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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 Erwin (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 Erwin. 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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

Erwin 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 Erwin. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Erwin:

  • Harnett County     (The home county of Erwin)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Erwin, with the one closest to Erwin listed first.
    • Turlington
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • 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 Erwin to Turlington
    • Westhaven
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Westhaven have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westhaven
      • Westhaven is located in Harnett County
    • Dunn
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Grove Park
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grove Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grove Park
      • Grove Park is located in Harnett County
    • Lakeside Village
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lakeside Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeside Village
      • Lakeside Village is located in Harnett County
    • Averasboro ‑ Historic
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Coats
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Fonville
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Fonville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fonville
      • Fonville is located in Harnett County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Fonville
      • From Erwin to Fonville
    • Bunnlevel
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Buies Creek
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Harnett
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • 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 Erwin to Harnett
    • Senter
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • 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 Erwin to Senter
    • Walkertown
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Walkertown have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walkertown
      • Walkertown is located in Harnett County
  • Chatham County
  • Cumberland County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Erwin, with the one closest to Erwin listed first.
    • Linden
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Godwin
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Falcon
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Falcon have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Eastover
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Manchester
      (19 miles [30.6 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 Erwin to Manchester
    • North Point Village
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Point Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Point Village
      • North Point Village is located in Cumberland County
    • Spring Lake
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spring Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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 <3>
    • Holly Springs
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Holly Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly Springs
      • Holly Springs is located in Cumberland County
    • Shaw
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Stedman
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Vander
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vander have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vander
      • Vander is located in Cumberland County
    • Bonnie Doone
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bonnie Doone have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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 <3>
  • Johnston County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Erwin, with the one closest to Erwin listed first.
    • Benson
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • McKoy
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • 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 Erwin to McKoy
    • Allens Crossroads
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Peacocks Crossroads
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Four Oaks
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Four Oaks have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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 <3>
    • Harper
      (20 miles [32.2 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 Erwin to Harper
    • 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 Erwin to Bentonville
    • Smithfield
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • West Smithfield
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Smithfield have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Smithfield
      • West Smithfield is located in Johnston County
    • Fairfield
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fairfield have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairfield
      • Fairfield is located in Johnston County
    • Clayton
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Wilson's Mills
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Selma
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Lee County
  • Moore County
    • Mount Pleasant
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Pleasant have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Pleasant
      • Mount Pleasant is located in Moore County
  • Sampson County
  • Wake County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Erwin, with the one closest to Erwin listed first.
    • Kennebec
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Mount Pleasant
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Pleasant have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Pleasant
      • Mount Pleasant is located in Wake County
    • Fuquay - Varina
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fuquay - Varina have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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 <3>
    • Macks Village
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Macks Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Macks Village
      • Macks Village is located in Wake County
    • Wilbon
      (20 miles [32.2 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 Erwin to Wilbon
    • McCullers
      (23 miles [37 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 Erwin to McCullers
    • Hollemans Crossroads
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Holly Springs
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Holly Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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 <3>
    • Hopedale
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Auburn
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Garner
      (26 miles [41.8 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 <3>
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Garner
      • From Erwin to Garner
    • Emerald Village
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Emerald Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emerald Village
      • Emerald Village is located in Wake County
    • New Hill
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Wayne County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Erwin, with the one closest to Erwin listed first.
    • Grantham
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Raynor Town
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Raynor Town have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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 Erwin, see our County-by-County Page for Erwin.

Cemeteries Near Erwin ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Erwin.

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 Erwin covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Erwin, with the one closest to Erwin 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 Erwin in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Erwin.

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

  • Turlington
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • 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 Erwin to Turlington
  • Averasboro ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Dunn
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Bunnlevel
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Godwin
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Benson
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Carlos
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Carlos have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carlos
    • Carlos is located in Cumberland County
  • Lillington
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Barclaysville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Wade
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Mingo
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mingo have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mingo
    • Mingo is located in Sampson County
  • McKoy
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • 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 Erwin to McKoy
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Timothy
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Timothy have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timothy
      • Timothy is located in Sampson County
    • Spilona
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spilona have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spilona
      • Spilona is located in Johnston County
    • Clement
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clement have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clement
      • Clement is located in Sampson County

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Erwin ...

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 79 newspapers that have been published in the area around Erwin.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Erwin. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Erwin and those printed in the larger area surrounding Erwin.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 22 miles [35.4 km]<5> of Erwin.

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 Erwin:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Erwin. 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>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.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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.
<5>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 from Point A (ie- Erwin) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Erwin. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.3279, Longitude: -78.6760    
<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 Erwin, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025