilla is located in Bell County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Varilla Rella (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
Rella is located in Bell County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rella Sims Fork (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
Sims Fork is located in Bell County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sims Fork Arjay (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
Arjay is located in Bell County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arjay Jenson (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
Jenson is located in Bell County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jenson Calvin (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
Calvin is located in Bell County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calvin Straight Creek (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
Straight Creek is located in Bell County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Straight Creek Clay County
The following are listed by their distance from Shields, with the one closest to Shields listed first.
Ashers Fork (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
Ashers Fork is located in Clay County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashers Fork Big Creek (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
Big Creek is located in Clay County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Creek Brightshade (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
Brightshade is located in Clay County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brightshade Knott County
The following are listed by their distance from Shields, with the one closest to Shields listed first.
Sassafras (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
Redfox (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
Redfox is located in Knott County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redfox Littcarr (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
Littcarr is located in Knott County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Littcarr Pine Top (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
Pine Top is located in Knott County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Top Carrie (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
Carrie is located in Knott County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carrie Emmalena (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
Emmalena is located in Knott County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emmalena Fisty (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
Fisty is located in Knott County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fisty Knox County
Scalf (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
Scalf is located in Knox County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scalf Leslie County
The following are listed by their distance from Shields, with the one closest to Shields listed first.
Yeaddiss (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
Yeaddiss is located in Leslie County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yeaddiss Chappell (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
Chappell is located in Leslie County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chappell Cutshin (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
Cutshin is located in Leslie County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cutshin Helton (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
Helton is located in Leslie County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helton Mozelle (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
Mozelle is located in Leslie County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mozelle Asher (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
Asher is located in Leslie County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Asher Warbranch (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
Warbranch is located in Leslie County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warbranch Hoskinston (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
Hoskinston is located in Leslie County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hoskinston Smilax (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
Smilax is located in Leslie County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smilax Stinnett (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
Stinnett is located in Leslie County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stinnett Essie (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
Essie is located in Leslie County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Essie Wendover (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
Wooton (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
Wooton is located in Leslie County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wooton Letcher County
The following are listed by their distance from Shields, with the one closest to Shields listed first.
Gordon (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
Gordon is located in Letcher County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gordon Linefork (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
Linefork is located in Letcher County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Linefork Flint (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
Flint is located in Letcher County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flint Hallie (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
Partridge (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
Partridge is located in Letcher County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Partridge Kings Creek (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
Kings Creek is located in Letcher County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings Creek Roxana (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
Roxana is located in Letcher County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roxana Blackey (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
Blackey is located in Letcher County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackey Population from the 2020 Census: 141 people
Letcher (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
Letcher is located in Letcher County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Letcher Hot Spot (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
Hot Spot is located in Letcher County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hot Spot Hot Spot has also been known as:
Hotspot Uz (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
Uz is located in Letcher County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Uz Oven Fork (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
Oven Fork is located in Letcher County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oven Fork Eolia (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
Eolia is located in Letcher County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eolia Perry County
The following are listed by their distance from Shields, with the one closest to Shields listed first.
Delphia (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
Delphia is located in Perry County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delphia Slemp (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
Slemp is located in Perry County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slemp Cornettsville (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
Cornettsville is located in Perry County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cornettsville Viper (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
Viper is located in Perry County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Viper Happy (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
Happy is located in Perry County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Happy Jeff (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
Scuddy (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
Acup (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
Acup is located in Perry County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acup Vicco (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
Vicco is located in Perry County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vicco Population from the 2020 Census: 295 people
Avawam (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
Avawam is located in Perry County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avawam Hazard (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
Combs (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
Combs is located in Perry County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Combs Bonnyman (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
Bonnyman is located in Perry County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonnyman Hancock County (TN)
The following are listed by their distance from Shields, with the one closest to Shields listed first.
Willis (22 miles [35.4 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 (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
Sneedville (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
Alanthus Hill (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
Alanthus Hill is located in Hancock County (TN) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alanthus Hill Estimated population in 2014: 2,498 people
Trent Valley (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
Trent Valley is located in Hancock County (TN) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trent Valley Estimated population in 2014: 4,157 people
Duck Creek (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
Duck Creek is located in Hancock County (TN) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duck Creek Xenophon (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
Xenophon is located in Hancock County (TN) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Xenophon Hawkins County (TN)
Eidson (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
Eidson is located in Hawkins County (TN) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eidson Lee County (VA)
The following are listed by their distance from Shields, with the one closest to Shields listed first.
Saint Charles (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
Saint Charles is located in Lee County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Charles Population from the 2020 Census: 109 people
Pennington Gap (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
Pennington Gap is located in Lee County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pennington Gap Population from the 2020 Census: 1,708 people
Hubbard Springs (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
Hubbard Springs is located in Lee County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hubbard Springs Ely (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
Ely is located in Lee County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ely Darnell Town (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
Darnell Town is located in Lee County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Darnell Town Keokee (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
Keokee is located in Lee County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keokee Rawhide (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
Rawhide is located in Lee County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rawhide Fleenortown (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
Fleenortown is located in Lee County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fleenortown Dryden (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
Dryden is located in Lee County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dryden Jonesville (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
Stickleyville (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
Stickleyville is located in Lee County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stickleyville Blackwater (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
Blackwater is located in Lee County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackwater Rose Hill (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
Norton City (VA)
Norton (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
Scott County (VA)
The following are listed by their distance from Shields, with the one closest to Shields listed first.
Duffield (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
Clinchport (26 miles [41.8 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
Lano (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
Lano is located in Scott County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lano Kermit (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
Kermit is located in Scott County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kermit Wise County (VA)
The following are listed by their distance from Shields, with the one closest to Shields listed first.
Exeter (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
Exeter is located in Wise County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Exeter Osaka (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
Osaka is located in Wise County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osaka Appalachia (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
Big Stone Gap (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
East Stone Gap (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
East Stone Gap is located in Wise County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Stone Gap Kent Junction (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
Kent Junction is located in Wise County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kent Junction Blackwood (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
Blackwood is located in Wise County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackwood Esserville (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
Esserville is located in Wise County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Esserville Hamilton town (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
Hamilton town is located in Wise County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hamilton town
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Shields, see our County-by-County Page for Shields .
Cemeteries Near Shields ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Shields.
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 Shields - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Shields covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Shields, with the one closest to Shields listed first.
Kelly Cemetery (Less than 2 miles to the north)
Robbins Cemetery (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
Kelly Cemetery (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
Middleton Cemetery (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middleton Cemetery The Middleton Cemetery has also been known as:
George Middleton Cemetery Pounding Mill Cemetery Tomlinson Cemetery Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2541074 <2>
Lewis Cemetery (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
Nolan Cemetery (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
Camp Branch Cemetery (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
Evarts Memorial Gardens (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
Middleton Cemetery (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
Turner Cemetery (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
Rainbow Cemetery (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
Burkhart Cemetery (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
Continue List (726 more) ...
Cornett Cemetery (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
Gabes Branch Cemetery (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
Riddle Cemetery (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
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 Shields in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Shields.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Shields, with the one closest to Shields listed first.
Evarts (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
Baxter (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
Harlan (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
Hubbard Springs (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
Hubbard Springs is located in Lee County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hubbard Springs Ely (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
Ely is located in Lee County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ely Dryden (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
Dryden is located in Lee County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dryden Linefork (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
Linefork is located in Letcher County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Linefork Jonesville (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
Cutshin (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
Cutshin is located in Leslie County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cutshin Helton (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
Helton is located in Leslie County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helton Wallins Creek (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
Wallins Creek is located in Harlan County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wallins Creek Estimated population in 2016: 146 people
Hagan (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
Hagan is located in Lee County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hagan Continue List (13 more) ...
Partridge (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
Partridge is located in Letcher County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Partridge Creech (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
Creech is located in Harlan County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Creech Olinger (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
Olinger is located in Lee County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olinger
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Shields. See our List of 1890's Communities around Shields .
Newspapers Published in Shields ...
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 Shields.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Shields, there are papers which were published within 14 miles [22.5 km]<4> Extended Newspaper List for Shields.
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 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 Shields:
Websites specific to Kentucky Pages specific to Harlan County Genealogy information for nearby counties
Bell County Clay County Knott County Knox County Leslie County Letcher County Perry County Hancock County Hawkins 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 Shields. 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 Shields, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Shields) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.