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 Forest Brook (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 Forest Brook. 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 Forest Brook ...
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.
For example, a typical abbreviation for Forest Brook: Forest Brk.
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Forest Brook. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Forest Brook.
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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors 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.
Forest Brook is located in Gaston 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 Gaston County: Cleveland, Lincoln, Mecklenburg & York (SC).
Below are the counties that are near Forest Brook. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Forest Brook:
- Gaston County (The home county of Forest Brook)
- The following are listed by their distance from Forest Brook, with the one closest to Forest Brook listed first.
- South Gastonia
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- South Gastonia is located in Gaston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Gastonia
- Gastonia
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Begonia ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Begonia is located in Gaston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Begonia
- Catawba ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Catawba is located in Gaston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Catawba
- Ranlo
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Ranlo is located in Gaston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ranlo
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,708 people
- Smyre
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Smyre is located in Gaston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smyre
- Cramerton
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Lowell
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- McAdenville
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Dallas
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Spencer Mountain
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Spencer Mountain is located in Gaston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spencer Mountain
- Estimated population in 2016: 36 people
- Belmont
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Bessemer City
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Cabarrus County
- The following are listed by their distance from Forest Brook, with the one closest to Forest Brook listed first.
- Cannon Crossroads
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Cannon Crossroads is located in Cabarrus County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cannon Crossroads
- Cannon Crossroads has also been known as:
- Cannon Cross Roads
- Cannon's Crossroads
- Wallace Cross Roads
- Wallace Crossroads
- Harrisburg
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Tulin ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Tulin is located in Cabarrus County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tulin
- Catawba County
- The following are listed by their distance from Forest Brook, with the one closest to Forest Brook listed first.
- Killian Crossroads
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Killian Crossroads is located in Catawba County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Killian Crossroads
- Maiden
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Olivers Crossroads
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Olivers Crossroads is located in Catawba County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olivers Crossroads
- Providence Mill
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Providence Mill is located in Catawba County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Providence Mill
- Drums Crossroads
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Drums Crossroads is located in Catawba County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drums Crossroads
- Duan
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Duan is located in Catawba County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duan
- Lake Norman of Catawba
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Terrell
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Banoak
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Banoak is located in Catawba County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Banoak
- Plateau
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Plateau is located in Catawba County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plateau
- Bandy
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Bandy is located in Catawba County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bandy
- Blackburn
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Blackburn is located in Catawba County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackburn
- Rhoney
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Rhoney is located in Catawba County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rhoney
- Cleveland County
- The following are listed by their distance from Forest Brook, with the one closest to Forest Brook listed first.
- Kings Mountain
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- White Plains
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- White Plains is located in Cleveland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Plains
- Elbethel ‑ Historic
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Elbethel is located in Cleveland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elbethel
- Grover
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Stony Point
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Stony Point is located in Cleveland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stony Point
- Durbro ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Durbro is located in Cleveland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Durbro
- Stubbs
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Stubbs is located in Cleveland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stubbs
- Waco
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Waco is located in Cleveland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waco
- Population from the 2020 Census: 319 people
- Light Oak
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Light Oak is located in Cleveland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Light Oak
- Pleasant Hill
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Pleasant Hill is located in Cleveland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Hill
- Elizabeth City
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Elizabeth City is located in Cleveland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elizabeth City
- Patterson Springs
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Patterson Springs is located in Cleveland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Patterson Springs
- Population from the 2020 Census: 628 people
- Briarwood Townhouses
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Briarwood Townhouses is located in Cleveland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Briarwood Townhouses
- Iredell County
- The following are listed by their distance from Forest Brook, with the one closest to Forest Brook listed first.
- Mayhew
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Mayhew is located in Iredell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayhew
- Mount Mourne
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Mount Mourne is located in Iredell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Mourne
- Lincoln County
- The following are listed by their distance from Forest Brook, with the one closest to Forest Brook listed first.
- Iron Station
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Iron Station is located in Lincoln County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iron Station
- Lowesville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Lowesville is located in Lincoln County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lowesville
- Machpelah
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Machpelah is located in Lincoln County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Machpelah
- Crouse
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Crouse is located in Lincoln County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crouse
- Boger City
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Boger City is located in Lincoln County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boger City
- Lincolnton
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Triangle ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Triangle is located in Lincoln County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Triangle
- Westport
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Westport is located in Lincoln County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westport
- Denver
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- North Brook ‑ Historic
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- North Brook is located in Lincoln County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Brook
- Vale
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Hulls Crossroads
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Hulls Crossroads is located in Lincoln County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hulls Crossroads
- Henry
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Henry is located in Lincoln County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henry
- Mecklenburg County
- The following are listed by their distance from Forest Brook, with the one closest to Forest Brook listed first.
- Dixie
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Dixie is located in Mecklenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dixie
- Paw Creek
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Paw Creek is located in Mecklenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paw Creek
- Dalton Village
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Dalton Village is located in Mecklenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dalton Village
- Pinecrest
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Pinecrest is located in Mecklenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinecrest
- Yorkmont
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Yorkmont is located in Mecklenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yorkmont
- Chateau Woods
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Chateau Woods is located in Mecklenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chateau Woods
- Biddleville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Biddleville is located in Mecklenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Biddleville
- Wilmore
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Wilmore is located in Mecklenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilmore
- Greenville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Greenville is located in Mecklenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenville
- Spring Lake
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Spring Lake is located in Mecklenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Lake
- Pineville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Charlotte
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Belmont
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Belmont is located in Mecklenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belmont
- Union County
- The following are listed by their distance from Forest Brook, with the one closest to Forest Brook listed first.
- Marvin
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Marvin is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marvin
- Population from the 2020 Census: 6,920 people
- White Oak
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- White Oak is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Oak
- Indian Trail
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Stallings
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Wesley Chapel
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Hemby Bridge
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Hemby Bridge is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hemby Bridge
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,846 people
- Lake Park
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Lake Park is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Park
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,999 people
- Waxhaw
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Cherokee County (SC)
- The following are listed by their distance from Forest Brook, with the one closest to Forest Brook listed first.
- Kings Creek
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Blacksburg
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- East Gaffney
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- East Gaffney is located in Cherokee County (SC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Gaffney
- Gaffney
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Chester County (SC)
- The following are listed by their distance from Forest Brook, with the one closest to Forest Brook listed first.
- Smith
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Smith is located in Chester County (SC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smith
- Lowrys
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Lowrys is located in Chester County (SC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lowrys
- Population from the 2020 Census: 195 people
- Edgemoor
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Lando
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Lancaster County (SC)
- The following are listed by their distance from Forest Brook, with the one closest to Forest Brook listed first.
- Camp Cox
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Camp Cox is located in Lancaster County (SC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camp Cox
- Colonial Village
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Colonial Village is located in Lancaster County (SC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colonial Village
- Indian Land
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Van Wyck
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Springdell
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Springdell is located in Lancaster County (SC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springdell
- York County (SC)
- The following are listed by their distance from Forest Brook, with the one closest to Forest Brook listed first.
- Bowling Green
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Clover
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Lake Wylie
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Zadok ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Zadok is located in York County (SC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zadok
- Filbert
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Filbert is located in York County (SC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Filbert
- Tega Cay
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Newport
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Newport is located in York County (SC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newport
- York
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- India Hook
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- India Hook is located in York County (SC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for India Hook
- Riverview
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Riverview is located in York County (SC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverview
- Fort Mill
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Smyrna
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Rock Hill
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Forest Brook, see our County-by-County Page for Forest Brook.
Cemeteries Near Forest Brook ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Forest Brook.
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 Forest Brook - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Forest Brook covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Forest Brook, with the one closest to Forest Brook listed first.
- Firestone Memorial Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Gaston Memorial Park
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gaston Memorial Park
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Gaston Memorial Park is a very large cemetery that is located in Gastonia.
- The Gaston Memorial Park has also been known as:
- Gaston Memorial Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #47448 <2>
- Hollywood Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollywood Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Hollywood Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located in Gastonia.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #47713 <2>
- Bowling Green Presbyterian Church Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- North Oakland Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Oakland Cemetery
- The North Oakland Cemetery has also been known as:
- North Oakland Street Cemetery
- Oakwood Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Cramerton Freewill Baptist Church Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Firestone Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Craig / Jenkins Family Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Shiloh Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shiloh Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Shiloh Cemetery is located in Gastonia.
- Rose Hill Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Aviary Gardens
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Continue List (221 more) ...
- Edgewood Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Mill Creek Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Greenwood Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
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.<3>
While we didn't find Forest Brook in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Forest Brook.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Forest Brook, with the one closest to Forest Brook listed first.
- Bowling Green
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Begonia ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Begonia is located in Gaston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Begonia
- Gastonia
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- McAdenville
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Lowell
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Clover
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Bethel ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Bethel is located in York County (SC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bethel
- Belmont
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Dallas
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Bessemer City
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Bethany
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Bethany is located in York County (SC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bethany
- Zadok ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Zadok is located in York County (SC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zadok
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- Mount Holly
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Kings Mountain
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Dixie
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Dixie is located in Mecklenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dixie
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Forest Brook. See our List of 1890's Communities around Forest Brook.
Newspapers Published in Forest Brook ...
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 23 newspapers that have been published in the area around Forest Brook.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Forest Brook, there are papers which were published within 10 miles [16.1 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Forest Brook.
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 helpful 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 Forest Brook:
- Websites specific to North Carolina
- Pages specific to Gaston County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Cabarrus County
- Catawba County
- Cleveland County
- Iredell County
- Lincoln County
- Mecklenburg County
- Union County
- Cherokee County
- Chester County
- Lancaster County
- York County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for North Carolina
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> | 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 Forest Brook, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Forest Brook) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |