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 Oak Grove (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 Oak Grove. 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 Oak Grove ...
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.
Another variation: Oakgrove.
- A typical abbreviation for Oak Grove: Oak Grv.
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Oak Grove. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Oak Grove.
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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors 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.
Oak Grove is located in Cleveland 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 Cleveland County: Burke, Gaston, Lincoln, Rutherford, Cherokee (SC) & York (SC).
Below are the counties that are near Oak Grove. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Oak Grove:
- Cleveland County (The home county of Oak Grove)
- The following are listed by their distance from Oak Grove, with the one closest to Oak Grove listed first.
- Stony Point
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Stony Point is located in Cleveland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stony Point
- Stubbs
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Stubbs is located in Cleveland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stubbs
- Elbethel ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Elbethel is located in Cleveland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elbethel
- White Plains
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- White Plains is located in Cleveland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Plains
- Durbro ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Durbro is located in Cleveland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Durbro
- Pleasant Hill
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Pleasant Hill is located in Cleveland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Hill
- Elizabeth City
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Elizabeth City is located in Cleveland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elizabeth City
- Light Oak
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Light Oak is located in Cleveland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Light Oak
- Kings Mountain
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Patterson Springs
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Patterson Springs is located in Cleveland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Patterson Springs
- Population from the 2020 Census: 628 people
- Briarwood Townhouses
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Briarwood Townhouses is located in Cleveland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Briarwood Townhouses
- Grover
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Burke County
- The following are listed by their distance from Oak Grove, with the one closest to Oak Grove listed first.
- Camp Creek
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Camp Creek is located in Burke County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camp Creek
- Ramsey
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Ramsey is located in Burke County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ramsey
- Shoups Ford
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Shoups Ford is located in Burke County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shoups Ford
- Enola
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Enola is located in Burke County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Enola
- Hildebran
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Catawba County
- The following are listed by their distance from Oak Grove, with the one closest to Oak Grove listed first.
- Banoak
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Banoak is located in Catawba County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Banoak
- Cooksville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Cooksville is located in Catawba County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooksville
- Plateau
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Plateau is located in Catawba County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plateau
- Blackburn
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Blackburn is located in Catawba County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackburn
- Propst Crossroads
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Propst Crossroads is located in Catawba County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Propst Crossroads
- Rhoney
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Rhoney is located in Catawba County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rhoney
- Maiden
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Providence Mill
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Providence Mill is located in Catawba County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Providence Mill
- Duan
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Duan is located in Catawba County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duan
- Advent Crossroads
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Advent Crossroads is located in Catawba County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Advent Crossroads
- Meadow Brook Village
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Meadow Brook Village is located in Catawba County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Brook Village
- Olivers Crossroads
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Olivers Crossroads is located in Catawba County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olivers Crossroads
- Gaston County
- The following are listed by their distance from Oak Grove, with the one closest to Oak Grove listed first.
- Perry
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Perry is located in Gaston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perry
- Cherryville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Dellview
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Dellview is located in Gaston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dellview
- Population from the 2010 Census: 13 people
- Tryon
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Tryon is located in Gaston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tryon
- Bessemer City
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- South Gastonia
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- South Gastonia is located in Gaston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Gastonia
- Gastonia
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Dallas
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- High Shoals
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- High Shoals is located in Gaston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Shoals
- Population from the 2020 Census: 757 people
- Ranlo
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Ranlo is located in Gaston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ranlo
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,708 people
- Smyre
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Smyre is located in Gaston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smyre
- Spencer Mountain
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Spencer Mountain is located in Gaston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spencer Mountain
- Estimated population in 2016: 36 people
- Lincoln County
- The following are listed by their distance from Oak Grove, with the one closest to Oak Grove listed first.
- Crouse
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Crouse is located in Lincoln County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crouse
- North Brook ‑ Historic
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- North Brook is located in Lincoln County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Brook
- Hulls Crossroads
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Hulls Crossroads is located in Lincoln County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hulls Crossroads
- Lincolnton
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Vale
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Boger City
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Boger City is located in Lincoln County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boger City
- Henry
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Henry is located in Lincoln County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henry
- Laurel Hill
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Laurel Hill is located in Lincoln County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurel Hill
- Iron Station
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Iron Station is located in Lincoln County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iron Station
- Machpelah
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Machpelah is located in Lincoln County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Machpelah
- Lowesville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Lowesville is located in Lincoln County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lowesville
- Triangle ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Triangle is located in Lincoln County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Triangle
- Mecklenburg County
- The following are listed by their distance from Oak Grove, with the one closest to Oak Grove listed first.
- Dixie
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Dixie is located in Mecklenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dixie
- Paw Creek
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Paw Creek is located in Mecklenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paw Creek
- Chateau Woods
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Chateau Woods is located in Mecklenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chateau Woods
- Dalton Village
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Dalton Village is located in Mecklenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dalton Village
- Pinecrest
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Pinecrest is located in Mecklenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinecrest
- Yorkmont
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Yorkmont is located in Mecklenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yorkmont
- Rutherford County
- The following are listed by their distance from Oak Grove, with the one closest to Oak Grove listed first.
- Six Points
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Six Points is located in Rutherford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Six Points
- Ellenboro
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Hollis
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Hollis is located in Rutherford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollis
- Caroleen
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Caroleen is located in Rutherford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caroleen
- Henrietta
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Henrietta is located in Rutherford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henrietta
- Concord
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Concord is located in Rutherford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Concord
- Bostic
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Sandy Mush
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Sandy Mush is located in Rutherford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Mush
- Washburn
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Washburn is located in Rutherford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Washburn
- Sunshine
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Sunshine is located in Rutherford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunshine
- Alexander Mills
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Alexander Mills is located in Rutherford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alexander Mills
- Forest City
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Cherokee County (SC)
- The following are listed by their distance from Oak Grove, with the one closest to Oak Grove listed first.
- Blacksburg
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Kings Creek
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- East Gaffney
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- East Gaffney is located in Cherokee County (SC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Gaffney
- Gaffney
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Macedonia
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Macedonia is located in Cherokee County (SC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Macedonia
- Chesnee
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Spartanburg County (SC)
- The following are listed by their distance from Oak Grove, with the one closest to Oak Grove listed first.
- Cowpens
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Cowpens is located in Spartanburg County (SC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cowpens
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,465 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cowpens <1>
- Mayo
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Brooklyn
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Brooklyn is located in Spartanburg County (SC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brooklyn
- Clifton
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Converse
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Pacolet Mills
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- York County (SC)
- The following are listed by their distance from Oak Grove, with the one closest to Oak Grove listed first.
- Bowling Green
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Smyrna
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Clover
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Zadok ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Zadok is located in York County (SC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zadok
- Filbert
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Filbert is located in York County (SC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Filbert
- Hickory Grove
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- York
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Sharon
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Hopewell
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Hopewell is located in York County (SC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopewell
- Lake Wylie
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Blairsville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Blairsville is located in York County (SC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blairsville
- Newport
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Newport is located in York County (SC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newport
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Oak Grove, see our County-by-County Page for Oak Grove.
Cemeteries Near Oak Grove ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Oak Grove.
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 Oak Grove - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Oak Grove covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Oak Grove, with the one closest to Oak Grove listed first.
- Pleasant Hill Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Christian Freedom Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- El Bethel Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Hullender Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Elizabeth Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Bethlehem Baptist Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Patterson Springs Baptist Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Patterson Springs Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Archibald Graham Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Long Branch First Baptist Church Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Cherokee Street Baptist Church Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Mountain Rest Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Continue List (322 more) ...
- Capernaum Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Webb Memorial Lawns
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Sulphur Springs Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
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>
While we didn't find Oak Grove in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Oak Grove.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Oak Grove, with the one closest to Oak Grove listed first.
- Fancy ‑ Historic
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Fancy is located in Cleveland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fancy
- Durbro ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Durbro is located in Cleveland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Durbro
- Elbethel ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Elbethel is located in Cleveland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elbethel
- Stubbs
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Stubbs is located in Cleveland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stubbs
- Kings Mountain
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Perry
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Perry is located in Gaston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perry
- Grover
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Waco
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Waco is located in Cleveland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waco
- Population from the 2020 Census: 319 people
- Shelby
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Cherryville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Earl
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Earl is located in Cleveland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Earl
- Population from the 2020 Census: 261 people
- Bessemer City
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Beam Mill
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Beam Mill is located in Cleveland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beam Mill
- Sharon
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Sharon is located in Cleveland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sharon
- Double Shoals
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Double Shoals is located in Cleveland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Double Shoals
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Oak Grove. See our List of 1890's Communities around Oak Grove.
Newspapers Published in Oak Grove ...
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 70 newspapers that have been published in the area around Oak Grove.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Oak Grove, 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 Oak Grove.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to 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 Oak Grove:
- Websites specific to North Carolina
- Pages specific to Cleveland County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Burke County
- Catawba County
- Gaston County
- Lincoln County
- Mecklenburg County
- Rutherford County
- Cherokee County
- Spartanburg County
- York County
- 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> | 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 Oak Grove, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Oak Grove) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |