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 Bells Crossroads (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 Bells Crossroads. 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 Bells Crossroads ...
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 Bells Crossroads: Bells Xrds.
- While the name of this community is Bells Crossroads, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Bells Crossroads may originally have been Bell's Crossroads.
Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Bells Crossroads might be written as Bell Crossroads.
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Bells Crossroads. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Bells Crossroads.
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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals 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.
Bells Crossroads 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 Bells Crossroads. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Bells Crossroads:
- Pender County (The home county of Bells Crossroads)
- The following are listed by their distance from Bells Crossroads, with the one closest to Bells Crossroads listed first.
- Rocky Point
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Ashton
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Ashton is located in Pender County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashton
- Saint Helena
(6 miles [9.7 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
- Currie
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Burgaw
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Murray Town
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Murray Town is located in Pender County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Murray Town
- Atkinson
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Hampstead
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Brown Town
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Brown Town is located in Pender County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brown Town
- Topsail
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Topsail is located in Pender County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Topsail
- Watha
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Watha is located in Pender County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Watha
- Population from the 2020 Census: 247 people
- Kings Landing
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Kings Landing is located in Pender County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings Landing
- Willard
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Willard is located in Pender County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willard
- Bladen County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bells Crossroads, with the one closest to Bells Crossroads listed first.
- Long View
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Long View is located in Bladen County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long View
- Kelly
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Kelly is located in Bladen County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelly
- East Arcadia
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- East Arcadia is located in Bladen County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Arcadia
- Population from the 2020 Census: 470 people
- Council
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Council is located in Bladen County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Council
- Brunswick County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bells Crossroads, with the one closest to Bells Crossroads listed first.
- Phoenix
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Phoenix is located in Brunswick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Phoenix
- Navassa
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Navassa is located in Brunswick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Navassa
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,534 people
- Belville
(13 miles [20.9 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
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Malmo is located in Brunswick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Malmo
- Northwest
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Northwest is located in Brunswick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Northwest
- Population from the 2020 Census: 806 people
- Sandy Creek
(14 miles [22.5 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
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Town Creek
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Town Creek is located in Brunswick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Town Creek
- Old Town
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Old Town is located in Brunswick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Town
- Winnabow
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Bolivia
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Boiling Spring Lakes
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Boiling Spring Lakes is located in Brunswick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boiling Spring Lakes
- Population from the 2020 Census: 6,430 people
- Columbus County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bells Crossroads, with the one closest to Bells Crossroads listed first.
- Acme
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Acme is located in Columbus County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acme
- Delco
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Riegelwood
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Armour
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Armour is located in Columbus County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Armour
- Sandyfield
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Sandyfield is located in Columbus County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandyfield
- Population from the 2020 Census: 415 people
- Byrdville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Byrdville is located in Columbus County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Byrdville
- Bolton
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Duplin County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bells Crossroads, with the one closest to Bells Crossroads listed first.
- Tin City
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Tin City is located in Duplin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tin City
- Wallace
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Safe
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Safe is located in Duplin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Safe
- Teachey
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Teachey is located in Duplin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Teachey
- Population from the 2020 Census: 430 people
- Cartersville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Cartersville is located in Duplin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cartersville
- Hancheys Store
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Hancheys Store is located in Duplin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hancheys Store
- Sholars Crossroads
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Sholars Crossroads is located in Duplin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sholars Crossroads
- Pin Hook
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Pin Hook is located in Duplin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pin Hook
- Harrells
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Harrells is located in Duplin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrells
- Population from the 2020 Census: 191 people
- Duff Creek
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Duff Creek is located in Duplin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duff Creek
- Pasley
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Pasley is located in Duplin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pasley
- Sloan
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Sloan is located in Duplin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sloan
- Cypress Creek
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Cypress Creek is located in Duplin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cypress Creek
- New Hanover County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bells Crossroads, with the one closest to Bells Crossroads listed first.
- Castle Hayne
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Skippers Corner
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Skippers Corner is located in New Hanover County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skippers Corner
- Wrightsboro
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Wrightsboro is located in New Hanover County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wrightsboro
- Hightsville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Hightsville is located in New Hanover County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hightsville
- Murraysville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Murraysville is located in New Hanover County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Murraysville
- Kings Grant
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Kings Grant is located in New Hanover County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings Grant
- Smith Creek
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Smith Creek is located in New Hanover County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smith Creek
- Bayshore
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Bayshore is located in New Hanover County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayshore
- Kirkland
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Kirkland is located in New Hanover County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kirkland
- Ogden
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Windemere
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Windemere is located in New Hanover County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windemere
- Wilmington
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Seagate
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Seagate is located in New Hanover County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seagate
- Onslow County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bells Crossroads, with the one closest to Bells Crossroads listed first.
- Holly Ridge
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Surf City
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Ocean City Beach
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Ocean City Beach is located in Onslow County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ocean City Beach
- Folkstone
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Folkstone is located in Onslow County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Folkstone
- North Topsail Beach
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Sampson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bells Crossroads, with the one closest to Bells Crossroads listed first.
- Ivanhoe
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Ivanhoe is located in Sampson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivanhoe
- Kerr
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Kerr is located in Sampson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kerr
- Tomahawk
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Tomahawk is located in Sampson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tomahawk
- Delway
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Delway is located in Sampson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delway
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Bells Crossroads, see our County-by-County Page for Bells Crossroads.
Cemeteries Near Bells Crossroads ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Bells Crossroads.
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 Bells Crossroads - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Bells Crossroads covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Bells Crossroads, with the one closest to Bells Crossroads listed first.
- Rileys Creek Memorial Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rileys Creek Memorial Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Rileys Creek Memorial Cemetery is located 5 miles [8 km]<3> to the west of Rocky Point.
- The Rileys Creek Memorial Cemetery has also been known as:
- Rileys Creek Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #48581 <4>
- Riley's Creek Baptist Church Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Isom Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Larkins Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Miller Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Garrisons Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Henry Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Parker Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Simpson Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Bell Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Hocutt Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Smith Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Continue List (143 more) ...
- Browning Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Malpass Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Malpass Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
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>
While we didn't find Bells Crossroads in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Bells Crossroads.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Bells Crossroads, with the one closest to Bells Crossroads listed first.
- Long Creek
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Long Creek is located in Pender County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Creek
- Rocky Point
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Ashton
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Ashton is located in Pender County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashton
- Castle Hayne
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Montague
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Montague is located in Pender County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montague
- Currie
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Wrightsboro
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Wrightsboro is located in New Hanover County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wrightsboro
- Burgaw
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Phoenix
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Phoenix is located in Brunswick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Phoenix
- Navassa
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Navassa is located in Brunswick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Navassa
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,534 people
- Point Caswell
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Point Caswell is located in Pender County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Point Caswell
- Northwest
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Northwest is located in Brunswick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Northwest
- Population from the 2020 Census: 806 people
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Malmo
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Malmo is located in Brunswick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Malmo
- 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
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Bells Crossroads. See our List of 1890's Communities around Bells Crossroads.
Newspapers Published in Bells Crossroads ...
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 Bells Crossroads.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Bells Crossroads, there are papers which were published within 15 miles [24.1 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Bells Crossroads.
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 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 Bells Crossroads:
- Websites specific to North Carolina
- Pages specific to Pender County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Bladen County
- Brunswick County
- Columbus County
- Duplin County
- New Hanover County
- Onslow County
- Sampson 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> | 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- Bells Crossroads) 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 Bells Crossroads, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |