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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 Colington (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 Colington. 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 hospitals 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.

Colington is located in Dare 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 Dare County: Hyde & Tyrrell.

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

  • Dare County     (The home county of Colington)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Colington, with the one closest to Colington listed first.
    • Kill Devil Hills
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Kitty Hawk
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Fort Raleigh City
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Fort Raleigh City is located in Dare County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Raleigh City
    • Nags Head
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Southern Shores
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Manteo
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Whalebone
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Whalebone is located in Dare County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whalebone
    • Manns Harbor
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • George Town Sands
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • George Town Sands is located in Dare County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for George Town Sands
    • Poteskeet Village
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Poteskeet Village is located in Dare County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poteskeet Village
    • Wanchese
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Duck
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Sandy Ridge
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Sandy Ridge is located in Dare County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Ridge
  • Camden County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Colington, with the one closest to Colington listed first.
    • Alder Branch
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Alder Branch is located in Camden County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alder Branch
    • Elizabeth City Beach
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Elizabeth City Beach is located in Camden County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elizabeth City Beach
    • Riddle
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Riddle is located in Camden County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riddle
    • Shiloh
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Shiloh is located in Camden County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shiloh
  • Currituck County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Colington, with the one closest to Colington listed first.
    • Point Harbor
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Harbinger
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Powells Point
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Jarvisburg
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Grandy
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Bertha
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Bertha is located in Currituck County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bertha
    • Poplar Branch
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Aydlett
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Aydlett is located in Currituck County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aydlett
    • Corolla
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Coinjock
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Waterlily
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Waterlily is located in Currituck County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterlily
    • Barco
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Pasquotank County
    • Weeksville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Weeksville is located in Pasquotank County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weeksville
  • Tyrrell County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Colington, with the one closest to Colington listed first.
    • Fort Landing
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Fort Landing is located in Tyrrell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Landing
    • Alligator
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Alligator is located in Tyrrell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alligator
    • Columbia
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)

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

Cemeteries Near Colington ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Colington.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Colington, with the one closest to Colington listed first.

  • Hilltop Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Baum Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Willis Tillett Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Austin Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Austin Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Austin Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the west of Kitty Hawk.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #46759 <2>
  • Aydlett, Sawyer & Guard Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Shiloh Church Cemetery
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
  • Walker Family Cemetery
    (27 miles [43.5 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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Colington had a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Mashoes
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Mashoes is located in Dare County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mashoes
  • Nags Head
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Manteo
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Manns Harbor
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Harbinger
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Wanchese
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • East Lake
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • East Lake is located in Dare County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Lake
  • Buffalo City
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Buffalo City is located in Dare County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo City
  • Jarvisburg
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Fort Landing
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Fort Landing is located in Tyrrell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Landing
  • Stumpy Point
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Stumpy Point is located in Dare County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stumpy Point
  • Poplar Branch
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Old Trap
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Old Trap is located in Camden County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Trap
    • Coinjock
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Shiloh
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Shiloh is located in Camden County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shiloh

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

Newspapers Published in Colington ...

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 11 newspapers that have been published in the area around Colington.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Colington, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Colington.

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 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 Colington:

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 drawn from Point A (ie- Colington) 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 Colington, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.