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 Ararat (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 Ararat. 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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.
Ararat is located in Surry 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 Surry County: Alleghany, Forsyth, Stokes, Wilkes, Yadkin, Carroll (VA), Grayson (VA) & Patrick (VA).
Below are the counties that are near Ararat. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Ararat:
- Surry County (The home county of Ararat)
- The following are listed by their distance from Ararat, with the one closest to Ararat listed first.
- Flat Shoals ‑ Historic
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Flat Shoals is located in Surry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flat Shoals
- Black Water
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Black Water is located in Surry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Water
- Holly Springs
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Holly Springs is located in Surry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly Springs
- White Plains
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- White Plains is located in Surry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Plains
- Pine Hill
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Pine Hill is located in Surry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Hill
- Pilot Mountain
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Sheltontown
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Sheltontown is located in Surry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sheltontown
- Copeland
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Copeland is located in Surry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Copeland
- Flat Rock
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Flat Rock is located in Surry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flat Rock
- Mount Airy
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Toast
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Toast is located in Surry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toast
- Dobson
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Alleghany County
- The following are listed by their distance from Ararat, with the one closest to Ararat listed first.
- Edmonds
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Edmonds is located in Alleghany County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edmonds
- Roaring Gap
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Ennice
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Hooker
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Hooker is located in Alleghany County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hooker
- Glade Valley
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Davie County
- The following are listed by their distance from Ararat, with the one closest to Ararat listed first.
- Pino
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Pino is located in Davie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pino
- Bermuda Run
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Forsyth County
- The following are listed by their distance from Ararat, with the one closest to Ararat listed first.
- Heritage Village
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Heritage Village is located in Forsyth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heritage Village
- Donnaha
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Donnaha is located in Forsyth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Donnaha
- King
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- The Meadows
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- The Meadows is located in Forsyth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Meadows
- Tobaccoville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Dozier
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Dozier is located in Forsyth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dozier
- Oak Park
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Oak Park is located in Forsyth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Park
- Hunter Meadows
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Hunter Meadows is located in Forsyth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunter Meadows
- Hunters Trace
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Hunters Trace is located in Forsyth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunters Trace
- River Ridge Run
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- River Ridge Run is located in Forsyth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River Ridge Run
- Rural Hall
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Seward
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Seward is located in Forsyth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seward
- Iredell County
- Houstonville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Houstonville is located in Iredell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Houstonville
- Stokes County
- The following are listed by their distance from Ararat, with the one closest to Ararat listed first.
- Pinnacle
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Flat Rock
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Flat Rock is located in Stokes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flat Rock
- Capella
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Capella is located in Stokes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Capella
- Mount Olive
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Mount Olive is located in Stokes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Olive
- Vade Mecum
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Vade Mecum is located in Stokes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vade Mecum
- Quaker Gap
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Quaker Gap is located in Stokes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quaker Gap
- Neatman
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Neatman is located in Stokes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Neatman
- Aarons Corner
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Aarons Corner is located in Stokes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aarons Corner
- Danbury
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Lawsonville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Lawsonville is located in Stokes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawsonville
- Campbell
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Campbell is located in Stokes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Campbell
- Germanton
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Wilkes County
- The following are listed by their distance from Ararat, with the one closest to Ararat listed first.
- Pleasant Hill
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Pleasant Hill is located in Wilkes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Hill
- Ronda
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Clingman
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Clingman is located in Wilkes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clingman
- Lomax
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Lomax is located in Wilkes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lomax
- Traphill
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Brier Creek ‑ Historic
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Brier Creek is located in Wilkes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brier Creek
- New Castle ‑ Historic
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- New Castle is located in Wilkes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Castle
- Roaring River
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Roaring River is located in Wilkes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roaring River
- Zebra ‑ Historic
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Zebra is located in Wilkes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zebra
- Abshers
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Abshers is located in Wilkes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abshers
- Moxley
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Moxley is located in Wilkes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moxley
- Yadkin County
- The following are listed by their distance from Ararat, with the one closest to Ararat listed first.
- Richmond Hill
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Richmond Hill is located in Yadkin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richmond Hill
- Mount Pleasant
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Mount Pleasant is located in Yadkin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Pleasant
- East Bend
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Nebo
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Nebo is located in Yadkin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nebo
- Union Grove
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Union Grove is located in Yadkin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Grove
- Forbush
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Forbush is located in Yadkin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forbush
- Boonville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Yadkinville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Arlington
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Arlington is located in Yadkin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arlington
- Jonesville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Rena
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Rena is located in Yadkin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rena
- Branon
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Branon is located in Yadkin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Branon
- Carroll County (VA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Ararat, with the one closest to Ararat listed first.
- Cana
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Lambsburg
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Fancy Gap
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Gladesboro
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Gladesboro is located in Carroll County (VA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gladesboro
- Drenn
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Drenn is located in Carroll County (VA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drenn
- Nester
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Nester is located in Carroll County (VA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nester
- Pipers Gap
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Pipers Gap is located in Carroll County (VA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pipers Gap
- Pike City
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Pike City is located in Carroll County (VA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pike City
- Hillsville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Woodlawn
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Dugspur
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Star
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Star is located in Carroll County (VA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Star
- Galax City (VA)
- Galax
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Grayson County (VA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Ararat, with the one closest to Ararat listed first.
- Low Gap
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Low Gap is located in Grayson County (VA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Low Gap
- Baywood
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Baywood is located in Grayson County (VA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baywood
- Patrick County (VA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Ararat, with the one closest to Ararat listed first.
- Ararat
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Carters Mill
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Carters Mill is located in Patrick County (VA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carters Mill
- Peters Creek
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Peters Creek is located in Patrick County (VA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peters Creek
- Stuart
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Meadows of Dan
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Nettleridge
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Nettleridge is located in Patrick County (VA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nettleridge
- Patrick Springs
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Critz
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Stella
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Stella is located in Patrick County (VA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stella
- Woolwine
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Ararat, see our County-by-County Page for Ararat.
Cemeteries Near Ararat ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Ararat.
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 Ararat - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Ararat covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Ararat, with the one closest to Ararat listed first.
- Anchor Baptist Church Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anchor Baptist Church Cemetery
- The Anchor Baptist Church Cemetery has also been known as:
- Fellowship Baptist Church Cemetery
- Watson Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Lawson & Sawyers Family Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Cox Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cox Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Cox Cemetery is located between<2> the communities of Mount Airy and Pilot Mountain. The cemetery lies 5 miles [8 km]<3> to the northwest of Pilot Mountain.
- The Cox Cemetery has also been known as:
- Cox - Harrison Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2438894 <4>
- Rock Hill Baptist Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Pine Hill Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Whitakers Chapel Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Bennett Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- The Peoples Church Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Blackwater UMC Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Union Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Union Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Continue List (612 more) ...
- Pinnacle View Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Denny Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Pilot Mountain City Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
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.<5>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Ararat had railroad service and no post office.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Ararat, with the one closest to Ararat listed first.
- Flat Shoals ‑ Historic
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Flat Shoals is located in Surry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flat Shoals
- Ash Hill
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Ash Hill is located in Surry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ash Hill
- White Plains
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- White Plains is located in Surry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Plains
- Pilot Mountain
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Copeland
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Copeland is located in Surry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Copeland
- Mount Airy
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Siloam
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Siloam is located in Surry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Siloam
- Pinnacle
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Westfield
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Dobson
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Shoals
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Shoals is located in Surry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shoals
- Rockford
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Rockford is located in Surry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockford
- Continue List (16 more) ...
- Boyden ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Boyden is located in Surry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boyden
- Pine Ridge
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Pine Ridge is located in Surry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Ridge
- Richmond Hill
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Richmond Hill is located in Yadkin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richmond Hill
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Ararat. See our List of 1890's Communities around Ararat.
Newspapers Published in Ararat ...
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 30 newspapers that have been published in the area around Ararat.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Ararat, there are papers which were published within 19 miles [30.6 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Ararat.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to 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 Ararat:
- Websites specific to North Carolina
- Pages specific to Surry County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Alleghany County
- Davie County
- Forsyth County
- Iredell County
- Stokes County
- Wilkes County
- Yadkin County
- Carroll County
- Galax City
- Grayson County
- Patrick County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for North Carolina
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> | To help visualize the location of the cemetery, we've drawn a straight line between the communities of Mount Airy and Pilot Mountain. The cemetery can be found near that line and roughly halfway between the two communities. Remember that this is just an approximate location. |
| <3> | 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Ararat) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | 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 Ararat, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |