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 McGowans Crossroads (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 McGowans Crossroads. 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 McGowans Crossroads ...
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 McGowans Crossroads: McGowans Xrds.
- While the name of this community is McGowans Crossroads, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So McGowans Crossroads may originally have been McGowan's Crossroads.
Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case McGowans Crossroads might be written as McGowan Crossroads.
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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors 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.
McGowans Crossroads is located in Pitt 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 Pitt County: Beaufort, Craven, Edgecombe, Greene, Lenoir, Martin & Wilson.
Below are the counties that are near McGowans Crossroads. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to McGowans Crossroads:
- Pitt County (The home county of McGowans Crossroads)
- The following are listed by their distance from McGowans Crossroads, with the one closest to McGowans Crossroads listed first.
- Simpson
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Simpson is located in Pitt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Simpson
- Population from the 2020 Census: 483 people
- Bells Fork
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Bells Fork is located in Pitt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bells Fork
- Windsor
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Windsor is located in Pitt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windsor
- Heritage Village
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Heritage Village is located in Pitt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heritage Village
- Shelmerdine
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Shelmerdine is located in Pitt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shelmerdine
- Winterville
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Grimesland
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Grimesland is located in Pitt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grimesland
- Population from the 2020 Census: 441 people
- Summerfield
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Summerfield is located in Pitt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summerfield
- Greenville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Red Oak
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Red Oak is located in Pitt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Oak
- Calico
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Calico is located in Pitt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calico
- Ayden
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Beaufort County
- The following are listed by their distance from McGowans Crossroads, with the one closest to McGowans Crossroads listed first.
- Chocowinity
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Rosedale
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Rosedale is located in Beaufort County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosedale
- Washington
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Washington Park
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Washington Park is located in Beaufort County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Washington Park
- Population from the 2020 Census: 429 people
- River Road
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- River Road is located in Beaufort County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River Road
- Blounts Creek
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Blounts Creek is located in Beaufort County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blounts Creek
- Walla Watta
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Walla Watta is located in Beaufort County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walla Watta
- Pinetown
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Pinetown is located in Beaufort County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinetown
- Whitepost
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Whitepost is located in Beaufort County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitepost
- Whitepost has also been known as:
- White Post
- Pomouk Indian Village ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Edward
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Bath
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Craven County
- The following are listed by their distance from McGowans Crossroads, with the one closest to McGowans Crossroads listed first.
- Fort Barnwell
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Fort Barnwell is located in Craven County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Barnwell
- Vanceboro
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Dover
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Dover is located in Craven County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dover
- Population from the 2020 Census: 384 people
- Ernul
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Ernul is located in Craven County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ernul
- Cove City
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Cove City is located in Craven County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cove City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 387 people
- Lima
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Lima is located in Craven County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lima
- Tuscarora
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Tuscarora is located in Craven County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tuscarora
- Clark
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Clark is located in Craven County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clark
- Spring Hope
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Spring Hope is located in Craven County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Hope
- Edgecombe County
- The following are listed by their distance from McGowans Crossroads, with the one closest to McGowans Crossroads listed first.
- Sharp Point
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Sharp Point is located in Edgecombe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sharp Point
- Cobb Town
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Cobb Town is located in Edgecombe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cobb Town
- Conetoe
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Conetoe is located in Edgecombe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conetoe
- Population from the 2020 Census: 263 people
- Macclesfield
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Pinetops
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Henrietta
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Henrietta is located in Edgecombe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henrietta
- Coakley
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Coakley is located in Edgecombe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coakley
- Princeville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Princeville is located in Edgecombe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Princeville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,901 people
- Fairview
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Fairview is located in Edgecombe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairview
- Tarboro
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Hope Lodge
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Hope Lodge is located in Edgecombe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hope Lodge
- Mercer
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Mercer is located in Edgecombe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mercer
- Greene County
- The following are listed by their distance from McGowans Crossroads, with the one closest to McGowans Crossroads listed first.
- Maury
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Maury is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maury
- Hookerton
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Glenfield
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Glenfield is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenfield
- Fieldsboro
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Fieldsboro is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fieldsboro
- Snow Hill
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Walstonburg
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Walstonburg is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walstonburg
- Population from the 2020 Census: 207 people
- Contentnea
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Contentnea is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Contentnea
- Speights Bridge
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Speights Bridge is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Speights Bridge
- Jason
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Jason is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jason
- Jones County
- The following are listed by their distance from McGowans Crossroads, with the one closest to McGowans Crossroads listed first.
- Perfection
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Perfection is located in Jones County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perfection
- Wise Forks
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Wise Forks is located in Jones County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wise Forks
- Sassers Mill
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Sassers Mill is located in Jones County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sassers Mill
- Pollocks
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Pollocks is located in Jones County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pollocks
- Shady Grove
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Shady Grove is located in Jones County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Grove
- Lenoir County
- The following are listed by their distance from McGowans Crossroads, with the one closest to McGowans Crossroads listed first.
- Grifton
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Tick Bite
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Tick Bite is located in Lenoir County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tick Bite
- Graingers
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Graingers is located in Lenoir County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graingers
- Kinfield Village
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Kinfield Village is located in Lenoir County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kinfield Village
- Kinston
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Loftins Crossroads
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Loftins Crossroads is located in Lenoir County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loftins Crossroads
- Fields
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Fields is located in Lenoir County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fields
- Albrittons
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Albrittons is located in Lenoir County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albrittons
- Martin County
- The following are listed by their distance from McGowans Crossroads, with the one closest to McGowans Crossroads listed first.
- Bear Grass
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Bear Grass is located in Martin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Grass
- Population from the 2020 Census: 65 people
- Parmele
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Parmele is located in Martin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parmele
- Population from the 2020 Census: 253 people
- Robersonville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Everetts
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Everetts is located in Martin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Everetts
- Population from the 2020 Census: 138 people
- Gold Point
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Gold Point is located in Martin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gold Point
- Hassell
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Hassell is located in Martin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hassell
- Population from the 2020 Census: 75 people
- Williamston
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Hamilton
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Oak City
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Jamesville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Wilson County
- The following are listed by their distance from McGowans Crossroads, with the one closest to McGowans Crossroads listed first.
- Saratoga
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Saratoga is located in Wilson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saratoga
- Population from the 2020 Census: 408 people
- Stantonsburg
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to McGowans Crossroads, see our County-by-County Page for McGowans Crossroads.
Cemeteries Near McGowans Crossroads ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of McGowans Crossroads.
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 McGowans Crossroads - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for McGowans Crossroads covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from McGowans Crossroads, with the one closest to McGowans Crossroads listed first.
- William H. Edwards Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Homestead Memorial Gardens
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Taft Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Old Simpson Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Pinewood Memorial Park
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Greenwood Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Gleenwood Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Brownhill Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Lorenzo Nobles Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Wesley Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Grimes Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Jackson Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (80 more) ...
- Trinity Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Thomas H. Langley Family Cemetery
- Live Oak FWB Church Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
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 McGowans Crossroads in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of McGowans Crossroads.
These communities are listed based on their distance from McGowans Crossroads, with the one closest to McGowans Crossroads listed first.
- Black Jack
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Black Jack is located in Pitt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Jack
- Redallia
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Redallia is located in Pitt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redallia
- Chicod
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Chicod is located in Pitt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chicod
- Winterville
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Grimesland
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Grimesland is located in Pitt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grimesland
- Population from the 2020 Census: 441 people
- Ayden
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Calico
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Calico is located in Pitt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calico
- Greenville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Littlefield
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Littlefield is located in Pitt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Littlefield
- Coxville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Coxville is located in Pitt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coxville
- Pactolus
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Pactolus is located in Pitt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pactolus
- Renston
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Renston is located in Pitt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Renston
- Continue List (16 more) ...
- Johnsons Mills ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Johnsons Mills is located in Pitt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnsons Mills
- House
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- House is located in Pitt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for House
- Rountree
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Rountree is located in Pitt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rountree
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around McGowans Crossroads. See our List of 1890's Communities around McGowans Crossroads.
Newspapers Published in McGowans Crossroads ...
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 McGowans Crossroads.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of McGowans Crossroads, there are papers which were published within 7 miles [11.3 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for McGowans Crossroads.
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 McGowans Crossroads:
- Websites specific to North Carolina
- Pages specific to Pitt County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Beaufort County
- Craven County
- Edgecombe County
- Greene County
- Jones County
- Lenoir County
- Martin County
- Wilson 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> | 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 from Point A (ie- McGowans Crossroads) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <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 McGowans Crossroads, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |