Our Genealogy Helper
Introduction ...
So far, we found very little information about Downsville. The little that we've found leads us believe that the community is historic.<1>
We've added Downsville to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Downsville, please Contact Us.
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 Downsville (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 Downsville. 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 and doctors 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.
Although our information shows that the community of Downsville is historic, it would have been located within present day Caldwell 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 Caldwell County: Alexander, Burke, Catawba, Watauga & Wilkes.
Below are the counties that are near Downsville. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Downsville:
- Caldwell County (The home county of Downsville)
- The following are listed by their distance from Downsville, with the one closest to Downsville listed first.
- Draco
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Draco is located in Caldwell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Draco
- Cedar Rock
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Cedar Rock is located in Caldwell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Rock
- Population from the 2020 Census: 299 people
- Cedar Rock has also been known as:
- Cedar Rock village
- Concord ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Concord is located in Caldwell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Concord
- Northlakes
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Northlakes is located in Caldwell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Northlakes
- Granite Falls
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Kings Creek
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Kings Creek is located in Caldwell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings Creek
- Emanuel ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Emanuel is located in Caldwell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emanuel
- Sawmills
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Sawmills is located in Caldwell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sawmills
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,156 people
- Hudson
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Hudson is located in Caldwell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hudson
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,703 people
- Former name for Hudson:
- Hudsonville
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hudson <2>
- Baton
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Baton is located in Caldwell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baton
- Cajah's Mountain
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Cajah's Mountain is located in Caldwell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cajah's Mountain
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,728 people
- Lenoir
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Lenoir is located in Caldwell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lenoir
- Population from the 2020 Census: 17,911 people
- Former name for Lenoir:
- Tucker's Barn
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lenoir <2>
- Alexander County
- The following are listed by their distance from Downsville, with the one closest to Downsville listed first.
- Little River
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Little River is located in Alexander County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little River
- Bethlehem
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Bethlehem is located in Alexander County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bethlehem
- Ellendale
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Ellendale is located in Alexander County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellendale
- Liledoun
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Liledoun is located in Alexander County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liledoun
- Isenhour Park
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Isenhour Park is located in Alexander County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Isenhour Park
- Taylorsville Beach
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Taylorsville Beach is located in Alexander County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taylorsville Beach
- Millersville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Millersville is located in Alexander County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millersville
- Taylorsville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Fairview Park
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Fairview Park is located in Alexander County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairview Park
- Midway
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Midway is located in Alexander County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midway
- Hiddenite
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Rocky Springs
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Rocky Springs is located in Alexander County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Springs
- Ashe County
- The following are listed by their distance from Downsville, with the one closest to Downsville listed first.
- Yates
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Yates is located in Ashe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yates
- Brownwood
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Brownwood is located in Ashe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brownwood
- Obids
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Obids is located in Ashe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Obids
- Fleetwood
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Burke County
- The following are listed by their distance from Downsville, with the one closest to Downsville listed first.
- Rhodhiss
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Hildebran
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Connelly Springs
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Icard
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Rutherford College
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Valdese
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Drexel
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Drexel is located in Burke County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drexel
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,861 people
- Chesterfield
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Chesterfield is located in Burke County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chesterfield
- Morganton
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Magnolia
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Magnolia is located in Burke County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magnolia
- Yellow Gap
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Yellow Gap is located in Burke County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yellow Gap
- Enola
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Enola is located in Burke County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Enola
- Catawba County
- The following are listed by their distance from Downsville, with the one closest to Downsville listed first.
- North Hickory
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- North Hickory is located in Catawba County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Hickory
- Viewmont
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Viewmont is located in Catawba County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Viewmont
- Saint Stephens
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Saint Stephens is located in Catawba County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Stephens
- Hickory
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Hickory is located in Catawba County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory
- Population from the 2020 Census: 41,473 people
- Sweetwater
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Sweetwater is located in Catawba County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sweetwater
- Long View
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Long View is located in Catawba County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long View
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,951 people
- Brookford
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Brookford is located in Catawba County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookford
- Population from the 2020 Census: 381 people
- Fairbrook
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Fairbrook is located in Catawba County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairbrook
- Mountain View
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Mountain View is located in Catawba County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain View
- Fairgrove
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Fairgrove is located in Catawba County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairgrove
- Oxford Park
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Oxford Park is located in Catawba County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oxford Park
- Conover
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Cleveland County
- The following are listed by their distance from Downsville, with the one closest to Downsville listed first.
- Toluca
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Toluca is located in Cleveland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toluca
- Olive Grove
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Olive Grove is located in Cleveland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olive Grove
- Knob Creek
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Knob Creek is located in Cleveland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knob Creek
- Belwood
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Belwood is located in Cleveland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belwood
- Population from the 2020 Census: 963 people
- Casar
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Cleveland Mills ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Cleveland Mills is located in Cleveland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cleveland Mills
- Iredell County
- The following are listed by their distance from Downsville, with the one closest to Downsville listed first.
- Brevard ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Brevard is located in Iredell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brevard
- Scotts
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Scotts is located in Iredell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scotts
- Love Valley
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Eufola
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Eufola is located in Iredell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eufola
- New Hope ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- New Hope is located in Iredell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Hope
- Statesville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Barium Springs
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Barium Springs is located in Iredell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barium Springs
- Belmont
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Belmont is located in Iredell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belmont
- Olin
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Olin is located in Iredell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olin
- Union Grove
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Troutman
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Lincoln County
- The following are listed by their distance from Downsville, with the one closest to Downsville listed first.
- Henry
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Henry is located in Lincoln County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henry
- Laurel Hill
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Laurel Hill is located in Lincoln County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurel Hill
- Vale
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Hulls Crossroads
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Hulls Crossroads is located in Lincoln County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hulls Crossroads
- Boger City
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Boger City is located in Lincoln County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boger City
- Lincolnton
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- North Brook ‑ Historic
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- North Brook is located in Lincoln County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Brook
- Denver
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Watauga County
- The following are listed by their distance from Downsville, with the one closest to Downsville listed first.
- Stony Fork
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Stony Fork is located in Watauga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stony Fork
- Bamboo
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Bamboo is located in Watauga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bamboo
- Deep Gap
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Laxon
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Laxon is located in Watauga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laxon
- Rutherwood
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Rutherwood is located in Watauga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rutherwood
- Boone
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Foscoe
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Shulls Mill
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Shulls Mill is located in Watauga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shulls Mill
- Moretz
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Moretz is located in Watauga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moretz
- Sands
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Sands is located in Watauga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sands
- Wilkes County
- The following are listed by their distance from Downsville, with the one closest to Downsville listed first.
- Ferguson
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Boomer
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Boomer is located in Wilkes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boomer
- Hendrix ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Hendrix is located in Wilkes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hendrix
- Moravian Falls
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Mount Pleasant
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Mount Pleasant is located in Wilkes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Pleasant
- Adley
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Adley is located in Wilkes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adley
- Maple Springs
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Maple Springs is located in Wilkes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Springs
- Stokes ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Stokes is located in Wilkes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stokes
- Purlear
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Purlear is located in Wilkes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Purlear
- Wilkesboro
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Cricket
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Cricket is located in Wilkes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cricket
- Fletcher ‑ Historic
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Fletcher is located in Wilkes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fletcher
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Downsville, see our County-by-County Page for Downsville.
Cemeteries Near Downsville ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Downsville.
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 Downsville - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Downsville covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Downsville, with the one closest to Downsville listed first.
- Temple Hill Baptist Church Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Oxford Memorial Baptist Church Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Bentley Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- New Vision Baptist Fellowship Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Rocky Mount Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Pisgah Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Shiloh Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shiloh Cemetery
- The Shiloh Cemetery has also been known as:
- Shiloh Lutheran Church Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2202849 <4>
- Sunset Hill Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Pinecrest Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Moore Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Mt. Hermon Methodist Church Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Friendship Lutheran Church Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Continue List (167 more) ...
- Kings Creek Baptist Church Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Blue Ridge Memorial Park
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Liberty Church Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
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.
Downsville itself is historic and was described in the Rand McNally Atlas as having a population of 20 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Downsville, with the one closest to Downsville listed first.
- Petra Mills
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Petra Mills is located in Caldwell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Petra Mills
- Little River
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Little River is located in Alexander County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little River
- Draco
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Draco is located in Caldwell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Draco
- Cedar Valley
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Cedar Valley is located in Caldwell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Valley
- Ellendale
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Ellendale is located in Alexander County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellendale
- Granite Falls
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Hudson
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Hudson is located in Caldwell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hudson
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,703 people
- Former name for Hudson:
- Hudsonville
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hudson <2>
- Sawmills
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Sawmills is located in Caldwell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sawmills
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,156 people
- Kings Creek
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Kings Creek is located in Caldwell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings Creek
- Emanuel ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Emanuel is located in Caldwell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emanuel
- Hibriten ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Hibriten is located in Caldwell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hibriten
- Baton
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Baton is located in Caldwell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baton
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Penelope
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Penelope is located in Burke County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Penelope
- Hickory
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Hickory is located in Catawba County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory
- Population from the 2020 Census: 41,473 people
- Taylorsville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Downsville. See our List of 1890's Communities around Downsville.
Newspapers Published in Downsville ...
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 51 newspapers that have been published in the area around Downsville.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Downsville, there are papers which were published within 17 miles [27.4 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Downsville.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 Downsville:
- Websites specific to North Carolina
- Pages specific to Caldwell County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Alexander County
- Ashe County
- Burke County
- Catawba County
- Cleveland County
- Iredell County
- Lincoln County
- Watauga County
- Wilkes County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for North Carolina
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Downsville, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <3> | 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- Downsville) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <4> | 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. |