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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 Philadelphia (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 Philadelphia. 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 hospitals and 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.

Philadelphia is located in Camden 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 Camden County: Currituck, Gates, Pasquotank & Tyrrell.

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

  • Camden County     (The home county of Philadelphia)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Philadelphia, with the one closest to Philadelphia listed first.
    • Alder Branch
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Alder Branch is located in Camden County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alder Branch
    • Riddle
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Riddle is located in Camden County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riddle
    • Shiloh
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Shiloh is located in Camden County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shiloh
    • Elizabeth City Beach
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Elizabeth City Beach is located in Camden County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elizabeth City Beach
    • Belcross
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Belcross is located in Camden County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belcross
    • Camden
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • South Mills
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Horseshoe
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Horseshoe is located in Camden County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horseshoe
  • Currituck County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Philadelphia, with the one closest to Philadelphia listed first.
    • Bertha
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Bertha is located in Currituck County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bertha
    • Coinjock
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Poplar Branch
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Grandy
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Aydlett
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Aydlett is located in Currituck County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aydlett
    • Barco
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Jarvisburg
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Maple
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Maple is located in Currituck County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple
    • Shawboro
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Waterlily
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Waterlily is located in Currituck County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterlily
    • Powells Point
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Currituck
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Corolla
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Dare County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Philadelphia, with the one closest to Philadelphia listed first.
    • Duck
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Sandy Ridge
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Sandy Ridge is located in Dare County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Ridge
    • George Town Sands
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • George Town Sands is located in Dare County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for George Town Sands
    • Poteskeet Village
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Poteskeet Village is located in Dare County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poteskeet Village
    • Southern Shores
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Kitty Hawk
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Kill Devil Hills
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Fort Raleigh City
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Fort Raleigh City is located in Dare County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Raleigh City
    • Buffalo City
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Buffalo City is located in Dare County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo City
    • Manns Harbor
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Gates County
    • Acorn Hill
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Acorn Hill is located in Gates County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acorn Hill
  • Pasquotank County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Philadelphia, with the one closest to Philadelphia listed first.
    • Weeksville
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Weeksville is located in Pasquotank County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weeksville
    • Elizabeth City
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Nixonton
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Nixonton is located in Pasquotank County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nixonton
  • Perquimans County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Philadelphia, with the one closest to Philadelphia listed first.
    • Woodville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Woodville is located in Perquimans County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodville
    • Burgess
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Burgess is located in Perquimans County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burgess
    • Winfall
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Snug Harbor
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Snug Harbor is located in Perquimans County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Snug Harbor
    • Hertford
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Nicanor
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Nicanor is located in Perquimans County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nicanor
    • Belvidere
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Yeopim Station
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Yeopim Station is located in Perquimans County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yeopim Station
      • Yeopim Station has also been known as:
      • Yeopim
    • Bethel ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Bethel is located in Perquimans County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bethel
    • Snow Hill
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Snow Hill is located in Perquimans County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Snow Hill
  • Tyrrell County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Philadelphia, with the one closest to Philadelphia listed first.
    • Fort Landing
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Fort Landing is located in Tyrrell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Landing
    • Alligator
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Alligator is located in Tyrrell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alligator
    • Columbia
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Philadelphia ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Philadelphia.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Philadelphia, with the one closest to Philadelphia 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.<4>

While we didn't find Philadelphia in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Philadelphia.

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

  • Old Trap
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Old Trap is located in Camden County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Trap
  • Shiloh
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Shiloh is located in Camden County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shiloh
  • Indiantown
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Indiantown is located in Camden County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indiantown
  • Weeksville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Weeksville is located in Pasquotank County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weeksville
  • Coinjock
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Poplar Branch
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Belcross
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Belcross is located in Camden County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belcross
  • Gregory
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Gregory is located in Currituck County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gregory
  • Shawboro
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Jarvisburg
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Elizabeth City
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Nixonton
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Nixonton is located in Pasquotank County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nixonton
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Currituck
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Snowden
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Snowden is located in Currituck County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Snowden
    • Woodville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Woodville is located in Perquimans County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodville

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

Newspapers Published in Philadelphia ...

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 33 newspapers that have been published in the area around Philadelphia.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Philadelphia, there are papers which were published within 20 miles [32.2 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Philadelphia.

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 Philadelphia:

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>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 from Point A (ie- Philadelphia) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<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 Philadelphia, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.