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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 Acton (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 Acton. 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 hospitals and doctors 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.

Acton is located in Buncombe County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Buncombe County: Haywood, Henderson, Madison, McDowell, Rutherford, Transylvania & Yancey.

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

  • Buncombe County     (The home county of Acton)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Acton, with the one closest to Acton listed first.
    • Enka Village
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Enka Village is located in Buncombe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Enka Village
    • Enka
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • West Asheville
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Emma
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Bent Creek
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Bent Creek is located in Buncombe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bent Creek
    • Candler
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Biltmore Forest
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Biltmore Forest is located in Buncombe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Biltmore Forest
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,431 people
    • Shiloh
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Shiloh is located in Buncombe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shiloh
    • Asheville
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Redwood Village
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Redwood Village is located in Buncombe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redwood Village
    • Newfound
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Glady
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Haywood County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Acton, with the one closest to Acton listed first.
    • Morning Star
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Canton
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • West Canton
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Cruso
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Bethel
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Bethel is located in Haywood County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bethel
    • Sonoma ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Sonoma is located in Haywood County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sonoma
    • Clyde
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Lavinia ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Lavinia is located in Haywood County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lavinia
    • Lake Junaluska
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Waynesville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Hazelwood
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Hazelwood is located in Haywood County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hazelwood
    • Teague ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Teague is located in Haywood County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Teague
  • Henderson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Acton, with the one closest to Acton listed first.
    • Fletcher
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Mills River
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Naples
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Naples is located in Henderson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Naples
    • Holly Springs
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Holly Springs is located in Henderson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly Springs
    • Horse Shoe
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Mountain Home
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Gerton
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Etowah
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Balfour
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Balfour is located in Henderson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Balfour
    • Cumberland Village
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Cumberland Village is located in Henderson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cumberland Village
    • Pinehurst
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Pinehurst is located in Henderson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinehurst
    • Carolina Village
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Carolina Village is located in Henderson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carolina Village
  • Jackson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Acton, with the one closest to Acton listed first.
    • Balsam
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Ruby City
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Ruby City is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruby City
    • Argura
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Madison County
  • McDowell County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Acton, with the one closest to Acton listed first.
    • Dendron
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Dendron is located in McDowell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dendron
    • Lackey Town
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Lackey Town is located in McDowell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lackey Town
    • Moffitt Hill
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Old Fort
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Greenlee
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
  • Polk County
    • Melrose
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Melrose is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melrose
  • Rutherford County
  • Transylvania County
  • Yancey County
  • Cocke County (TN)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Acton, with the one closest to Acton listed first.
    • Tom Town
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Tom Town is located in Cocke County (TN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tom Town
    • Nough
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Wolf Creek
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Acton ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Acton.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Acton, with the one closest to Acton 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.<3>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Acton had a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Sulphur Springs
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Sulphur Springs is located in Buncombe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sulphur Springs
  • Candler
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • West Asheville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Emma
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Murphy Junction
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Murphy Junction is located in Buncombe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Murphy Junction
  • Luther
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Luther is located in Buncombe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Luther
  • Biltmore
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Biltmore is located in Buncombe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Biltmore
  • Asheville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Juno
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Juno is located in Buncombe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Juno
  • Glady
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Buena Vista
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Buena Vista is located in Buncombe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buena Vista
  • Grace
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Grace is located in Buncombe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grace
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Newfound
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Turnpike
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Turnpike is located in Buncombe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turnpike
    • Avery Creek
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Avery Creek is located in Buncombe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avery Creek

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

Newspapers Published in Acton ...

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 94 newspapers that have been published in the area around Acton.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Acton, there are papers which were published within 16 miles [25.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Acton.

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 Acton:

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>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 Acton, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Acton) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.