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 Briarcliff (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 Briarcliff. 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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.
Briarcliff is located in Orange 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 Orange County: Alamance, Caswell, Chatham, Durham & Person.
Below are the counties that are near Briarcliff. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Briarcliff:
- Orange County (The home county of Briarcliff)
- The following are listed by their distance from Briarcliff, with the one closest to Briarcliff listed first.
- Summerfield Crossing
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Summerfield Crossing is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summerfield Crossing
- Davie Circle
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Davie Circle is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Davie Circle
- Greenwood
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Greenwood is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwood
- Tenney Circle
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Tenney Circle is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tenney Circle
- Oak Hills
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Oak Hills is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Hills
- Ashley Forest
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Ashley Forest is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashley Forest
- Carolwoods
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Carolwoods is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carolwoods
- Cedar Hill
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Cedar Hill is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Hill
- Lake Ellen
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Lake Ellen is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Ellen
- Chapel Hill
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Mount Bolus
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Mount Bolus is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Bolus
- Northwood
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Northwood is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Northwood
- Spring Valley
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Spring Valley is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Valley
- Alamance County
- The following are listed by their distance from Briarcliff, with the one closest to Briarcliff listed first.
- Mandale
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Mandale is located in Alamance County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mandale
- Eli Whitney
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Eli Whitney is located in Alamance County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eli Whitney
- Saxapahaw
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Brook Hollow
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Brook Hollow is located in Alamance County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brook Hollow
- Buena Vista Estates
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Buena Vista Estates is located in Alamance County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buena Vista Estates
- Hawfields
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Hawfields is located in Alamance County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hawfields
- Mebane
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Stagecoach Trail
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Stagecoach Trail is located in Alamance County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stagecoach Trail
- Melville
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Melville is located in Alamance County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melville
- Sutphin
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Sutphin is located in Alamance County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sutphin
- Florence Town
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Florence Town is located in Alamance County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florence Town
- Woodlawn
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Woodlawn is located in Alamance County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodlawn
- Swepsonville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Swepsonville is located in Alamance County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swepsonville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,386 people
- Caswell County
- The following are listed by their distance from Briarcliff, with the one closest to Briarcliff listed first.
- Prospect Hill
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Prospect Hill is located in Caswell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prospect Hill
- Ridgeville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Ridgeville is located in Caswell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgeville
- Anderson
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Anderson is located in Caswell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anderson
- Chatham County
- The following are listed by their distance from Briarcliff, with the one closest to Briarcliff listed first.
- Fearrington Village
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Fearrington Village is located in Chatham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fearrington Village
- Bynum
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Bynum is located in Chatham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bynum
- Cary
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Pittsboro
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Haywood
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Haywood is located in Chatham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haywood
- Moncure
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Brickhaven
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Brickhaven is located in Chatham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brickhaven
- Corinth
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Corinth is located in Chatham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corinth
- Farmville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Siler City
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Bear Creek
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Bear Creek is located in Chatham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Creek
- Bonlee
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Bonlee is located in Chatham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonlee
- Goldston
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Durham County
- The following are listed by their distance from Briarcliff, with the one closest to Briarcliff listed first.
- Parkwood
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Parkwood is located in Durham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkwood
- The American Village
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- The American Village is located in Durham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The American Village
- Durham
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Brassfield
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Brassfield is located in Durham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brassfield
- Nelson
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Nelson is located in Durham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nelson
- Morrisville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Gorman
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Gorman is located in Durham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gorman
- Bahama
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Rougemont
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Hampton
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Hampton is located in Durham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hampton
- Franklin County
- The following are listed by their distance from Briarcliff, with the one closest to Briarcliff listed first.
- Wake Forest
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Youngsville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Granville County
- The following are listed by their distance from Briarcliff, with the one closest to Briarcliff listed first.
- Butner
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Creedmoor
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Lyons
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Lyons is located in Granville County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyons
- Mount Energy
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Mount Energy is located in Granville County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Energy
- Stem
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Stem is located in Granville County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stem
- Population from the 2020 Census: 474 people
- Hester
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Hester is located in Granville County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hester
- Tar River
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Tar River is located in Granville County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tar River
- Wilton
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Wilton is located in Granville County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilton
- Providence
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Providence is located in Granville County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Providence
- Harnett County
- The following are listed by their distance from Briarcliff, with the one closest to Briarcliff listed first.
