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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors 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.
Bells Crossroads is located in Pitt 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 Pitt County: Beaufort, Craven, Edgecombe, Greene, Lenoir, Martin & Wilson.
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:
- Pitt 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.
- Falkland
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Falkland is located in Pitt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falkland
- Population from the 2020 Census: 98 people
- House
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- House is located in Pitt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for House
- Bethel
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Whitehurst
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Whitehurst is located in Pitt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitehurst
- Greenville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Ripple City
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Ripple City is located in Pitt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ripple City
- Red Oak
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Red Oak is located in Pitt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Oak
- Fountain
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Oakley
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Oakley is located in Pitt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakley
- Summerfield
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Summerfield is located in Pitt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summerfield
- Heritage Village
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Heritage Village is located in Pitt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heritage Village
- Farmville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Farmville is located in Pitt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,747 people
- Beaufort County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bells Crossroads, with the one closest to Bells Crossroads listed first.
- Rosedale
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Rosedale is located in Beaufort County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosedale
- Chocowinity
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Washington
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Washington Park
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Washington Park is located in Beaufort County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Washington Park
- Population from the 2020 Census: 429 people
- River Road
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- River Road is located in Beaufort County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River Road
- Craven County
- Fort Barnwell
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Fort Barnwell is located in Craven County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Barnwell
- Edgecombe County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bells Crossroads, with the one closest to Bells Crossroads listed first.
- Conetoe
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Conetoe is located in Edgecombe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conetoe
- Population from the 2020 Census: 263 people
- Cobb Town
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Cobb Town is located in Edgecombe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cobb Town
- Sharp Point
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Sharp Point is located in Edgecombe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sharp Point
- Pinetops
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Princeville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Princeville is located in Edgecombe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Princeville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,901 people
- Henrietta
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Henrietta is located in Edgecombe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henrietta
- Macclesfield
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Tarboro
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Coakley
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Coakley is located in Edgecombe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coakley
- Fairview
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Fairview is located in Edgecombe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairview
- Summerfield
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Summerfield is located in Edgecombe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summerfield
- Hope Lodge
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Hope Lodge is located in Edgecombe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hope Lodge
- Greene County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bells Crossroads, with the one closest to Bells Crossroads listed first.
- Fieldsboro
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Fieldsboro is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fieldsboro
- Walstonburg
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Walstonburg is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walstonburg
- Population from the 2020 Census: 207 people
- Maury
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Maury is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maury
- Speights Bridge
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Speights Bridge is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Speights Bridge
- Hookerton
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Contentnea
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Contentnea is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Contentnea
- Snow Hill
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Glenfield
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Glenfield is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenfield
- Jason
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Jason is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jason
- Halifax County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bells Crossroads, with the one closest to Bells Crossroads listed first.
- Hobgood
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Hobgood is located in Halifax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hobgood
- Population from the 2020 Census: 315 people
- Palmyra
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Palmyra is located in Halifax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palmyra
- Roseneath
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Roseneath is located in Halifax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roseneath
- Braswells Crossroads
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Braswells Crossroads is located in Halifax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Braswells Crossroads
- Scotland Neck
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Lenoir County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bells Crossroads, with the one closest to Bells Crossroads listed first.
- Grifton
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Tick Bite
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Tick Bite is located in Lenoir County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tick Bite
- Graingers
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Graingers is located in Lenoir County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graingers
- Martin County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bells Crossroads, with the one closest to Bells Crossroads listed first.
- Parmele
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Parmele is located in Martin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parmele
- Population from the 2020 Census: 253 people
- Robersonville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Gold Point
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Gold Point is located in Martin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gold Point
- Hassell
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Hassell is located in Martin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hassell
- Population from the 2020 Census: 75 people
- Everetts
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Everetts is located in Martin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Everetts
- Population from the 2020 Census: 138 people
- Bear Grass
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Bear Grass is located in Martin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Grass
- Population from the 2020 Census: 65 people
- Oak City
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Hamilton
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Williamston
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Nash County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bells Crossroads, with the one closest to Bells Crossroads listed first.
- Ashburk
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Ashburk is located in Nash County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashburk
- Joyners Crossing
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Joyners Crossing is located in Nash County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joyners Crossing
- Easonburg
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Easonburg is located in Nash County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Easonburg
- North Green
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- North Green is located in Nash County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Green
- Cliftonville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Cliftonville is located in Nash County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cliftonville
- Winstead Crossroads
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Winstead Crossroads is located in Nash County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winstead Crossroads
- Halifax Crossing
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Halifax Crossing is located in Nash County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halifax Crossing
- Langley Crossroads
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Langley Crossroads is located in Nash County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Langley Crossroads
- Dortches
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Dortches is located in Nash County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dortches
- Population from the 2020 Census: 964 people
- Drake
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Drake is located in Nash County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drake
- Sandy Cross
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Sandy Cross is located in Nash County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Cross
- Westry
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Westry is located in Nash County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westry
- Wayne County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bells Crossroads, with the one closest to Bells Crossroads listed first.
- Eureka
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Eureka is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eureka
- Population from the 2020 Census: 200 people
- Saulston
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Saulston is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saulston
- Fremont
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Wilson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bells Crossroads, with the one closest to Bells Crossroads listed first.
- Saratoga
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Saratoga is located in Wilson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saratoga
- Population from the 2020 Census: 408 people
- Stantonsburg
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Eastwood
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Eastwood is located in Wilson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastwood
- Elm City
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Wilson
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Black Creek
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Black Creek is located in Wilson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Creek
- Population from the 2020 Census: 767 people
- Spring Lake
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Spring Lake is located in Wilson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Lake
- Lucama
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
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.
- Henry W. Martin Cemetery
- Brownhill Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Gleenwood Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Forest Hills Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Hollywood Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Greenwood Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Memorial Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Crestlawn Memorial Gardens
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- J. W. Allen Family Cemetery
- Edgecombe Memorial Park
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Johnson Church Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Pineview Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Continue List (123 more) ...
- Sunset Memorial Park
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Community Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Princeville Community Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
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>
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.
- Hollands
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Hollands is located in Pitt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollands
- Falkland
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Falkland is located in Pitt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falkland
- Population from the 2020 Census: 98 people
- House
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- House is located in Pitt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for House
- Conetoe
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Conetoe is located in Edgecombe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conetoe
- Population from the 2020 Census: 263 people
- Old Sparta
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Old Sparta is located in Edgecombe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Sparta
- Greenville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Bethel
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Mildred
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Mildred is located in Edgecombe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mildred
- Farmville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Farmville is located in Pitt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,747 people
- Marlboro
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Marlboro is located in Pitt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marlboro
- Parmele
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Parmele is located in Martin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parmele
- Population from the 2020 Census: 253 people
- Fieldsboro
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Fieldsboro is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fieldsboro
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Tarboro
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Renston
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Renston is located in Pitt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Renston
- Winterville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
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 35 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 13 miles [20.9 km]<5>. 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 start 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 Pitt County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Beaufort County
- Craven County
- Edgecombe County
- Greene County
- Halifax County
- Lenoir County
- Martin County
- Nash County
- Wayne County
- Wilson 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> | 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. |
| <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 Bells Crossroads, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <5> | 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'. |