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A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of North Carolina >> Buncombe County >> Arden >> Genealogy HelperIndex...

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 Arden (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 Arden. 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 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 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.

Arden 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 Arden. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Arden:

  • Buncombe County     (The home county of Arden)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Arden, with the one closest to Arden listed first.
    • Royal Pines
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Royal Pines is also located in Buncombe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Royal Pines
    • Skyland
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Busbee
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Avery Creek
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Avery Creek is also located in Buncombe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avery Creek
    • Biltmore Forest
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Biltmore Forest is also 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 north)
      • Shiloh is also located in Buncombe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shiloh
    • Bent Creek
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Bent Creek is also located in Buncombe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bent Creek
    • Redwood Village
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Redwood Village is also located in Buncombe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redwood Village
    • Sayles Village
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Sayles Village is also located in Buncombe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sayles Village
    • Fairview
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Azalea
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Enka Village
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Enka Village is also located in Buncombe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Enka Village
    • West Asheville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Haywood County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Arden, with the one closest to Arden listed first.
    • Cruso
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Morning Star
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Canton
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Sonoma ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Sonoma was located in Haywood County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sonoma
    • West Canton
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Bethel
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Bethel is located in Haywood County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bethel
    • Clyde
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Lavinia ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Lavinia was located in Haywood County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lavinia
    • Lake Junaluska
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Waynesville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Hazelwood
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Hazelwood is located in Haywood County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hazelwood
    • Teague ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Teague was located in Haywood County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Teague
  • Henderson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Arden, with the one closest to Arden listed first.
    • Fletcher
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Naples
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Naples is located in Henderson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Naples
    • Mountain Home
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Mills River
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Balfour
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Balfour is located in Henderson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Balfour
    • Horse Shoe
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Pinehurst
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Pinehurst is located in Henderson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinehurst
    • Cumberland Village
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Cumberland Village is located in Henderson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cumberland Village
    • Gerton
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Timberland
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Timberland is located in Henderson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timberland
    • Carolina Village
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Carolina Village is located in Henderson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carolina Village
    • U-No
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Holly Springs
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Holly Springs is located in Henderson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly Springs
  • Madison County
  • McDowell County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Arden, with the one closest to Arden listed first.
    • Dendron
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Dendron is located in McDowell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dendron
    • Moffitt Hill
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Old Fort
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Lackey Town
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Lackey Town is located in McDowell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lackey Town
    • Greenlee
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Sugar Hill
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Providence
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Providence is located in McDowell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Providence
    • West Marion
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • West Marion is located in McDowell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Marion
  • Polk County
  • Rutherford County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Arden, with the one closest to Arden listed first.
    • Village of Chimney Rock Village
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Village of Chimney Rock Village is located in Rutherford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Village of Chimney Rock Village
      • Estimated population in 2015: 108 people
    • Chimney Rock
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Lake Lure
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Otter Creek ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Whitehouse
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Green Hill
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Cuba ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Cuba was located in Rutherford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cuba
    • Thermal City
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Thermal City is located in Rutherford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thermal City
  • Transylvania County
  • Yancey County
  • Greenville County (SC)
  • Spartanburg County (SC)

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

Cemeteries Near Arden ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Arden.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Arden, with the one closest to Arden 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 Arden had a population of 229 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service.

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

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

Newspapers Published in Arden ...

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 109 newspapers that have been published in the area around Arden.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Arden, there are papers which were published within 10 miles [16.1 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Arden.

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 Arden:

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