- Duncan
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Duncan is located in Harnett County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duncan
- Cokesbury
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Cokesbury is located in Harnett County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cokesbury
- Rawls
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Rawls is located in Harnett County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rawls
- Lee County
- The following are listed by their distance from Briarcliff, with the one closest to Briarcliff listed first.
- Osgood
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Osgood is located in Lee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osgood
- Colon
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Colon is located in Lee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colon
- Cumnock
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Cumnock is located in Lee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cumnock
- Glenwood Village
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Glenwood Village is located in Lee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenwood Village
- Green Valley Estates
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Wildwood
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Wildwood is located in Lee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wildwood
- Person County
- The following are listed by their distance from Briarcliff, with the one closest to Briarcliff listed first.
- Hurdle Mills
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Timberlake
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Cates
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Cates is located in Person County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cates
- Mount Tirzah
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Mount Tirzah is located in Person County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Tirzah
- Moriah
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Moriah is located in Person County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moriah
- Allens Level
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Allens Level is located in Person County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allens Level
- Roseville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Roseville is located in Person County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roseville
- Whitt Town
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Whitt Town is located in Person County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitt Town
- Wake County
- The following are listed by their distance from Briarcliff, with the one closest to Briarcliff listed first.
- Hazelwood
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Hazelwood is located in Wake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hazelwood
- Dutchess Village
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Dutchess Village is located in Wake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dutchess Village
- Apex
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Indian Trail
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Indian Trail is located in Wake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Trail
- Pickwick Village
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Pickwick Village is located in Wake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pickwick Village
- New Hill
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Meredith Townes
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Meredith Townes is located in Wake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meredith Townes
- Woodbury Village
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Woodbury Village is located in Wake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodbury Village
- Method
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Method is located in Wake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Method
- Glenwood Village
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Glenwood Village is located in Wake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenwood Village
- Fairmont
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Fairmont is located in Wake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairmont
- Holly Springs
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Hollemans Crossroads
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Hollemans Crossroads is located in Wake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollemans Crossroads
- Former names for Hollemans Crossroads:
- Collins
- Enno
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Briarcliff, see our County-by-County Page for Briarcliff.
Cemeteries Near Briarcliff ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Briarcliff.
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 Briarcliff - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Briarcliff covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Briarcliff, with the one closest to Briarcliff listed first.
- Chapel Hill Memorial Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Partin Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Sparrows Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- McCauley Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Riggsbee Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Restland Memorial Gardens
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Cheek Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Tilley Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Beechwood Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Maplewood Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Manns Chapel Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Glenview Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Continue List (111 more) ...
- Woodlawn Memorial Park
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Dunagan Family Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Cross Roads Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
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 Briarcliff in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Briarcliff.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Briarcliff, with the one closest to Briarcliff listed first.
- Chapel Hill
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Blackwood
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Blackwood is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackwood
- Durham
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Nelson
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Nelson is located in Durham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nelson
- Brassfield
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Brassfield is located in Durham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brassfield
- Morrisville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Hillsborough
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Bynum
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Bynum is located in Chatham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bynum
- Teer
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Teer is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Teer
- Efland
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Oaks
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Oaks is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oaks
- Cary
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Fairntosh
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Fairntosh is located in Durham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairntosh
- Pittsboro
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Apex
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Briarcliff. See our List of 1890's Communities around Briarcliff.
Newspapers Published in Briarcliff ...
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 55 newspapers that have been published in the area around Briarcliff.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Briarcliff, there are papers which were published within 11 miles [17.7 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Briarcliff.
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 websites either 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 Briarcliff:
- Websites specific to North Carolina
- Pages specific to Orange County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Alamance County
- Caswell County
- Chatham County
- Durham County
- Franklin County
- Granville County
- Harnett County
- Lee County
- Person County
- Wake County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for North Carolina
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> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Briarcliff) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <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 Briarcliff, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |