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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 Machpelah (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 Machpelah. 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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next county to the east. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the county to the north.

So when searching for records, we had our best success by looking in neighboring counties instead of the county in which they lived:  their home county contained property and probate records; the county to the east contained birth and death records; the county to the north contained their burial records. If we hadn't included the neighboring counties, we would have missed many valuable sources of information.

If you're in a similar situation, we hope that the following information helps.

Machpelah is located in Lincoln 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 Lincoln County: Burke, Catawba, Cleveland, Gaston, Iredell & Mecklenburg.

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

  • Lincoln County     (The home county of Machpelah)
  • Alexander County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Machpelah, with the one closest to Machpelah listed first.
    • Taylorsville Beach
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Taylorsville Beach is located in Alexander County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taylorsville Beach
    • Millersville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Millersville is located in Alexander County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millersville
    • Stony Point
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Isenhour Park
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Isenhour Park is located in Alexander County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Isenhour Park
    • Bethlehem
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Bethlehem is located in Alexander County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bethlehem
    • Fairview Park
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Fairview Park is located in Alexander County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairview Park
  • Burke County
  • Cabarrus County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Machpelah, with the one closest to Machpelah listed first.
    • Cannon Crossroads
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Tulin ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Tulin is located in Cabarrus County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tulin
    • Fisher Town
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Fisher Town is located in Cabarrus County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fisher Town
    • Poplar Tent
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Poplar Tent is located in Cabarrus County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poplar Tent
    • Harrisburg
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Concord
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
  • Caldwell County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Machpelah, with the one closest to Machpelah listed first.
    • Northlakes
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Northlakes is located in Caldwell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Northlakes
    • Concord ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Concord is located in Caldwell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Concord
  • Catawba County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Machpelah, with the one closest to Machpelah listed first.
    • Killian Crossroads
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Killian Crossroads is located in Catawba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Killian Crossroads
    • Olivers Crossroads
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Olivers Crossroads is located in Catawba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olivers Crossroads
    • Drums Crossroads
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Drums Crossroads is located in Catawba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drums Crossroads
    • Lake Norman of Catawba
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Terrell
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Providence Mill
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Providence Mill is located in Catawba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Providence Mill
    • Sherrills Ford
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Maiden
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Bandy
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Duan
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Duan is located in Catawba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duan
    • Monbo
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Monbo is located in Catawba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monbo
    • Murrays Hill
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Murrays Hill is located in Catawba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Murrays Hill
  • Cleveland County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Machpelah, with the one closest to Machpelah listed first.
    • Kings Mountain
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Waco
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Stony Point
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Stony Point is located in Cleveland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stony Point
    • Wilson ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Wilson is located in Cleveland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilson
    • White Plains
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • White Plains is located in Cleveland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Plains
    • Stubbs
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Elbethel ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Elbethel is located in Cleveland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elbethel
    • Beam Mill
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Fallston
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Elizabeth City
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Elizabeth City is located in Cleveland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elizabeth City
    • Light Oak
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Light Oak is located in Cleveland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Light Oak
    • Belwood
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Belwood is located in Cleveland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belwood
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 963 people
  • Gaston County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Machpelah, with the one closest to Machpelah listed first.
    • Alexis
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Lucia
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Stanley
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • High Shoals
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • High Shoals is located in Gaston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Shoals
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 757 people
    • Spencer Mountain
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Spencer Mountain is located in Gaston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spencer Mountain
      • Estimated population in 2016: 36 people
    • Woodland ‑ Historic
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Woodland is located in Gaston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland
    • Mount Holly
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Dallas
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Ranlo
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Lowell
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Smyre
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Brown Town
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Brown Town is located in Gaston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brown Town
  • Iredell County
  • Mecklenburg County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Machpelah, with the one closest to Machpelah listed first.
    • River View ‑ Historic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • River View is located in Mecklenburg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River View
    • Cornelius
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Huntersville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Davidson
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Chateau Woods
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Paw Creek
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Paw Creek is located in Mecklenburg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paw Creek
    • Spring Lake
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Spring Lake is located in Mecklenburg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Lake
    • Croft
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Dixie
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Dixie is located in Mecklenburg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dixie
    • Pinecrest
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Biddleville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Biddleville is located in Mecklenburg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Biddleville
    • Dalton Village
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Dalton Village is located in Mecklenburg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dalton Village
  • Rowan County
  • Lancaster County (SC)
  • York County (SC)

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

Cemeteries Near Machpelah ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Machpelah.

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 Machpelah - one of the links might be able to help.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Machpelah, with the one closest to Machpelah 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.<3>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Machpelah had a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Lowesville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Lowesville is located in Lincoln County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lowesville
  • Triangle ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Triangle is located in Lincoln County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Triangle
  • Iron Station
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Lucia
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Cowans Ford
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Cowans Ford is located in Lincoln County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cowans Ford
  • Denver
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Hardins
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Hardins is located in Gaston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hardins
  • Mountain Island
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Mountain Island is located in Gaston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Island
  • River View ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • River View is located in Mecklenburg County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River View
  • Dallas
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Mount Holly
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Lincolnton
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (18 more) ...
    • Martindale ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Martindale is located in Mecklenburg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martindale
    • Huntersville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Lowell
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)

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

Newspapers Published in Machpelah ...

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 39 newspapers that have been published in the area around Machpelah.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Machpelah, there are papers which were published within 16 miles [25.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Machpelah.

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 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 Machpelah:

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 Machpelah, 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Machpelah) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.