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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 Kennebec (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 Kennebec. 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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

Kennebec is located in Wake 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 Wake County: Chatham, Durham, Franklin, Granville, Harnett, Johnston & Nash.

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

  • Wake County     (The home county of Kennebec)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Kennebec, with the one closest to Kennebec listed first.
    • Mount Pleasant
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Pleasant have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Pleasant
      • Mount Pleasant is located in Wake County
    • Fuquay - Varina
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fuquay - Varina have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
    • Macks Village
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Macks Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Macks Village
      • Macks Village is located in Wake County
    • Wilbon
      (6 miles [9.7 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.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilbon
      • Wilbon is located in Wake County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Wilbon
      • From Kennebec to Wilbon
    • McCullers
      (8 miles [12.9 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.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McCullers
      • McCullers is located in Wake County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to McCullers
      • From Kennebec to McCullers
    • Holly Springs
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Holly Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
    • Hollemans Crossroads
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Hopedale
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Garner
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • 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.<3>
      • 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 <2>
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Garner
      • From Kennebec to Garner
    • Indian Trail
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Indian Trail have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Trail
      • Indian Trail is located in Wake County
    • Apex
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Apex have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Apex
      • Apex is located in Wake County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 64,388 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Apex <2>
    • New Hill
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Chatham County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Kennebec, with the one closest to Kennebec listed first.
    • Corinth
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Brickhaven
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Cary
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cary have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cary
      • Cary is located in Chatham County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 173,587 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cary <2>
    • Haywood
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Haywood. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haywood
      • Haywood is located in Chatham County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Haywood
      • From Kennebec to Haywood
    • Moncure
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Fearrington Village
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Farmville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Farmville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmville
      • Farmville is located in Chatham County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Farmville <2>
    • Bynum
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bynum. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bynum
      • Bynum is located in Chatham County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Bynum
      • From Kennebec to Bynum
    • Pittsboro
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Gulf
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gulf have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gulf
      • Gulf is located in Chatham County
  • Cumberland County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Kennebec, with the one closest to Kennebec listed first.
    • Linden
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Godwin
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Falcon
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Falcon have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Manchester
      (27 miles [43.5 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.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manchester
      • Manchester is located in Cumberland County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Manchester
      • From Kennebec to Manchester
    • Spring Lake
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spring Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
    • Eastover
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
    • North Point Village
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Point Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Point Village
      • North Point Village is located in Cumberland County
  • Durham County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Kennebec, with the one closest to Kennebec listed first.
    • Morrisville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Morrisville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morrisville
      • Morrisville is located in Durham County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 30,495 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Morrisville <2>
    • Parkwood
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Brassfield
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Brassfield. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brassfield
      • Brassfield is located in Durham County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Brassfield
      • From Kennebec to Brassfield
  • Harnett County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Kennebec, with the one closest to Kennebec listed first.
    • Angier
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Rawls
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rawls have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rawls
      • Rawls is located in Harnett County
    • Chalybeate Springs
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chalybeate Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chalybeate Springs
      • Chalybeate Springs is located in Harnett County
    • Barclaysville
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Kipling
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kipling have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kipling
      • Kipling is located in Harnett County
    • Duncan
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Duncan have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duncan
      • Duncan is located in Harnett County
    • Cape Fear
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Buies Creek
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Cokesbury
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cokesbury have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cokesbury
      • Cokesbury is located in Harnett County
    • Lillington
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Coats
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Luart
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Luart have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Luart
      • Luart is located in Harnett County
  • Johnston County
  • Lee County
  • Orange County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Kennebec, with the one closest to Kennebec listed first.
    • Dogwood Acres
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dogwood Acres have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dogwood Acres
      • Dogwood Acres is located in Orange County
    • Davie Circle
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Davie Circle have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Davie Circle
      • Davie Circle is located in Orange County
    • Greenwood
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Greenwood have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwood
      • Greenwood is located in Orange County
  • Sampson County

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

Cemeteries Near Kennebec ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Kennebec.

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

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

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

  • Barclaysville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Banks
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Banks have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Banks
    • Banks is located in Wake County
  • Holly Springs
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Holly Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
  • Lillington
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Turlington
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • 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.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turlington
    • Turlington is located in Harnett County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Turlington
    • From Kennebec to Turlington
  • Garner
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • 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.<3>
    • 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 <2>
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Garner
    • From Kennebec to Garner
  • Apex
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Apex have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Apex
    • Apex is located in Wake County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 64,388 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Apex <2>
  • New Hill
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Corinth
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
  • Bunnlevel
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
  • Benson
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Spilona
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spilona have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spilona
    • Spilona is located in Johnston County
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Auburn
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Merry Oaks
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Merry Oaks have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merry Oaks
      • Merry Oaks is located in Chatham County
    • Cary
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cary have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cary
      • Cary is located in Chatham County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 173,587 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cary <2>

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

Newspapers Published in Kennebec ...

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 16 newspapers that have been published in the area around Kennebec.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Kennebec, there are papers which were published within 15 miles [24.1 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Kennebec.

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 Kennebec:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Kennebec. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Wake County: www.wakegov.com/

The official website for State of North Carolina: https://www.nc.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<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>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 Kennebec, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Kennebec) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Kennebec. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.5402, Longitude: -78.7476    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025