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 McCray (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 McCray. 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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.
McCray is located in Alamance 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 Alamance County: Caswell, Chatham, Guilford, Orange, Randolph & Rockingham.
Below are the counties that are near McCray. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to McCray:
- Alamance County (The home county of McCray)
- The following are listed by their distance from McCray, with the one closest to McCray listed first.
- Union Ridge
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Union Ridge is located in Alamance County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Ridge
- Lakeview Estates
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Lakeview Estates is located in Alamance County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview Estates
- Lakeview
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Lakeview is located in Alamance County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview
- Pleasant Grove
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Pleasant Grove is located in Alamance County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Grove
- Hopedale
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Hopedale is located in Alamance County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopedale
- Carolina
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Carolina is located in Alamance County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carolina
- Glencoe
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Glencoe is located in Alamance County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glencoe
- Hunting Hills
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Hunting Hills is located in Alamance County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunting Hills
- Green Level
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Green Level is located in Alamance County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Level
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,341 people
- British Acres
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- British Acres is located in Alamance County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for British Acres
- Green Acres
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Green Acres is located in Alamance County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Acres
- Lakeside
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Lakeside is located in Alamance County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeside
- Clover Garden
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Clover Garden is located in Alamance County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clover Garden
- Caswell County
- The following are listed by their distance from McCray, with the one closest to McCray listed first.
- Anderson
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Anderson is located in Caswell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anderson
- Stony Creek
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Stony Creek is located in Caswell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stony Creek
- Jericho
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Jericho is located in Caswell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jericho
- Prospect Hill
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Prospect Hill is located in Caswell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prospect Hill
- Locust Hill
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Locust Hill is located in Caswell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locust Hill
- Ashland
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Ashland is located in Caswell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashland
- Ridgeville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Ridgeville is located in Caswell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgeville
- West Yanceyville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- West Yanceyville is located in Caswell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Yanceyville
- Yanceyville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Quick
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Quick is located in Caswell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quick
- Bethel
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Bethel is located in Caswell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bethel
- Leasburg
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Providence
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Providence is located in Caswell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Providence
- Chatham County
- The following are listed by their distance from McCray, with the one closest to McCray listed first.
- Bynum
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Bynum is located in Chatham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bynum
- Fearrington Village
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Fearrington Village is located in Chatham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fearrington Village
- Durham County
- The following are listed by their distance from McCray, with the one closest to McCray listed first.
- Rougemont
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- The American Village
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- The American Village is located in Durham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The American Village
- Bahama
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Durham
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Hampton
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Hampton is located in Durham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hampton
- Guilford County
- The following are listed by their distance from McCray, with the one closest to McCray listed first.
- Gibsonville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Whitsett
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Sedalia
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Sedalia is located in Guilford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sedalia
- Population from the 2020 Census: 689 people
- McLeansville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Browns Summit
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Rudd
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Rudd is located in Guilford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rudd
- Forest Oaks
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Forest Oaks is located in Guilford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Oaks
- Cumberland
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Cumberland is located in Guilford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cumberland
- White Oak
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- White Oak is located in Guilford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Oak
- Julian
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Greensboro
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Spicewood
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Spicewood is located in Guilford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spicewood
- Fairfield
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Fairfield is located in Guilford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairfield
- Orange County
- The following are listed by their distance from McCray, with the one closest to McCray listed first.
- Lakeview Acres
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Lakeview Acres is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview Acres
- Carr
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Carr is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carr
- Miles
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Miles is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Miles
- Cheeks Crossroads
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Cheeks Crossroads is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cheeks Crossroads
- Cedar Grove
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Cedar Grove is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Grove
- Jordan Oak
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Jordan Oak is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jordan Oak
- McDade
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- McDade is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McDade
- Just-A-Mere Landing
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Just-A-Mere Landing is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Just-A-Mere Landing
- Walkers Landing
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Walkers Landing is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walkers Landing
- Efland
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Stagecoach Forest
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Stagecoach Forest is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stagecoach Forest
- Arrowhead
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Arrowhead is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arrowhead
- Deer Run
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Deer Run is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Run
- Person County
- The following are listed by their distance from McCray, with the one closest to McCray listed first.
