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 Buena Vista (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 Buena Vista. 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 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.
Buena Vista is located in Forsyth 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 Forsyth County: Davidson, Davie, Guilford, Rockingham, Stokes, Surry & Yadkin.
Below are the counties that are near Buena Vista. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Buena Vista:
- Forsyth County (The home county of Buena Vista)
- The following are listed by their distance from Buena Vista, with the one closest to Buena Vista listed first.
- Reynolda
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Reynolda is located in Forsyth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reynolda
- Reynolda Park
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Reynolda Park is located in Forsyth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reynolda Park
- Westview
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Westview is located in Forsyth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westview
- Oak Crest
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Oak Crest is located in Forsyth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Crest
- North Winston
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- North Winston is located in Forsyth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Winston
- Old Town ‑ Historic
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Old Town is located in Forsyth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Town
- Alspaugh
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Alspaugh is located in Forsyth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alspaugh
- Bon Air
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Bon Air is located in Forsyth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bon Air
- Forest Hills
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Forest Hills is located in Forsyth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Hills
- Ardmore
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Ardmore is located in Forsyth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ardmore
- Fox Hall
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Fox Hall is located in Forsyth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox Hall
- Mount Tabor
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Mount Tabor is located in Forsyth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Tabor
- Davidson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Buena Vista, with the one closest to Buena Vista listed first.
- Gum Tree
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Gum Tree is located in Davidson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gum Tree
- Wallburg
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Arcadia
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Arcadia is located in Davidson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arcadia
- Midway
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Midway is located in Davidson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midway
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,951 people
- Bethany ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Bethany is located in Davidson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bethany
- Reedy Creek
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Reedy Creek is located in Davidson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reedy Creek
- Abotts Creek
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Abotts Creek is located in Davidson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abotts Creek
- Welcome
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Currytown
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Currytown is located in Davidson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Currytown
- Jefferson Village
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Jefferson Village is located in Davidson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jefferson Village
- Lexington
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Thomasville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Davie County
- The following are listed by their distance from Buena Vista, with the one closest to Buena Vista listed first.
- Bermuda Run
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Advance
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Pino
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Pino is located in Davie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pino
- Mocksville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Ephesus
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Ephesus is located in Davie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ephesus
- Calahaln
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Calahaln is located in Davie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calahaln
- Cooleemee
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Clinton
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Clinton is located in Davie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clinton
- Guilford County
- The following are listed by their distance from Buena Vista, with the one closest to Buena Vista listed first.
- Colfax
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Oak Ridge
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Sandy Ridge
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Sandy Ridge is located in Guilford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Ridge
- Stokesdale
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- High Point
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Jamestown
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Sherwood Village
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Sherwood Village is located in Guilford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sherwood Village
- Guilford College
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Guilford College is located in Guilford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guilford College
- Allen Jay
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Allen Jay is located in Guilford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allen Jay
- Summerfield
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Freeman Mill
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Freeman Mill is located in Guilford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeman Mill
- Kirkman Crossroad
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Kirkman Crossroad is located in Guilford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kirkman Crossroad
- Iredell County
- The following are listed by their distance from Buena Vista, with the one closest to Buena Vista listed first.
- Houstonville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Houstonville is located in Iredell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Houstonville
- Harmony
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Randolph County
- The following are listed by their distance from Buena Vista, with the one closest to Buena Vista listed first.
- Archdale
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Trinity
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- New Market
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- New Market is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Market
- Sophia
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Rockingham County
- The following are listed by their distance from Buena Vista, with the one closest to Buena Vista listed first.
- Ellisboro
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Ellisboro is located in Rockingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellisboro
- Gold Hill
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Gold Hill is located in Rockingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gold Hill
- Madison
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Wittys Crossroads
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Wittys Crossroads is located in Rockingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wittys Crossroads
- Mayodan
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Rowan County
- The following are listed by their distance from Buena Vista, with the one closest to Buena Vista listed first.
- Yadkin
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Yadkin is located in Rowan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yadkin
- Ellis Crossroads
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Ellis Crossroads is located in Rowan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellis Crossroads
- Shannon Park
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Shannon Park is located in Rowan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shannon Park
- Needmore
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Needmore is located in Rowan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Needmore
- Trading Ford
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Trading Ford is located in Rowan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trading Ford
- Franklin
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Franklin is located in Rowan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin
- Mocksville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Mocksville is located in Rowan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mocksville
- Woodleaf
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- East Spencer
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- East Spencer is located in Rowan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Spencer
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,556 people
- Spencer
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Mount Vernon
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Mount Vernon is located in Rowan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Vernon
- Pittsburg
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Pittsburg is located in Rowan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pittsburg
- Stokes County
- The following are listed by their distance from Buena Vista, with the one closest to Buena Vista listed first.
- Germanton
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Fulp
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Fulp is located in Stokes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fulp
- Neatman
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Neatman is located in Stokes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Neatman
- Mount Olive
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Mount Olive is located in Stokes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Olive
- Walnut Cove
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Quaker Gap
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Quaker Gap is located in Stokes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quaker Gap
- Bailey Town
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Bailey Town is located in Stokes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bailey Town
- Capella
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Capella is located in Stokes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Capella
- Pinnacle
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Meadows
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Meadows is located in Stokes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadows
- Flat Rock
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Flat Rock is located in Stokes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flat Rock
- Pine Hall
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Surry County
- The following are listed by their distance from Buena Vista, with the one closest to Buena Vista listed first.
- Boyden ‑ Historic
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Boyden is located in Surry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boyden
- Shoals
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Shoals is located in Surry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shoals
- Siloam
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Siloam is located in Surry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Siloam
- Pilot Mountain
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Pine Hill
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Pine Hill is located in Surry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Hill
- Rockford
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Rockford is located in Surry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockford
- Ararat
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Copeland
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Copeland is located in Surry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Copeland
- Flat Shoals ‑ Historic
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Flat Shoals is located in Surry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flat Shoals
- Stony Knoll
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Stony Knoll is located in Surry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stony Knoll
- Westfield
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Black Water
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Black Water is located in Surry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Water
- Yadkin County
- The following are listed by their distance from Buena Vista, with the one closest to Buena Vista listed first.
- Huntsville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Huntsville is located in Yadkin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huntsville
- East Bend
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Wyo
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Wyo is located in Yadkin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyo
- Forbush
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Forbush is located in Yadkin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forbush
- Courtney
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Courtney is located in Yadkin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Courtney
- Union Grove
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Union Grove is located in Yadkin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Grove
- Richmond Hill
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Richmond Hill is located in Yadkin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richmond Hill
- Mount Pleasant
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Mount Pleasant is located in Yadkin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Pleasant
- Nebo
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Nebo is located in Yadkin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nebo
- Yadkinville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Footville
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Footville is located in Yadkin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Footville
- Boonville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Buena Vista, see our County-by-County Page for Buena Vista.
Cemeteries Near Buena Vista ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Buena Vista.
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 Buena Vista - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Buena Vista covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Buena Vista, with the one closest to Buena Vista listed first.
- Mt. Pleasant Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- God's Acre
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for God's Acre
- To give a relative sense of its location, the God's Acre is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the southeast of Winston - Salem.
- The God's Acre has also been known as:
- Salem Moravian Cemetery
- Salem Moravian God's Acre
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2224695 <2>
- Salem Moravian God's Acre Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Salem Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salem Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Salem Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the southeast of Winston - Salem.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #48680 <2>
- Odd Fellows Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Woodland Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Bethabara Moravin God's Acre
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Happy Hill Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Evergreen Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Forsyth Memorial Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Bethel UMC Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Parkland Memorial Park
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Continue List (297 more) ...
- Bellevue Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Union Ridge UMC Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Marshall Baptist Church Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
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 Buena Vista in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Buena Vista.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Buena Vista, with the one closest to Buena Vista listed first.
- Salem
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Salem is located in Forsyth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salem
- Alspaugh
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Alspaugh is located in Forsyth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alspaugh
- Bethania
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Bethania is located in Forsyth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bethania
- Population from the 2020 Census: 367 people
- Pfafftown
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Sedges Garden ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Sedges Garden is located in Forsyth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sedges Garden
- Vienna
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Vienna is located in Forsyth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vienna
- Lewisville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Walkertown
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Rural Hall
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Kernersville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Tobaccoville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Dennis
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Dennis is located in Forsyth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dennis
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- Arcadia
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Arcadia is located in Davidson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arcadia
- Enterprise
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Enterprise is located in Davidson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Enterprise
- Midway
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Midway is located in Davidson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midway
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,951 people
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Buena Vista. See our List of 1890's Communities around Buena Vista.
Newspapers Published in Buena Vista ...
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 20 newspapers that have been published in the area around Buena Vista.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Buena Vista, there are papers which were published within 10 miles [16.1 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Buena Vista.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we start 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 Buena Vista:
- Websites specific to North Carolina
- Pages specific to Forsyth County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Davidson County
- Davie County
- Guilford County
- Iredell County
- Randolph County
- Rockingham County
- Rowan County
- Stokes County
- Surry County
- Yadkin 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 Buena Vista, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Buena Vista) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |