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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 Fires Creek (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 Fires Creek. 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.

Name Variations for Fires Creek ...

When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might occur.

  • A typical abbreviation for Fires Creek: Fires Crk. (or less commonly used: Fires Ck. or Fires Cr.)
  • While the name of this community is Fires Creek, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Fires Creek may originally have been Fire's Creek.

    Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Fires Creek might be written as Fire Creek.

If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.

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 doctors and 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.

Fires Creek is located in Clay 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 Clay County: Rabun (GA), Towns (GA), Union (GA), Cherokee & Macon.

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

  • Clay County     (The home county of Fires Creek)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fires Creek, with the one closest to Fires Creek listed first.
    • Hayesville
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Warne
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Brasstown
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Elf
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Elf is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elf
    • Pine Log Village
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Pine Log Village is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Log Village
  • Cherokee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fires Creek, with the one closest to Fires Creek listed first.
    • Marble
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Andrews
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Coalville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Coalville is located in Cherokee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coalville
    • Buffalo
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Buffalo is located in Cherokee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo
    • Murphy
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Rhodo
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Rhodo is located in Cherokee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rhodo
    • Boiling Springs
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Boiling Springs is located in Cherokee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boiling Springs
    • Grape Creek
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Grape Creek is located in Cherokee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grape Creek
    • Topton
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Ogreeta
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Ogreeta is located in Cherokee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ogreeta
    • Unaka
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Unaka is located in Cherokee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unaka
    • Culberson
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Culberson is located in Cherokee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Culberson
    • Hiwassee Village
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Hiwassee Village is located in Cherokee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hiwassee Village
  • Graham County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fires Creek, with the one closest to Fires Creek listed first.
    • Bear Creek
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Bear Creek is located in Graham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Creek
    • Robbinsville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Cheoah
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Cheoah is located in Graham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cheoah
    • Lake Santeetlah
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Lake Santeetlah is located in Graham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Santeetlah
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 43 people
      • Lake Santeetlah has also been known as:
      • Santeetla
      • Santeetlah
      • Santultah
      • Thunderbird Mountain
      • Thunderbird
    • Stecoah
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Stecoah is located in Graham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stecoah
    • Yellow Creek
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Yellow Creek is located in Graham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yellow Creek
    • Fontana Dam
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Fontana Dam is located in Graham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fontana Dam
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6 people
      • Fontana Dam has also been known as:
      • Fontana Village
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fontana Dam <2>
  • Macon County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fires Creek, with the one closest to Fires Creek listed first.
    • Fairview
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Fairview is located in Macon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairview
    • Tellico
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Tellico is located in Macon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tellico
    • Orlando
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Orlando is located in Macon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orlando
    • Otto
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Riverside
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Riverside is located in Macon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverside
    • Franklin
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Leatherman
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Leatherman is located in Macon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leatherman
  • Swain County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fires Creek, with the one closest to Fires Creek listed first.
    • Nantahala
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Nantahala is located in Swain County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nantahala
    • Wesser
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Wesser is located in Swain County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wesser
    • Almond
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Judson ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Judson is located in Swain County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Judson
    • Bushnell ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Bushnell is located in Swain County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bushnell
    • Forney ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Forney is located in Swain County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forney
  • Fannin County (GA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fires Creek, with the one closest to Fires Creek listed first.
    • Hemp
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Hemp is located in Fannin County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hemp
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 1,647 people
    • Craytonia
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Craytonia is located in Fannin County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Craytonia
    • Cutcane
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Cutcane is located in Fannin County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cutcane
      • Estimated population in 2019: 3,417 people
    • Mineral Bluff
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Morganton
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Margret
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Margret is located in Fannin County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Margret
    • Pantertown
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Pantertown is located in Fannin County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pantertown
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 9,749 people
    • Blue Ridge
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Greens Mill
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Greens Mill is located in Fannin County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greens Mill
    • McCaysville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Epworth
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
    • Fry
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Fry is located in Fannin County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fry
  • Habersham County (GA)
    • Mauldins ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Mauldins is located in Habersham County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mauldins
      • Estimated population in 2019: 225 people
  • Lumpkin County (GA)
    • Willow ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Willow is located in Lumpkin County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 15,138 people
  • Rabun County (GA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fires Creek, with the one closest to Fires Creek listed first.
    • Germany
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Germany is located in Rabun County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Germany
    • Dillard
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Mountain City
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Clayton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Clayton is located in Rabun County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clayton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,103 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clayton <2>
    • Tiger
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Tiger is located in Rabun County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tiger
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 418 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tiger <2>
    • Sky Valley
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Towns County (GA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fires Creek, with the one closest to Fires Creek listed first.
    • Young Harris
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Hunt ‑ Historic
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Hunt is located in Towns County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunt
    • Jacksonville
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Jacksonville is located in Towns County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jacksonville
      • Estimated population in 2019: 5,239 people
    • Hiawassee
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Tate City
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Tate City is located in Towns County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tate City
  • Union County (GA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fires Creek, with the one closest to Fires Creek listed first.
    • Blairsville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Canal Lake
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Canal Lake is located in Union County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canal Lake
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 23,025 people
    • Hood ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Hood is located in Union County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hood
    • Bethlehem
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Bethlehem is located in Union County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bethlehem
    • Owltown
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Owltown is located in Union County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Owltown
      • Estimated population in 2019: 2,346 people
    • Choestoe
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Choestoe is located in Union County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Choestoe
    • Youngcane ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Youngcane is located in Union County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Youngcane
      • Estimated population in 2019: 1,661 people
    • Suches
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
  • White County (GA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fires Creek, with the one closest to Fires Creek listed first.
    • Robertstown
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Robertstown is located in White County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robertstown
    • Helen
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Helen is located in White County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helen
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 559 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Helen <2>
    • Nacoochee
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Nacoochee is located in White County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nacoochee
    • Naguchee ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Naguchee is located in White County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Naguchee
      • Estimated population in 2019: 1,141 people
    • Sautee - Nacoochee
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Yonah
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Yonah is located in White County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yonah
  • Monroe County (TN)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fires Creek, with the one closest to Fires Creek listed first.
    • Coker Creek
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Coker Creek is located in Monroe County (TN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coker Creek
    • Epperson
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Epperson is located in Monroe County (TN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Epperson
    • Jacktown
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Jacktown is located in Monroe County (TN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jacktown
      • Estimated population in 2014: 67,319 people
  • Polk County (TN)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fires Creek, with the one closest to Fires Creek listed first.
    • Belltown Hill
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Belltown Hill is located in Polk County (TN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belltown Hill
      • Estimated population in 2014: 2,457 people
    • Chanceytown
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Chanceytown is located in Polk County (TN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chanceytown
    • Ducktown
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Copperhill
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)

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

Cemeteries Near Fires Creek ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Fires Creek.

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 Fires Creek - one of the links might be able to help.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Fires Creek, with the one closest to Fires Creek 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.<5>

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

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

  • Hayesville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Peachtree
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Peachtree is located in Cherokee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peachtree
  • Brasstown
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Warne
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Tusquitee
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Tusquitee is located in Clay County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tusquitee
  • Welch
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Welch is located in Towns County (GA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Welch
  • Campagne ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Campagne is located in Towns County (GA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Campagne
  • Elf
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Elf is located in Clay County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elf
  • Marble
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Tomotla
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Tomotla is located in Cherokee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tomotla
  • Coalville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Coalville is located in Cherokee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coalville
  • Andrews
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Young Harris
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Hunt ‑ Historic
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Hunt is located in Towns County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunt
    • Murphy
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)

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

Newspapers Published in Fires Creek ...

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 30 newspapers that have been published in the area around Fires Creek.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Fires Creek, there are papers which were published within 17 miles [27.4 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Fires Creek.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These 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 Fires Creek:

Footnotes ...

<1>It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties).
<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 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.
<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- Fires Creek) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<5>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 Fires Creek, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.