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 Sylvester (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 Sylvester. 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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.
Sylvester 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 Sylvester. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Sylvester:
Knott County (The home county of Sylvester)
The following are listed by their distance from Sylvester, with the one closest to Sylvester listed first.
Pippa Passes (2 miles [3.2 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
Pine Top (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
Pine Top is located in Knott County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Top Kite (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
Kite is located in Knott County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kite Garner (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
Garner is located in Knott County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garner Leburn (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
Littcarr (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
Littcarr is located in Knott County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Littcarr Hindman (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
Mousie (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
Mousie is located in Knott County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mousie Raven (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
Raven is located in Knott County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raven Redfox (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
Redfox is located in Knott County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redfox Tina (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
Tina is located in Knott County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tina Vest (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
Carrie (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
Carrie is located in Knott County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carrie Breathitt County
The following are listed by their distance from Sylvester, with the one closest to Sylvester listed first.
Hardshell (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
Hardshell is located in Breathitt County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hardshell Clayhole (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
Clayhole is located in Breathitt County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clayhole Flintville (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
Flintville is located in Breathitt County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flintville Lost Creek (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
Lost Creek is located in Breathitt County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lost Creek Rousseau (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
Rousseau is located in Breathitt County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rousseau Whick (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
Whick is located in Breathitt County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whick Kragon (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
Kragon is located in Breathitt County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kragon Quicksand (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
Quicksand is located in Breathitt County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quicksand Floyd County
The following are listed by their distance from Sylvester, with the one closest to Sylvester listed first.
Wheelwright (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
Wheelwright is located in Floyd County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheelwright Population from the 2020 Census: 487 people
Bypro (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
Dema (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
Dema is located in Floyd County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dema Hi Hat (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
Wheelwright Junction (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
Melvin (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
Melvin is located in Floyd County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melvin Weeksbury (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
Weeksbury is located in Floyd County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weeksbury Wayland (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
Wayland is located in Floyd County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wayland Population from the 2020 Census: 373 people
Lackey (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
Lackey is located in Floyd County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lackey Garrett (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
Garrett is located in Floyd County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garrett McDowell (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
Beaver (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
Beaver is located in Floyd County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaver Drift (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
Drift is located in Floyd County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drift Harlan County
The following are listed by their distance from Sylvester, with the one closest to Sylvester listed first.
Cumberland (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
Benham (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
Lynch (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
Chad (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
Chad is located in Harlan County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chad Totz (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
Closplint (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
Closplint is located in Harlan County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Closplint Big Laurel (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
Big Laurel is located in Harlan County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Laurel Louellen (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
Louellen is located in Harlan County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Louellen 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 Johnson County
East Point (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
Leslie County
The following are listed by their distance from Sylvester, with the one closest to Sylvester listed first.
Cutshin (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
Cutshin is located in Leslie County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cutshin Smilax (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
Smilax is located in Leslie County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smilax Yeaddiss (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
Yeaddiss is located in Leslie County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yeaddiss Wooton (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
Wooton is located in Leslie County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wooton Confluence (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
Confluence is located in Leslie County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Confluence Wendover (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
Hyden (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
Letcher County
The following are listed by their distance from Sylvester, with the one closest to Sylvester listed first.
Colson (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
Colson is located in Letcher County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colson Deane (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
Deane is located in Letcher County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deane Isom (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
Isom is located in Letcher County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Isom Jeremiah (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
Thornton (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
Thornton is located in Letcher County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thornton Bellcraft (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
Bellcraft is located in Letcher County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellcraft Farraday (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
Farraday is located in Letcher County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farraday Fleming - Neon (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
Fleming - Neon is located in Letcher County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fleming - Neon Population from the 2020 Census: 610 people
Hemphill (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
Hemphill is located in Letcher County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hemphill Hemphill has also been known as:
Jackhorn Millstone (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
Millstone is located in Letcher County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millstone Neon (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
Seco (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
Seco is located in Letcher County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seco Letcher (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
Letcher is located in Letcher County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Letcher Magoffin County
The following are listed by their distance from Sylvester, with the one closest to Sylvester listed first.
Gunlock (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
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 (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
Marshallville is located in Magoffin County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marshallville Royalton (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
Royalton is located in Magoffin County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Royalton Sublett (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
Sublett is located in Magoffin County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sublett Ivyton (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
Ivyton is located in Magoffin County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivyton Lakeville (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
Lakeville is located in Magoffin County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeville Perry County
The following are listed by their distance from Sylvester, with the one closest to Sylvester listed first.
Vicco (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
Vicco is located in Perry County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vicco Population from the 2020 Census: 295 people
Acup (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
Acup is located in Perry County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acup Scuddy (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
Happy (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
Happy is located in Perry County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Happy Dwarf (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
Dwarf is located in Perry County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dwarf Hardburly (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
Hardburly is located in Perry County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hardburly Tribbey (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
Tribbey is located in Perry County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tribbey Cornettsville (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
Cornettsville is located in Perry County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cornettsville Jeff (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
Ary (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
Bulan (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
Bulan is located in Perry County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bulan Viper (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
Viper is located in Perry County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Viper Hazard (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
Pike County
The following are listed by their distance from Sylvester, with the one closest to Sylvester listed first.
Myra (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
Myra is located in Pike County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Myra Jonancy (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
Jonancy is located in Pike County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jonancy Dorton (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
Virgie (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
Virgie is located in Pike County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virgie Robinson Creek (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
Robinson Creek is located in Pike County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robinson Creek Yeager (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
Yeager is located in Pike County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yeager Owsley (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
Owsley is located in Pike County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Owsley Hellier (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
Hellier is located in Pike County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hellier Fords Branch (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
Fords Branch is located in Pike County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fords Branch Mayo Village (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
Mayo Village is located in Pike County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayo Village Lookout (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
Lookout is located in Pike County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lookout Blair Town (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
Blair Town is located in Pike County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blair Town Coal Run Village (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
Coal Run Village is located in Pike County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coal Run Village Population from the 2020 Census: 1,494 people
Dickenson County (VA)
The following are listed by their distance from Sylvester, with the one closest to Sylvester listed first.
Clintwood (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
Darwin (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
Darwin is located in Dickenson County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Darwin Omaha (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
Omaha is located in Dickenson County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Omaha Clinchco (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
Tarpon (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
Tarpon is located in Dickenson County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tarpon Lee County (VA)
The following are listed by their distance from Sylvester, with the one closest to Sylvester listed first.
Darnell Town (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
Darnell Town is located in Lee County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Darnell Town Keokee (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
Keokee is located in Lee County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keokee Norton City (VA)
Norton (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
Wise County (VA)
The following are listed by their distance from Sylvester, with the one closest to Sylvester listed first.
Almira (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
Almira is located in Wise County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Almira Haddonfield (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
Haddonfield is located in Wise County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haddonfield Pound (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
Osaka (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
Osaka is located in Wise County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osaka Appalachia (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
Blackwood (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
Blackwood is located in Wise County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackwood Kent Junction (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
Kent Junction is located in Wise County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kent Junction Esserville (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
Esserville is located in Wise County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Esserville Hamilton town (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
Hamilton town is located in Wise County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hamilton town Wise (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
Exeter (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
Exeter is located in Wise County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Exeter Big Stone Gap (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
East Stone Gap (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
East Stone Gap is located in Wise County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Stone Gap
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Sylvester, see our County-by-County Page for Sylvester .
Cemeteries Near Sylvester ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Sylvester.
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 Sylvester - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Sylvester covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Sylvester, with the one closest to Sylvester listed first.
Reynolds Cemetery (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
Carr Fork Memorial Cemetery (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
Bald Hill Cemetery (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
Cody Cemetery (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
Click Cemetery (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
Hall Cemetery (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
Madden Cemetery (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
Christon Cemetery (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
Cook Cemetery (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
Ison Cemetery (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
Collins Cemetery (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
Gibson Cemetery (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
Continue List (575 more) ...
Estill Smith Cemetery (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
Franklin Cemetery (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
Gibson Cemetery (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
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.<2>
While we didn't find Sylvester in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Sylvester.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Sylvester, with the one closest to Sylvester listed first.
Pine Top (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
Pine Top is located in Knott County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Top Hall (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
Hall is located in Knott County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hall Deane (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
Deane is located in Letcher County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deane Hindman (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
Raven (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
Raven is located in Knott County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raven Jeremiah (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
Smoot Creek (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
Smoot Creek is located in Letcher County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smoot Creek Vest (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
Craftsville (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
Craftsville is located in Letcher County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Craftsville Sassafras (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
Millstone (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
Millstone is located in Letcher County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millstone Lackey (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
Lackey is located in Floyd County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lackey Continue List (15 more) ...
Sergent (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
Sergent is located in Letcher County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sergent McDowell (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
Indian Bottom (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
Indian Bottom is located in Letcher County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Bottom
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Sylvester. See our List of 1890's Communities around Sylvester .
Newspapers Published in Sylvester ...
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 Sylvester.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Sylvester, there are papers which were published within 13 miles [20.9 km]<3> Extended Newspaper List for Sylvester.
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 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 Sylvester:
Websites specific to Kentucky Pages specific to Knott County Genealogy information for nearby counties
Breathitt County Floyd County Harlan County Johnson County Leslie County Letcher County Magoffin County Perry County Pike County Dickenson County Lee County Norton City Wise County Cemetery Information and Directories for Kentucky Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Sylvester. 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. 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 Sylvester, 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Sylvester) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.