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 Hills Grove (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 Hills Grove. 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 Hills Grove ...
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 Hills Grove: Hills Grv.
- While the name of this community is Hills Grove, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Hills Grove may originally have been Hill's Grove.
Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Hills Grove might be written as Hill Grove.
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Hills Grove. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Hills Grove.
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 hospitals were in the next county to the west. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the county to the north.
So when searching for records, we had our best success by looking in neighboring counties instead of the county in which they lived: their home county contained property and probate records; the county to the west contained birth and death records; the county to the north contained their burial records. If we hadn't included the neighboring counties, we would have missed many valuable sources of information.
If you're in a similar situation, we hope that the following information helps.
Hills Grove is located in Surry 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 Surry County: Alleghany, Forsyth, Stokes, Wilkes, Yadkin, Carroll (VA), Grayson (VA) & Patrick (VA).
Below are the counties that are near Hills Grove. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Hills Grove:
- Surry County (The home county of Hills Grove)
- The following are listed by their distance from Hills Grove, with the one closest to Hills Grove listed first.
- Pilot Mountain
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Westfield
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Holly Springs
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Holly Springs is located in Surry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly Springs
- Ararat
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Flat Shoals ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Flat Shoals is located in Surry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flat Shoals
- Albion
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Albion is located in Surry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albion
- Mount Herman
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Mount Herman is located in Surry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Herman
- Sheltontown
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Sheltontown is located in Surry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sheltontown
- Flat Rock
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Flat Rock is located in Surry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flat Rock
- Pine Hill
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Pine Hill is located in Surry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Hill
- Mount Airy
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Black Water
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Black Water is located in Surry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Water
- Alleghany County
- The following are listed by their distance from Hills Grove, with the one closest to Hills Grove listed first.
- Edmonds
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Edmonds is located in Alleghany County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edmonds
- Roaring Gap
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Davie County
- The following are listed by their distance from Hills Grove, with the one closest to Hills Grove listed first.
- Pino
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Pino is located in Davie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pino
- Bermuda Run
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Forsyth County
- The following are listed by their distance from Hills Grove, with the one closest to Hills Grove listed first.
- King
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Heritage Village
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Heritage Village is located in Forsyth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heritage Village
- The Meadows
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- The Meadows is located in Forsyth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Meadows
- Donnaha
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Donnaha is located in Forsyth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Donnaha
- Tobaccoville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Rural Hall
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Dozier
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Dozier is located in Forsyth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dozier
- Oak Park
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Oak Park is located in Forsyth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Park
- Bannertown
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Bannertown is located in Forsyth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bannertown
- Creek View
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Creek View is located in Forsyth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Creek View
- Bethania
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Bethania is located in Forsyth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bethania
- Population from the 2020 Census: 367 people
- Chestnut Trails
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Chestnut Trails is located in Forsyth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Trails
- Guilford County
- Stokesdale
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Rockingham County
- The following are listed by their distance from Hills Grove, with the one closest to Hills Grove listed first.
- Ellisboro
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Ellisboro is located in Rockingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellisboro
- Madison
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Mayodan
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Gold Hill
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Gold Hill is located in Rockingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gold Hill
- Stoneville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Stokes County
- The following are listed by their distance from Hills Grove, with the one closest to Hills Grove listed first.
- Flat Rock
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Flat Rock is located in Stokes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flat Rock
- Pinnacle
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Vade Mecum
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Vade Mecum is located in Stokes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vade Mecum
- Capella
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Capella is located in Stokes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Capella
- Mount Olive
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Mount Olive is located in Stokes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Olive
- Quaker Gap
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Quaker Gap is located in Stokes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quaker Gap
- Aarons Corner
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Aarons Corner is located in Stokes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aarons Corner
- Danbury
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Lawsonville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Lawsonville is located in Stokes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawsonville
- Neatman
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Neatman is located in Stokes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Neatman
- Campbell
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Campbell is located in Stokes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Campbell
- Meadows
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Meadows is located in Stokes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadows
- Wilkes County
- The following are listed by their distance from Hills Grove, with the one closest to Hills Grove listed first.
- Pleasant Hill
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Pleasant Hill is located in Wilkes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Hill
- Clingman
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Clingman is located in Wilkes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clingman
- Ronda
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Yadkin County
- The following are listed by their distance from Hills Grove, with the one closest to Hills Grove listed first.
- East Bend
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Richmond Hill
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Richmond Hill is located in Yadkin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richmond Hill
- Forbush
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Forbush is located in Yadkin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forbush
- Mount Pleasant
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Mount Pleasant is located in Yadkin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Pleasant
- Union Grove
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Union Grove is located in Yadkin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Grove
- Nebo
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Nebo is located in Yadkin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nebo
- Boonville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Yadkinville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Huntsville
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Huntsville is located in Yadkin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huntsville
- Arlington
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Arlington is located in Yadkin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arlington
- Jonesville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Branon
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Branon is located in Yadkin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Branon
- Carroll County (VA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Hills Grove, with the one closest to Hills Grove listed first.
- Cana
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Nester
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Nester is located in Carroll County (VA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nester
- Gladesboro
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Gladesboro is located in Carroll County (VA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gladesboro
- Lambsburg
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Pike City
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Pike City is located in Carroll County (VA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pike City
- Fancy Gap
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Drenn
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Drenn is located in Carroll County (VA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drenn
- Pipers Gap
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Pipers Gap is located in Carroll County (VA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pipers Gap
- Hillsville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Dugspur
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Woodlawn
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Star
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Star is located in Carroll County (VA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Star
- Galax City (VA)
- Galax
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Grayson County (VA)
- Low Gap
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Low Gap is located in Grayson County (VA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Low Gap
- Patrick County (VA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Hills Grove, with the one closest to Hills Grove listed first.
- Ararat
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Carters Mill
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Carters Mill is located in Patrick County (VA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carters Mill
- Peters Creek
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Peters Creek is located in Patrick County (VA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peters Creek
- Stuart
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Meadows of Dan
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Nettleridge
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Nettleridge is located in Patrick County (VA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nettleridge
- Patrick Springs
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Critz
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Stella
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Stella is located in Patrick County (VA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stella
- Woolwine
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Elamsville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Elamsville is located in Patrick County (VA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elamsville
- Charity
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Charity is located in Patrick County (VA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charity
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Hills Grove, see our County-by-County Page for Hills Grove.
Cemeteries Near Hills Grove ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Hills Grove.
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 Hills Grove - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Hills Grove covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Hills Grove, with the one closest to Hills Grove listed first.
- Jessup Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Hills Chapel Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Waugh Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Jessups Grove Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Hunter Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Bennett Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Pilot Mountain City Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Venable Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Brims Grove Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Lee Joyce Family Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lee Joyce Family Cemetery
- The Lee Joyce Family Cemetery has also been known as:
- Joyce Cemetery
- Joyce Family Cemetery
- Mills Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Simmons Family Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Simmons Family Cemetery
- The Simmons Family Cemetery has also been known as:
- Simmons Cemetery
- Continue List (609 more) ...
- Denny Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Stone Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Owen Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
Nearby Communities in 1895 ...
We've built the following list with information that came from an Atlas published by Rand McNally in 1895. The Atlas had details such as the population of the community (which appears to have come from the 1890 Census) and whether there was a post office and/or railroad service available. We also indicate if the community no longer exists and is now historic.<4>
While we didn't find Hills Grove in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Hills Grove.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Hills Grove, with the one closest to Hills Grove listed first.
- Pilot Mountain
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Westfield
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Flat Shoals ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Flat Shoals is located in Surry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flat Shoals
- Ararat
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Ash Hill
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Ash Hill is located in Surry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ash Hill
- Pinnacle
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Dalton
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Dalton is located in Stokes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dalton
- Francisco
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Francisco is located in Stokes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Francisco
- Mount Airy
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- White Plains
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- White Plains is located in Surry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Plains
- Shoals
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Shoals is located in Surry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shoals
- Quaker Gap
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Quaker Gap is located in Stokes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quaker Gap
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Copeland
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Copeland is located in Surry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Copeland
- Siloam
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Siloam is located in Surry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Siloam
- Boyden ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Boyden is located in Surry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boyden
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Hills Grove. See our List of 1890's Communities around Hills Grove.
Newspapers Published in Hills Grove ...
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 28 newspapers that have been published in the area around Hills Grove.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Hills Grove, there are papers which were published within 19 miles [30.6 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Hills Grove.
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 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 Hills Grove:
- Websites specific to North Carolina
- Pages specific to Surry County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Alleghany County
- Davie County
- Forsyth County
- Guilford County
- Rockingham County
- Stokes County
- Wilkes County
- Yadkin County
- Carroll County
- Galax City
- Grayson County
- Patrick County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for North Carolina
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> | 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 Hills Grove, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <5> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Hills Grove) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |