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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 Ashton (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 Ashton. 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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

Ashton is located in Pender 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 Pender County: Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, Duplin, New Hanover, Onslow & Sampson.

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

  • Pender County     (The home county of Ashton)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ashton, with the one closest to Ashton listed first.
    • Saint Helena
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Saint Helena is located in Pender County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Helena
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 428 people
    • Rocky Point
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Burgaw
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Murray Town
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Murray Town is located in Pender County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Murray Town
    • Currie
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Watha
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Watha is located in Pender County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Watha
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 247 people
    • Brown Town
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Brown Town is located in Pender County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brown Town
    • Hampstead
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Topsail
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Willard
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Willard is located in Pender County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willard
    • Kings Landing
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Atkinson
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
  • Bladen County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ashton, with the one closest to Ashton listed first.
    • Long View
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Long View is located in Bladen County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long View
    • Kelly
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • East Arcadia
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
  • Brunswick County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ashton, with the one closest to Ashton listed first.
    • Navassa
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Navassa is located in Brunswick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Navassa
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,534 people
    • Phoenix
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Belville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Belville is located in Brunswick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,135 people
    • Malmo
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Northwest
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Sandy Creek
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Sandy Creek is located in Brunswick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Creek
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 319 people
    • Leland
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Leland is located in Brunswick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leland
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 25,647 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Leland <1>
    • Old Town
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Old Town is located in Brunswick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Town
    • Town Creek
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Town Creek is located in Brunswick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Town Creek
    • Winnabow
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Columbus County
  • Duplin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ashton, with the one closest to Ashton listed first.
    • Tin City
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Wallace
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Cartersville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Cartersville is located in Duplin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cartersville
    • Pin Hook
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Pin Hook is located in Duplin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pin Hook
    • Sholars Crossroads
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Safe
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Hancheys Store
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Pasley
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Pasley is located in Duplin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pasley
    • Sloan
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Teachey
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Teachey is located in Duplin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Teachey
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 430 people
    • Cypress Creek
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Duff Creek
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Duff Creek is located in Duplin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duff Creek
  • New Hanover County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ashton, with the one closest to Ashton listed first.
    • Castle Hayne
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Skippers Corner
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Skippers Corner is located in New Hanover County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skippers Corner
    • Murraysville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Murraysville is located in New Hanover County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Murraysville
    • Wrightsboro
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Wrightsboro is located in New Hanover County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wrightsboro
    • Kirkland
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Kirkland is located in New Hanover County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kirkland
    • Hightsville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Hightsville is located in New Hanover County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hightsville
    • Kings Grant
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Kings Grant is located in New Hanover County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings Grant
    • Ogden
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Smith Creek
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Smith Creek is located in New Hanover County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smith Creek
    • Bayshore
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Bayshore is located in New Hanover County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayshore
    • Windemere
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Windemere is located in New Hanover County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windemere
    • Seagate
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Seagate is located in New Hanover County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seagate
  • Onslow County
  • Sampson County

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

Cemeteries Near Ashton ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Ashton.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Ashton, with the one closest to Ashton 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 in 1895, Ashton had a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Rocky Point
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Burgaw
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Long Creek
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Long Creek is located in Pender County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Creek
  • Castle Hayne
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Montague
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Montague is located in Pender County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montague
  • Currie
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Wrightsboro
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Wrightsboro is located in New Hanover County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wrightsboro
  • Kirkland
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Kirkland is located in New Hanover County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kirkland
  • Scotts Hill
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Scotts Hill is located in Pender County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scotts Hill
  • Hampstead
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Point Caswell
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Point Caswell is located in Pender County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Point Caswell
  • Phoenix
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Navassa
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Navassa is located in Brunswick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Navassa
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,534 people
    • Atkinson
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Maple Hill
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)

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

Newspapers Published in Ashton ...

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 91 newspapers that have been published in the area around Ashton.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Ashton, there are papers which were published within 18 miles [29 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Ashton.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin with 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 Ashton:

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 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Ashton) 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 Ashton, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.