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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 Branon (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 Branon. 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.

Branon is located in Yadkin 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 Yadkin County: Davie, Forsyth, Iredell, Stokes, Surry & Wilkes.

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

  • Yadkin County     (The home county of Branon)
  • Alexander County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Branon, with the one closest to Branon listed first.
    • Vashti
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Rocky Springs
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Rocky Springs is located in Alexander County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Springs
    • Hiddenite
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Stony Point
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Midway
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Midway is located in Alexander County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midway
    • Fairview Park
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Fairview Park is located in Alexander County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairview Park
    • Taylorsville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Isenhour Park
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Isenhour Park is located in Alexander County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Isenhour Park
    • Liledoun
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Liledoun is located in Alexander County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liledoun
    • Millersville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Millersville is located in Alexander County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millersville
  • Alleghany County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Branon, with the one closest to Branon listed first.
    • Roaring Gap
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Glade Valley
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Hooker
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Davidson County
  • Davie County
  • Forsyth County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Branon, with the one closest to Branon listed first.
    • Grapewood
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Grapewood is located in Forsyth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grapewood
    • Cinnamon Ridge
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Cinnamon Ridge is located in Forsyth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cinnamon Ridge
    • Eaglewood
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Eaglewood is located in Forsyth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eaglewood
    • River Ridge Run
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • River Ridge Run is located in Forsyth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River Ridge Run
    • Hunters Trace
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Hunters Trace is located in Forsyth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunters Trace
    • Lewisville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Robin Hood Trace
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Robin Hood Trace is located in Forsyth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robin Hood Trace
    • Sherwood Forest
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Sherwood Forest is located in Forsyth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sherwood Forest
    • Vienna Forest
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Vienna Forest is located in Forsyth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vienna Forest
    • Vienna
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Donnaha
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Donnaha is located in Forsyth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Donnaha
    • Dorchester
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Dorchester is located in Forsyth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dorchester
  • Iredell County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Branon, with the one closest to Branon listed first.
    • Houstonville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Union Grove
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Harmony
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Olin
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Olin is located in Iredell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olin
    • New Hope ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Turnersburg
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Turnersburg is located in Iredell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turnersburg
    • Love Valley
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Cool Springs
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Belmont
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Belmont is located in Iredell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belmont
    • Statesville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Scotts
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Scotts is located in Iredell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scotts
    • Brevard ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Brevard is located in Iredell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brevard
  • Rowan County
  • Stokes County
  • Surry County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Branon, with the one closest to Branon listed first.
    • Rusk ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Rusk is located in Surry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rusk
    • Rockford
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Elkin
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Elkin Valley
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Stony Knoll
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Fairview
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Fairview is located in Surry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairview
    • Mulberry
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Copeland
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Siloam
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Siloam is located in Surry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Siloam
    • State Road
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Shoals
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Boyden ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Boyden is located in Surry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boyden
  • Wilkes County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Branon, with the one closest to Branon listed first.
    • New Castle ‑ Historic
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • New Castle is located in Wilkes County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Castle
    • Clingman
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Pleasant Hill
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Pleasant Hill is located in Wilkes County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Hill
    • Ronda
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Zimmerman ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Zimmerman is located in Wilkes County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zimmerman
    • Brier Creek ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Brier Creek is located in Wilkes County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brier Creek
    • Roaring River
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Roaring River is located in Wilkes County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roaring River
    • Lomax
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Hays
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Fletcher ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Fletcher is located in Wilkes County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fletcher
    • Henderson ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Henderson is located in Wilkes County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henderson
    • North Wilkesboro
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)

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

Cemeteries Near Branon ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Branon.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Branon, with the one closest to Branon 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.<3>

While we didn't find Branon in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Branon.

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

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

Newspapers Published in Branon ...

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 18 newspapers that have been published in the area around Branon.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Branon, there are papers which were published within 19 miles [30.6 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Branon.

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 Branon:

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>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.
<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 Branon, 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 from Point A (ie- Branon) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.