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 Brightwood (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 Brightwood. 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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.
Brightwood is located in Guilford 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 Guilford County: Alamance, Caswell, Davidson, Forsyth, Randolph, Rockingham & Stokes.
Below are the counties that are near Brightwood. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Brightwood:
- Guilford County (The home county of Brightwood)
- The following are listed by their distance from Brightwood, with the one closest to Brightwood listed first.
- White Oak
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- White Oak is located in Guilford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Oak
- Rudd
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Rudd is located in Guilford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rudd
- Spicewood
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Spicewood is located in Guilford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spicewood
- Cumberland
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Cumberland is located in Guilford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cumberland
- Fairfield
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Fairfield is located in Guilford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairfield
- Greensboro
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- McLeansville
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Browns Summit
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Southmont
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Southmont is located in Guilford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Southmont
- Guilford College
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Guilford College is located in Guilford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guilford College
- Latham Town
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Latham Town is located in Guilford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Latham Town
- Pomona
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Pomona is located in Guilford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pomona
- Alamance County
- The following are listed by their distance from Brightwood, with the one closest to Brightwood listed first.
- Glenwood Acres
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Glenwood Acres is located in Alamance County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenwood Acres
- Ossipee
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Ossipee is located in Alamance County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ossipee
- Population from the 2020 Census: 593 people
- Random Hills
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Random Hills is located in Alamance County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Random Hills
- Westbrook Forest
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Westbrook Forest is located in Alamance County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westbrook Forest
- Westbrook
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Westbrook is located in Alamance County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westbrook
- Westview
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Westview is located in Alamance County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westview
- Altamahaw
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Altamahaw is located in Alamance County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Altamahaw
- Country Club Acres
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Country Club Acres is located in Alamance County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Country Club Acres
- Deerfield
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Deerfield is located in Alamance County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deerfield
- Elon College
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Elon
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Elon is located in Alamance County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elon
- Population from the 2020 Census: 12,186 people
- The Country
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- The Country is located in Alamance County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Country
- Caswell County
- The following are listed by their distance from Brightwood, with the one closest to Brightwood listed first.
- Ashland
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Ashland is located in Caswell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashland
- Stony Creek
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Stony Creek is located in Caswell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stony Creek
- Locust Hill
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Locust Hill is located in Caswell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locust Hill
- Quick
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Quick is located in Caswell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quick
- Anderson
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Anderson is located in Caswell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anderson
- Jericho
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Jericho is located in Caswell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jericho
- Bethel
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Bethel is located in Caswell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bethel
- West Yanceyville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- West Yanceyville is located in Caswell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Yanceyville
- Pelham
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Pelham is located in Caswell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pelham
- Yanceyville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Davidson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Brightwood, with the one closest to Brightwood listed first.
- Abotts Creek
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Abotts Creek is located in Davidson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abotts Creek
- Thomasville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Wallburg
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Bethany ‑ Historic
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Bethany is located in Davidson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bethany
- Eden ‑ Historic
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Eden is located in Davidson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eden
- Fair Grove
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Fair Grove is located in Davidson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fair Grove
- Gum Tree
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Gum Tree is located in Davidson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gum Tree
- Midway
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Midway is located in Davidson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midway
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,951 people
- Forsyth County
- The following are listed by their distance from Brightwood, with the one closest to Brightwood listed first.
- Benefit ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Benefit is located in Forsyth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benefit
- Applegate
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Applegate is located in Forsyth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Applegate
- Cliffwood
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Cliffwood is located in Forsyth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cliffwood
- Emorywood Estates
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Emorywood Estates is located in Forsyth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emorywood Estates
- Pine Knolls
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Pine Knolls is located in Forsyth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Knolls
- Yorktown
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Yorktown is located in Forsyth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yorktown
- Belews Creek
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Belews Creek is located in Forsyth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belews Creek
- Horneytown
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Horneytown is located in Forsyth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horneytown
- Bonanza Hills
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Bonanza Hills is located in Forsyth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonanza Hills
- Christy Acres
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Christy Acres is located in Forsyth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Christy Acres
- Greystone Forest
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Greystone Forest is located in Forsyth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greystone Forest
- Kernersville
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Orange County
- The following are listed by their distance from Brightwood, with the one closest to Brightwood listed first.
