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 Bates Creek (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 Bates Creek. 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.
Name Variations for Bates Creek ...
When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.
Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might occur.
- A typical abbreviation for Bates Creek: Bates Crk. (or less commonly used: Bates Ck. or Bates Cr.)
- While the name of this community is Bates Creek, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Bates Creek may originally have been Bate's Creek.
Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Bates Creek might be written as Bate Creek.
If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.
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 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.
Bates Creek is located in Cherokee 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 Cherokee County: Fannin (GA), Union (GA), Clay, Graham, Macon, Monroe (TN) & Polk (TN).
Below are the counties that are near Bates Creek. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Bates Creek:
- Cherokee County (The home county of Bates Creek)
- The following are listed by their distance from Bates Creek, with the one closest to Bates Creek listed first.
- Grape Creek
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Grape Creek is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grape Creek
- Murphy
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Ogreeta
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Ogreeta is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ogreeta
- Boiling Springs
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Boiling Springs is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boiling Springs
- Unaka
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Unaka is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unaka
- Hiwassee Village
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Hiwassee Village is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hiwassee Village
- Marble
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Vests
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Vests is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vests
- Coalville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Coalville is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coalville
- Culberson
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Culberson is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Culberson
- Postell
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Postell is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Postell
- Hothouse
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Hothouse is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hothouse
- Pleasant Hill
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Pleasant Hill is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Hill
- Clay County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bates Creek, with the one closest to Bates Creek listed first.
- Brasstown
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Pine Log Village
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Pine Log Village is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Log Village
- Warne
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Hayesville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Elf
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Elf is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elf
- Graham County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bates Creek, with the one closest to Bates Creek listed first.
- Lake Santeetlah
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Lake Santeetlah is located in Graham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Santeetlah
- Population from the 2020 Census: 43 people
- Lake Santeetlah has also been known as:
- Santeetla
- Santeetlah
- Santultah
- Thunderbird Mountain
- Thunderbird
- Robbinsville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Bear Creek
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Bear Creek is located in Graham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Creek
- Cheoah
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Cheoah is located in Graham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cheoah
- Yellow Creek
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Yellow Creek is located in Graham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yellow Creek
- Fontana Dam
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Fontana Dam is located in Graham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fontana Dam
- Population from the 2020 Census: 6 people
- Fontana Dam has also been known as:
- Fontana Village
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fontana Dam <2>
- Stecoah
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Stecoah is located in Graham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stecoah
- Macon County
- Fairview
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Fairview is located in Macon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairview
- Swain County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bates Creek, with the one closest to Bates Creek listed first.
- Nantahala
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Nantahala is located in Swain County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nantahala
- Wesser
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Wesser is located in Swain County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wesser
- Fannin County (GA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Bates Creek, with the one closest to Bates Creek listed first.
- Cutcane
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Cutcane is located in Fannin County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cutcane
- Estimated population in 2019: 3,417 people
- Hemp
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Hemp is located in Fannin County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hemp
- Population from the 2010 Census: 1,647 people
- Mineral Bluff
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Pantertown
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Pantertown is located in Fannin County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pantertown
- Population from the 2010 Census: 9,749 people
- Morganton
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Craytonia
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Craytonia is located in Fannin County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Craytonia
- McCaysville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Epworth
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Fry
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Fry is located in Fannin County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fry
- Pierceville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Pierceville is located in Fannin County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pierceville
- Blue Ridge
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Greens Mill
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Greens Mill is located in Fannin County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greens Mill
- Chestnut Gap
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Chestnut Gap is located in Fannin County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Gap
- Gilmer County (GA)
- Cherry Log
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Towns County (GA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Bates Creek, with the one closest to Bates Creek listed first.
- Young Harris
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Jacksonville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Jacksonville is located in Towns County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jacksonville
- Estimated population in 2019: 5,239 people
- Hunt ‑ Historic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Hunt is located in Towns County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunt
- Hiawassee
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Tate City
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Tate City is located in Towns County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tate City
- Union County (GA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Bates Creek, with the one closest to Bates Creek listed first.
- Bethlehem
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Bethlehem is located in Union County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bethlehem
- Canal Lake
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Canal Lake is located in Union County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canal Lake
- Population from the 2010 Census: 23,025 people
- Blairsville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Youngcane ‑ Historic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Youngcane is located in Union County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Youngcane
- Estimated population in 2019: 1,661 people
- Owltown
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Owltown is located in Union County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Owltown
- Estimated population in 2019: 2,346 people
- Hood ‑ Historic
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Hood is located in Union County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hood
- Choestoe
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Choestoe is located in Union County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Choestoe
- Suches
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Blount County (TN)
- Chilhowee
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Chilhowee is located in Blount County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chilhowee
- McMinn County (TN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Bates Creek, with the one closest to Bates Creek listed first.
- Mecca
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Mecca is located in McMinn County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mecca
- Etowah
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Grady
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Grady is located in McMinn County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grady
- Nonaburg
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Nonaburg is located in McMinn County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nonaburg
- Monroe County (TN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Bates Creek, with the one closest to Bates Creek listed first.
- Coker Creek
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Coker Creek is located in Monroe County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coker Creek
- Epperson
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Epperson is located in Monroe County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Epperson
- Jacktown
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Jacktown is located in Monroe County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jacktown
- Estimated population in 2014: 67,319 people
- Tellico Plains
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Rural Vale
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Rural Vale is located in Monroe County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rural Vale
- Jalapa
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Jalapa is located in Monroe County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jalapa
- Belltown
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Belltown is located in Monroe County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belltown
- Ballplay
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Ballplay is located in Monroe County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ballplay
- Acorn
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Acorn is located in Monroe County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acorn
- Halfway Town ‑ Historic
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Halfway Town is located in Monroe County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halfway Town
- Ipe ‑ Historic
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Ipe is located in Monroe County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ipe
- Polk County (TN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Bates Creek, with the one closest to Bates Creek listed first.
- Belltown Hill
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Belltown Hill is located in Polk County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belltown Hill
- Estimated population in 2014: 2,457 people
- Chanceytown
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Chanceytown is located in Polk County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chanceytown
- Ducktown
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Copperhill
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Rymers ‑ Historic
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Rymers is located in Polk County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rymers
- Servilla
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Servilla is located in Polk County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Servilla
- Archville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Archville is located in Polk County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Archville
- Chable ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Chable is located in Polk County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chable
- Delano
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Bates Creek, see our County-by-County Page for Bates Creek.
Cemeteries Near Bates Creek ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Bates Creek.
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 Bates Creek - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Bates Creek covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Bates Creek, with the one closest to Bates Creek listed first.
- James Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Timpson Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Hiwassee Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Sunset Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- James Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Beech Creek Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Martin Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Kirkland Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Decker Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Payne Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Old Martins Creek Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Haigler Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Continue List (328 more) ...
- Ferguson Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Wells Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Mc Guire Cemetery
(5 miles [8 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.<3>
While we didn't find Bates Creek in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Bates Creek.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Bates Creek, with the one closest to Bates Creek listed first.
- Grape Creek
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Grape Creek is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grape Creek
- Murphy
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Tomotla
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Tomotla is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tomotla
- Ogreeta
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Ogreeta is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ogreeta
- Peachtree
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Peachtree is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peachtree
- Letitia
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Letitia is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Letitia
- Brasstown
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Unaka
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Unaka is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unaka
- Marble
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Vests
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Vests is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vests
- Postell
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Postell is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Postell
- Culberson
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Culberson is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Culberson
- Continue List (16 more) ...
- Coalville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Coalville is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coalville
- Hothouse
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Hothouse is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hothouse
- Hiwassee
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Hiwassee is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hiwassee
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Bates Creek. See our List of 1890's Communities around Bates Creek.
Newspapers Published in Bates Creek ...
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 36 newspapers that have been published in the area around Bates Creek.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Bates Creek, there are papers which were published within 20 miles [32.2 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Bates Creek.
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 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 Bates Creek:
- Websites specific to North Carolina
- Pages specific to Cherokee County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Clay County
- Graham County
- Macon County
- Swain County
- Fannin County
- Gilmer County
- Towns County
- Union County
- Blount County
- McMinn County
- Monroe County
- Polk County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for North Carolina
Footnotes ...
| <1> | It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties). |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 Bates Creek, 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Bates Creek) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |