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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 Portageville (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 Portageville. 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.

Portageville is primarily located in New Madrid County. A portion of Portageville extends into Pemiscot County.

To see how the shape of Missouri's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of New Madrid County: Fulton (KY), Dunklin, Mississippi, Pemiscot, Scott, Stoddard & Lake (TN).

Below are the counties that are near Portageville. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Portageville:

  • New Madrid County     (The home county of Portageville)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Portageville, with the one closest to Portageville listed first.
    • Conran
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Conran is located in New Madrid County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conran
    • Point Pleasant
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Marston
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Tallapoosa
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Tallapoosa is located in New Madrid County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tallapoosa
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 144 people
    • Risco
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Risco is located in New Madrid County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Risco
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 303 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Risco <1>
    • Howardville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Howardville is located in New Madrid County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howardville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 329 people
    • Gideon
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Catron
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Catron is located in New Madrid County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Catron
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 60 people
    • Lilbourn
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • North Lilbourn
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • North Lilbourn is located in New Madrid County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Lilbourn
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 43 people
    • New Madrid
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Parma
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Parma is located in New Madrid County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parma
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 602 people
  • Dunklin County
  • Mississippi County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Portageville, with the one closest to Portageville listed first.
    • East Prairie
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Whiting
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Pemiscot County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Portageville, with the one closest to Portageville listed first.
    • Hayward
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Hayward is located in Pemiscot County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hayward
    • Stewart
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • North Wardell
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • North Wardell is located in Pemiscot County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Wardell
    • Wardell
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Wardell is located in Pemiscot County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wardell
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 354 people
    • Netherlands
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Homestown
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Homestown is located in Pemiscot County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homestown
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 128 people
    • Hayti
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Pascola
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Pascola is located in Pemiscot County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pascola
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 93 people
    • Peach Orchard
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Hayti Heights
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Hayti Heights is located in Pemiscot County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hayti Heights
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 538 people
    • Caruthersville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Bragg City
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Bragg City is located in Pemiscot County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bragg City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 129 people
  • Stoddard County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Portageville, with the one closest to Portageville listed first.
    • LaValle
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Bernie
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Baker
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Baker is located in Stoddard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baker
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 3 people
    • Penermon
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Penermon is located in Stoddard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Penermon
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 61 people
    • Essex
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Essex is located in Stoddard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Essex
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 447 people
    • Grayridge
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Grayridge is located in Stoddard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grayridge
    • Dexter
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Circle City
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Circle City is located in Stoddard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Circle City
  • Clay County (AR)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Portageville, with the one closest to Portageville listed first.
    • Nimmons
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Nimmons is located in Clay County (AR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nimmons
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 64 people
    • Saint Francis
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Bell City
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Bell City is located in Clay County (AR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bell City
    • Piggott
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Greenway
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Greenway is located in Clay County (AR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenway
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 188 people
  • Fulton County (KY)
  • Dyer County (TN)
  • Lake County (TN)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Portageville, with the one closest to Portageville listed first.
    • Tiptonville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Proctor City
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Proctor City is located in Lake County (TN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Proctor City
    • Sunkist Beach
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Sunkist Beach is located in Lake County (TN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunkist Beach
      • Estimated population in 2014: 547 people
    • Powells Ferry
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Powells Ferry is located in Lake County (TN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powells Ferry
      • Estimated population in 2014: 1,319 people
    • New Markham
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • New Markham is located in Lake County (TN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Markham
      • Estimated population in 2014: 1,354 people
    • Owl City
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Owl City is located in Lake County (TN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Owl City
    • Ridgely
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Obion County (TN)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Portageville, with the one closest to Portageville listed first.
    • Samburg
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Hornbeak
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Englewood
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Englewood is located in Obion County (TN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Englewood
      • Estimated population in 2014: 1,532 people
    • Obion
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Obion is located in Obion County (TN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Obion
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,043 people
    • Troy
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Troy is located in Obion County (TN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Troy
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,328 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Troy <1>

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

Cemeteries Near Portageville ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Portageville.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Portageville, with the one closest to Portageville 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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Portageville had a population of 103 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service. In 2020, Portageville had a population of 2,869 people.

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

We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Portageville. See our List of 1890's Communities around Portageville.

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Portageville ...

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 48 newspapers that have been published in the area around Portageville.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Portageville. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Portageville and those printed in the larger area surrounding Portageville.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 21 miles [33.8 km]<3> of Portageville.

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 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 Portageville:

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>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- Portageville) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Portageville, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.