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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 Coats (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 Coats. 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 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.

Coats is located in Harnett County.

To see how the shape of North Carolina's counties have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Harnett County: Chatham, Cumberland, Johnston, Lee, Sampson & Wake.

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

  • Harnett County     (The home county of Coats)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Coats, with the one closest to Coats listed first.
    • Turlington
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Turlington. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turlington
      • Turlington is located in Harnett County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Turlington
      • From Coats to Turlington
    • Buies Creek
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Barclaysville
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Erwin
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Westhaven
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Westhaven have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westhaven
      • Westhaven is located in Harnett County
    • Angier
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Dunn
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Lakeside Village
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lakeside Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeside Village
      • Lakeside Village is located in Harnett County
    • Harnett
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Harnett. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harnett
      • Harnett is located in Harnett County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Harnett
      • From Coats to Harnett
    • Senter
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Senter. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Senter
      • Senter is located in Harnett County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Senter
      • From Coats to Senter
    • Grove Park
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grove Park have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grove Park
      • Grove Park is located in Harnett County
    • Bunnlevel
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Cape Fear
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Chatham County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Coats, with the one closest to Coats listed first.
    • Corinth
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Brickhaven
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Haywood
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Haywood. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haywood
      • Haywood is located in Chatham County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Haywood
      • From Coats to Haywood
    • Cary
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cary have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cary
      • Cary is located in Chatham County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 173,587 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cary <2>
    • Moncure
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Cumberland County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Coats, with the one closest to Coats listed first.
    • Linden
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Godwin
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Falcon
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Falcon have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falcon
      • Falcon is located in Cumberland County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 250 people
    • Wade
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Eastover
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Manchester
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Manchester. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manchester
      • Manchester is located in Cumberland County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Manchester
      • From Coats to Manchester
    • Spring Lake
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spring Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Lake
      • Spring Lake is located in Cumberland County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 11,980 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Spring Lake <2>
    • North Point Village
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Point Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Point Village
      • North Point Village is located in Cumberland County
    • Shaw
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Holly Springs
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Holly Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly Springs
      • Holly Springs is located in Cumberland County
    • Vander
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vander have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vander
      • Vander is located in Cumberland County
    • Bonnie Doone
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bonnie Doone have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonnie Doone
      • Bonnie Doone is located in Cumberland County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bonnie Doone <2>
    • Fort Bragg
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Durham County
    • Morrisville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Morrisville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morrisville
      • Morrisville is located in Durham County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 30,495 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Morrisville <2>
  • Johnston County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Coats, with the one closest to Coats listed first.
    • Benson
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Allens Crossroads
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Peacocks Crossroads
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Four Oaks
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Four Oaks have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Four Oaks
      • Four Oaks is located in Johnston County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,387 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Four Oaks <2>
    • McKoy
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for McKoy. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McKoy
      • McKoy is located in Johnston County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to McKoy
      • From Coats to McKoy
    • Smithfield
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • West Smithfield
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Smithfield have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Smithfield
      • West Smithfield is located in Johnston County
    • Clayton
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Bentonville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bentonville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bentonville
      • Bentonville is located in Johnston County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Bentonville
      • From Coats to Bentonville
    • Fairfield
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fairfield have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairfield
      • Fairfield is located in Johnston County
    • Harper
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Harper. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harper
      • Harper is located in Johnston County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Harper
      • From Coats to Harper
    • Wilson's Mills
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Selma
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
  • Lee County
  • Sampson County
  • Wake County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Coats, with the one closest to Coats listed first.
    • Mount Pleasant
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Pleasant have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Pleasant
      • Mount Pleasant is located in Wake County
    • Kennebec
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Fuquay - Varina
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fuquay - Varina have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fuquay - Varina
      • Fuquay - Varina is located in Wake County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 32,145 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fuquay - Varina <2>
    • Macks Village
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Macks Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Macks Village
      • Macks Village is located in Wake County
    • Wilbon
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Wilbon. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilbon
      • Wilbon is located in Wake County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Wilbon
      • From Coats to Wilbon
    • McCullers
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for McCullers. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McCullers
      • McCullers is located in Wake County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to McCullers
      • From Coats to McCullers
    • Hollemans Crossroads
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Holly Springs
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Holly Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly Springs
      • Holly Springs is located in Wake County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 39,882 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Holly Springs <2>
    • Auburn
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Hopedale
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Garner
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Garner. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garner
      • Garner is located in Wake County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 32,180 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Garner <2>
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Garner
      • From Coats to Garner
    • Emerald Village
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Emerald Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emerald Village
      • Emerald Village is located in Wake County
    • Hertford Village
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hertford Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hertford Village
      • Hertford Village is located in Wake County
  • Wayne County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Coats, with the one closest to Coats listed first.
    • Grantham
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Raynor Town
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Raynor Town have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raynor Town
      • Raynor Town is located in Wayne County

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

Cemeteries Near Coats ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Coats.

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.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Coats, with the one closest to Coats 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.<6>

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

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

  • Turlington
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Turlington. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turlington
    • Turlington is located in Harnett County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Turlington
    • From Coats to Turlington
  • Barclaysville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Dunn
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Benson
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Bunnlevel
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Lillington
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Averasboro ‑ Historic
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Spilona
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spilona have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spilona
    • Spilona is located in Johnston County
  • Godwin
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
  • Carlos
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Carlos have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carlos
    • Carlos is located in Cumberland County
  • McKoy
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for McKoy. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McKoy
    • McKoy is located in Johnston County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to McKoy
    • From Coats to McKoy
  • Four Oaks
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Four Oaks have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Four Oaks
    • Four Oaks is located in Johnston County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,387 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Four Oaks <2>
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Banks
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Banks have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Banks
      • Banks is located in Wake County
    • Mingo
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mingo have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mingo
      • Mingo is located in Sampson County
    • Wade
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)

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

Newspapers Published in Coats ...

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 37 newspapers that have been published in the area around Coats.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Coats, there are papers which were published within 20 miles [32.2 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Coats.

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 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 Coats:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Coats. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Harnett County: www.harnett.org/

The official website for State of North Carolina: https://www.nc.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<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- Coats) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Coats. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.4069, Longitude: -78.6723    
<5>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.
<6>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 Coats, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025