- Lakeview Acres
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Lakeview Acres is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview Acres
- Miles
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Miles is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Miles
- Carr
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Carr is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carr
- Cheeks Crossroads
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Cheeks Crossroads is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cheeks Crossroads
- Oaks
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Oaks is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oaks
- Randolph County
- The following are listed by their distance from Brightwood, with the one closest to Brightwood listed first.
- Redcross
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Redcross is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redcross
- Archdale
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Melanchton
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Melanchton is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melanchton
- New Market
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- New Market is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Market
- Randleman
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Liberty
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Sophia
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Trinity
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Millboro
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Millboro is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millboro
- Worthville
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Worthville is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Worthville
- Central Falls
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Central Falls is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central Falls
- Staley
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Rockingham County
- The following are listed by their distance from Brightwood, with the one closest to Brightwood listed first.
- Wittys Crossroads
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Wittys Crossroads is located in Rockingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wittys Crossroads
- Belmont
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Belmont is located in Rockingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belmont
- Reidsville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Norwood
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Norwood is located in Rockingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norwood
- Gold Hill
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Gold Hill is located in Rockingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gold Hill
- Wentworth
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Wentworth is located in Rockingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wentworth
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,734 people
- Ellisboro
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Ellisboro is located in Rockingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellisboro
- Lawsonville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Lawsonville is located in Rockingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawsonville
- Madison
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- College Village
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- College Village is located in Rockingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for College Village
- Shiloh
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Shiloh is located in Rockingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shiloh
- Mayodan
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Stokes County
- The following are listed by their distance from Brightwood, with the one closest to Brightwood listed first.
- Pine Hall
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Fulp
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Fulp is located in Stokes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fulp
- Bailey Town
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Bailey Town is located in Stokes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bailey Town
- Walnut Cove
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Germanton
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Meadows
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Meadows is located in Stokes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadows
- Upper Sawra Town ‑ Historic
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Upper Sawra Town is located in Stokes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Upper Sawra Town
- Neatman
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Neatman is located in Stokes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Neatman
- Henry County (VA)
- Sandy Level
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Sandy Level is located in Henry County (VA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Level
- Pittsylvania County (VA)
- Cascade
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Cascade is located in Pittsylvania County (VA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cascade
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Brightwood, see our County-by-County Page for Brightwood.
Cemeteries Near Brightwood ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Brightwood.
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 Brightwood - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Brightwood covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Brightwood, with the one closest to Brightwood listed first.
- Lakeview Memorial Park
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Cone Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Midway Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Green Hall Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Holts Chapel Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Mt. Zion AME Church Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Mt. Pisgah UMC Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Green Hill Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Maplewood Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Piedmont Memorial Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Forest Lawn Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Westminster Gardens Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Continue List (196 more) ...
- Shady Grove Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Locust Grove Baptist Church Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Phibbs Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 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.<3>
While we didn't find Brightwood in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Brightwood.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Brightwood, with the one closest to Brightwood listed first.
- Greensboro
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- McLeansville
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Browns Summit
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Hillsdale
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Hillsdale is located in Guilford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillsdale
- Guilford College
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Guilford College is located in Guilford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guilford College
- Pomona
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Pomona is located in Guilford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pomona
- Vandalia
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Vandalia is located in Guilford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vandalia
- Scalesville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Scalesville is located in Guilford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scalesville
- Benaja
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Benaja is located in Rockingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benaja
- Summerfield
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Monroeton
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Monroeton is located in Rockingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monroeton
- Friendship
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Friendship is located in Guilford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friendship
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Gibsonville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Deep River
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Jamestown
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Brightwood. See our List of 1890's Communities around Brightwood.
Newspapers Published in Brightwood ...
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 90 newspapers that have been published in the area around Brightwood.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Brightwood, there are papers which were published within 14 miles [22.5 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Brightwood.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to 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 Brightwood:
- Websites specific to North Carolina
- Pages specific to Guilford County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Alamance County
- Caswell County
- Davidson County
- Forsyth County
- Orange County
- Randolph County
- Rockingham County
- Stokes County
- Henry County
- Pittsylvania 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> | 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 Brightwood, 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Brightwood) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |