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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 Lake Waccamaw (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 Lake Waccamaw. 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 Lake Waccamaw ...

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 have occurred.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Lake Waccamaw: Lk. Waccamaw

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 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.

Lake Waccamaw is located in Columbus 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 Columbus County: Bladen, Brunswick, Pender, Robeson & Horry (SC).

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

  • Columbus County     (The home county of Lake Waccamaw)
  • Bladen County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake Waccamaw, with the one closest to Lake Waccamaw listed first.
    • Council
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Council have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Council
      • Council is located in Bladen County
    • Rosindale
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • East Arcadia
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Kelly
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Clarkton
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clarkton have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarkton
      • Clarkton is located in Bladen County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 741 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clarkton <1>
    • Abbottsburg
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Mount Olive
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Olive have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Olive
      • Mount Olive is located in Bladen County
    • Long View
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Long View have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long View
      • Long View is located in Bladen County
    • Elizabethtown
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elizabethtown have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elizabethtown
      • Elizabethtown is located in Bladen County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,378 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elizabethtown <1>
    • White Lake
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for White Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Lake
      • White Lake is located in Bladen County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 742 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for White Lake <1>
    • Bladenboro
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bladenboro have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bladenboro
      • Bladenboro is located in Bladen County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,697 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bladenboro <1>
    • Yorick
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Butters
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Butters have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Butters
      • Butters is located in Bladen County
  • Brunswick County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake Waccamaw, with the one closest to Lake Waccamaw listed first.
    • Exum
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Exum. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Exum
      • Exum is located in Brunswick County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Exum
      • From Lake Waccamaw to Exum
    • Makatoka
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Ash
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Northwest
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Sandy Creek
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sandy Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Creek
      • Sandy Creek is located in Brunswick County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 319 people
    • Longwood
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Longwood have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longwood
      • Longwood is located in Brunswick County
    • Malmo
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Malmo. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Malmo
      • Malmo is located in Brunswick County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Malmo
      • From Lake Waccamaw to Malmo
    • Shallotte
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Supply
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Supply have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Supply
      • Supply is located in Brunswick County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Supply <1>
    • Phoenix
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Phoenix. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Phoenix
      • Phoenix is located in Brunswick County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Phoenix
      • From Lake Waccamaw to Phoenix
    • Sivey Town
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sivey Town have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sivey Town
      • Sivey Town is located in Brunswick County
    • Town Creek
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Town Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Town Creek
      • Town Creek is located in Brunswick County
    • Winnabow
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Winnabow have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winnabow
      • Winnabow is located in Brunswick County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Winnabow <1>
  • Pender County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake Waccamaw, with the one closest to Lake Waccamaw listed first.
    • Atkinson
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Atkinson have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atkinson
      • Atkinson is located in Pender County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 366 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Atkinson <1>
    • Currie
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Robeson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake Waccamaw, with the one closest to Lake Waccamaw listed first.
    • Allenton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Barnesville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Barnesville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barnesville
      • Barnesville is located in Robeson County
    • Orrum
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Orrum have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orrum
      • Orrum is located in Robeson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 72 people
  • Sampson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake Waccamaw, with the one closest to Lake Waccamaw listed first.
    • Ivanhoe
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ivanhoe. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivanhoe
      • Ivanhoe is located in Sampson County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Ivanhoe
      • From Lake Waccamaw to Ivanhoe
    • Kerr
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Kerr. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kerr
      • Kerr is located in Sampson County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Kerr
      • From Lake Waccamaw to Kerr
    • Tomahawk
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Tomahawk. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tomahawk
      • Tomahawk is located in Sampson County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Tomahawk
      • From Lake Waccamaw to Tomahawk
  • Horry County (SC)

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

Cemeteries Near Lake Waccamaw ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Lake Waccamaw.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Lake Waccamaw, with the one closest to Lake Waccamaw listed first.

  • Pierce Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pierce Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pierce Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mt. Hebron Memorial Park
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Hebron Memorial Park
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Hebron Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. James Memorial Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Shiloh Memorial Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • McEwen Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the McEwen Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the McEwen Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Batten Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Batten Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Batten Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Pierce Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pierce Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pierce Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Sibbitt Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sibbitt Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sibbitt Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Holy Cross Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Holy Cross Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Holy Cross Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Buie Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Buie Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Buie Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Blank Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Blank Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Blank Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Faison Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Faison Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Faison Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (319 more) ...

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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Lake Waccamaw had a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Lake Waccamaw had a population of 1,392 people.

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

  • Hallsboro
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Bolton
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Council
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Council have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Council
    • Council is located in Bladen County
  • Rosindale
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Emerson
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Emerson have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emerson
    • Emerson is located in Bladen County
  • Whiteville
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Old Dock
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Old Dock have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Dock
    • Old Dock is located in Columbus County
  • Elkton
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elkton have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkton
    • Elkton is located in Bladen County
  • Byrdville
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Westbrook
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Westbrook have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westbrook
    • Westbrook is located in Bladen County
  • Freeman
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Freeman have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeman
    • Freeman is located in Columbus County
  • Exum
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Exum. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Exum
    • Exum is located in Brunswick County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Exum
    • From Lake Waccamaw to Exum
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Armour
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Armour. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Armour
      • Armour is located in Columbus County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Armour
      • From Lake Waccamaw to Armour
    • Kelly
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Clarkton
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clarkton have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarkton
      • Clarkton is located in Bladen County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 741 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clarkton <1>

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

Newspapers Published in Lake Waccamaw ...

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 25 newspapers that have been published in the area around Lake Waccamaw.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Lake Waccamaw, there are papers which were published within 24 miles [38.6 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Lake Waccamaw.

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 either 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 Lake Waccamaw:

The official website for Lake Waccamaw: www.lakewaccamaw.com/

The official website for Columbus County: www.columbusco.org/main

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

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>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.
<3>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.
<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 drawn from Point A (ie- Lake Waccamaw) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Lake Waccamaw. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.3171, Longitude: -78.5144       In this case, the coordinates for Lake Waccamaw have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>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.
<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 Lake Waccamaw, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025