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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 Bethel (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 Bethel. 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 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.

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

  • Pitt County     (The home county of Bethel)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bethel, with the one closest to Bethel listed first.
    • Whitehurst
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Oakley
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Congleton
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Stokes
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Stokes is located in Pitt County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stokes
    • House
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Whichard
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Falkland
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Falkland is located in Pitt County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falkland
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 98 people
    • Greenville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Ripple City
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Ripple City is located in Pitt County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ripple City
    • Heritage Village
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Heritage Village is located in Pitt County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heritage Village
    • Pactolus
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Bells Fork
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Red Oak
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Red Oak is located in Pitt County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Oak
  • Beaufort County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bethel, with the one closest to Bethel listed first.
    • Rosedale
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Chocowinity
      (25 miles [40.2 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
  • Bertie County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bethel, with the one closest to Bethel listed first.
    • Lewiston Woodville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Lewiston Woodville is located in Bertie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lewiston Woodville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 473 people
    • Drew
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Kelford
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Kelford is located in Bertie County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelford
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 217 people
    • Windsor
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Roxobel
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
  • Edgecombe County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bethel, with the one closest to Bethel listed first.
    • Conetoe
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Coakley
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Princeville
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Speed
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Fairview
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Fairview is located in Edgecombe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairview
    • Hope Lodge
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Tarboro
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Summerfield
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Summerfield is located in Edgecombe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summerfield
    • Henrietta
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Henrietta is located in Edgecombe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henrietta
    • Sharp Point
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Sharp Point is located in Edgecombe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sharp Point
    • Cobb Town
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Cobb Town is located in Edgecombe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cobb Town
    • Pinetops
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Lawrence
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Greene County
  • Halifax County
  • Lenoir County
  • Martin County
  • Nash County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bethel, with the one closest to Bethel listed first.
    • North Green
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • North Green is located in Nash County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Green
    • Ashburk
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Ashburk is located in Nash County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashburk
    • Joyners Crossing
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Joyners Crossing is located in Nash County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joyners Crossing
    • Easonburg
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Easonburg is located in Nash County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Easonburg
    • Drake
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Drake is located in Nash County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drake
    • Taylor Crossroads
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Halifax Crossing
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Halifax Crossing is located in Nash County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halifax Crossing
    • 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
    • Gold Rock
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Langley Crossroads
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Langley Crossroads is located in Nash County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Langley Crossroads
  • Wilson County

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

Cemeteries Near Bethel ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Bethel.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Bethel, with the one closest to Bethel 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 Bethel had a population of 377 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Bethel had a population of 1,614 people.

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

  • Parmele
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Parmele is located in Martin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parmele
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 253 people
  • Conetoe
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Robersonville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Mildred
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Mildred is located in Edgecombe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mildred
  • Hollands
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Hollands is located in Pitt County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollands
  • Coakley
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Hassell
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Falkland
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Falkland is located in Pitt County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falkland
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 98 people
  • House
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Old Sparta
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Old Sparta is located in Edgecombe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Sparta
  • Everetts
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Tarboro
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Conoho
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Conoho is located in Martin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conoho
    • Greenville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Hamilton
      (13 miles [20.9 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 Bethel. See our List of 1890's Communities around Bethel.

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Bethel ...

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 52 newspapers that have been published in the area around Bethel.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Bethel. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Bethel and those printed in the larger area surrounding Bethel.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 13 miles [20.9 km]<2> of Bethel.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to 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 Bethel:

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