- Hurdle Mills
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Allens Level
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Allens Level is located in Person County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allens Level
- Roseville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Roseville is located in Person County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roseville
- Cates
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Cates is located in Person County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cates
- Whitt Town
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Whitt Town is located in Person County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitt Town
- Timberlake
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Concord
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Concord is located in Person County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Concord
- Hicks Village
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Hicks Village is located in Person County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hicks Village
- Mount Tirzah
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Mount Tirzah is located in Person County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Tirzah
- Ceffo
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Ceffo is located in Person County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ceffo
- Roxboro
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Randolph County
- The following are listed by their distance from McCray, with the one closest to McCray listed first.
- Liberty
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Melanchton
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Melanchton is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melanchton
- Redcross
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Redcross is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redcross
- Staley
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Rockingham County
- The following are listed by their distance from McCray, with the one closest to McCray listed first.
- Lawsonville
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Lawsonville is located in Rockingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawsonville
- Reidsville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Belmont
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Belmont is located in Rockingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belmont
- Ruffin
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Norwood
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Norwood is located in Rockingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norwood
- Wentworth
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Wentworth is located in Rockingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wentworth
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,734 people
- Wittys Crossroads
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Wittys Crossroads is located in Rockingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wittys Crossroads
- College Village
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- College Village is located in Rockingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for College Village
- Draper ‑ Historic
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Draper is located in Rockingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Draper
- Eden
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Eden is located in Rockingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eden
- Population from the 2020 Census: 14,867 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Eden <1>
- Meadow Summit
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Meadow Summit is located in Rockingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Summit
- Danville City (VA)
- Danville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to McCray, see our County-by-County Page for McCray.
Cemeteries Near McCray ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of McCray.
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 McCray - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for McCray covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from McCray, with the one closest to McCray listed first.
- Northlawn Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Green Level Christian Church Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Jeffries Cross Memorial Park
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- New Hope Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Enoch Family Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Pine Hill Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Rock Fence Church Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Fence Church Cemetery
- The Rock Fence Church Cemetery has also been known as:
- Stoney Creek AME Church Cemetery
- Leath-Kernodle-Hornbuckle Family Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Underwood - Boswell Family Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Magnolia Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Linwood Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Fairview UMC Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Continue List (162 more) ...
- Graham Memorial Park
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Oakwood Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Shiloh UMC Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
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>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, McCray had a post office and no railroad service.
These communities are listed based on their distance from McCray, with the one closest to McCray listed first.
- Union Ridge
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Union Ridge is located in Alamance County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Ridge
- Burlington
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Haw River
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Stony Creek
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Stony Creek is located in Caswell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stony Creek
- Altamahaw
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Altamahaw is located in Alamance County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Altamahaw
- Graham
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Elon College
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Mebane
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Gibsonville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Swepsonville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Swepsonville is located in Alamance County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swepsonville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,386 people
- Hawfields
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Hawfields is located in Alamance County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hawfields
- Corbett
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Corbett is located in Caswell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corbett
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Cherry Grove
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Cherry Grove is located in Caswell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Grove
- Cedar Grove
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Cedar Grove is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Grove
- Prospect Hill
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Prospect Hill is located in Caswell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prospect Hill
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around McCray. See our List of 1890's Communities around McCray.
Newspapers Published in McCray ...
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 30 newspapers that have been published in the area around McCray.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of McCray, there are papers which were published within 16 miles [25.7 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for McCray.
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 McCray:
- Websites specific to North Carolina
- Pages specific to Alamance County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Caswell County
- Chatham County
- Durham County
- Guilford County
- Orange County
- Person County
- Randolph County
- Rockingham County
- Danville City
- 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> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- McCray) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <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 McCray, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |