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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 Bluff (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 Bluff. 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 northeast 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 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.

Bluff is located in Madison 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 Madison County: Buncombe, Haywood, Yancey, Cocke (TN), Greene (TN) & Unicoi (TN).

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

  • Madison County     (The home county of Bluff)
  • Buncombe County
  • Haywood County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bluff, with the one closest to Bluff listed first.
    • Teague ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Teague is located in Haywood County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Teague
    • Mount Sterling
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • West Canton
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Canton
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Clyde
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Lake Junaluska
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Morning Star
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Bethel
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Bethel is located in Haywood County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bethel
    • Sonoma ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Sonoma is located in Haywood County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sonoma
    • Waynesville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Maggie Valley
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Hazelwood
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Hazelwood is located in Haywood County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hazelwood
    • Lavinia ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Lavinia is located in Haywood County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lavinia
  • Yancey County
  • Cocke County (TN)
  • Greene County (TN)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bluff, with the one closest to Bluff listed first.
    • Cedar Creek
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Sirenburg ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Sirenburg is located in Greene County (TN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sirenburg
    • Bright Hope
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Camp Creek
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Little Chucky ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Little Chucky is located in Greene County (TN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Chucky
    • Water Fork Mill
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Water Fork Mill is located in Greene County (TN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Water Fork Mill
      • Estimated population in 2014: 445 people
    • Greeneville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Henshaw ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Henshaw is located in Greene County (TN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henshaw
      • Estimated population in 2014: 470 people
    • Forest Hills
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Forest Hills is located in Greene County (TN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Hills
      • Estimated population in 2014: 5,027 people
    • Pleasant View
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Pleasant View is located in Greene County (TN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant View
      • Estimated population in 2014: 4,251 people
    • Warrensburg
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Bolton Estates
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Bolton Estates is located in Greene County (TN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bolton Estates
      • Estimated population in 2014: 5,152 people
    • Horse Creek
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Horse Creek is located in Greene County (TN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horse Creek
      • Estimated population in 2014: 284 people
  • Jefferson County (TN)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bluff, with the one closest to Bluff listed first.
    • Baneberry
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Leadvale
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • White Pine
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Sevier County (TN)
    • Pittman Center
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Pittman Center is located in Sevier County (TN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pittman Center
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 545 people
  • Unicoi County (TN)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bluff, with the one closest to Bluff listed first.
    • Flag Pond
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Loganton ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Loganton is located in Unicoi County (TN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loganton
    • Clear Branch
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Ernestville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Ernestville is located in Unicoi County (TN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ernestville
      • Estimated population in 2014: 1,311 people
    • Indian Creek ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Indian Creek is located in Unicoi County (TN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Creek
    • Bumpus Cove
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Bumpus Cove is located in Unicoi County (TN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bumpus Cove
      • Estimated population in 2014: 729 people
  • Washington County (TN)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bluff, with the one closest to Bluff listed first.
    • Nolichucky ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Nolichucky is located in Washington County (TN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nolichucky
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 5,861 people
    • Limestone
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Conklin
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)

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

Cemeteries Near Bluff ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Bluff.

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

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

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

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

  • Lynch ‑ Historic
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Lynch is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lynch
  • Spring Creek
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Big Pine
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Big Pine is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Pine
  • Hot Springs
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Barnard
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Barnard is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barnard
  • Sandy Bottom
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Sandy Bottom is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Bottom
  • Stackhouse
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Paint Rock
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Paint Rock is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paint Rock
  • Jonestown ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Jonestown is located in Cocke County (TN)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jonestown
  • Wolf Creek
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Nough
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Canto
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Canto is located in Buncombe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canto
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in Bluff ...

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 25 newspapers that have been published in the area around Bluff.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Bluff, there are papers which were published within 20 miles [32.2 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Bluff.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 Bluff:

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