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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 Ranlo (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 Ranlo. 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 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.

Ranlo is located in Gaston 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 Gaston County: Cleveland, Lincoln, Mecklenburg & York (SC).

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

  • Gaston County     (The home county of Ranlo)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ranlo, with the one closest to Ranlo listed first.
    • Smyre
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Spencer Mountain
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Spencer Mountain is located in Gaston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spencer Mountain
      • Estimated population in 2016: 36 people
    • Lowell
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Dallas
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • McAdenville
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Gastonia
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Cramerton
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Stanley
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Woodland ‑ Historic
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Woodland is located in Gaston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland
    • Belmont
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Brown Town
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Brown Town is located in Gaston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brown Town
    • Catawba ‑ Historic
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Catawba is located in Gaston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Catawba
  • Burke County
  • Cabarrus County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ranlo, with the one closest to Ranlo listed first.
    • Cannon Crossroads
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Harrisburg
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Tulin ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Tulin is located in Cabarrus County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tulin
    • Poplar Tent
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Poplar Tent is located in Cabarrus County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poplar Tent
    • Fisher Town
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Fisher Town is located in Cabarrus County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fisher Town
  • Catawba County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ranlo, with the one closest to Ranlo listed first.
    • Killian Crossroads
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Killian Crossroads is located in Catawba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Killian Crossroads
    • Olivers Crossroads
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Olivers Crossroads is located in Catawba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olivers Crossroads
    • Providence Mill
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Providence Mill is located in Catawba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Providence Mill
    • Maiden
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Drums Crossroads
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Drums Crossroads is located in Catawba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drums Crossroads
    • Terrell
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Lake Norman of Catawba
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Duan
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Duan is located in Catawba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duan
    • Bandy
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Sherrills Ford
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Plateau
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Banoak
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Banoak is located in Catawba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Banoak
  • Cleveland County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ranlo, with the one closest to Ranlo listed first.
    • Kings Mountain
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • White Plains
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • White Plains is located in Cleveland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Plains
    • Elbethel ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Elbethel is located in Cleveland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elbethel
    • Stony Point
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Stony Point is located in Cleveland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stony Point
    • Waco
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Stubbs
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Grover
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Durbro ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Durbro is located in Cleveland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Durbro
    • Light Oak
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Light Oak is located in Cleveland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Light Oak
    • Elizabeth City
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Elizabeth City is located in Cleveland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elizabeth City
    • Pleasant Hill
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Wilson ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Wilson is located in Cleveland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilson
  • Iredell County
  • Lincoln County
  • Mecklenburg County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ranlo, with the one closest to Ranlo listed first.
    • Paw Creek
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Paw Creek is located in Mecklenburg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paw Creek
    • Dixie
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Dixie is located in Mecklenburg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dixie
    • Chateau Woods
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Pinecrest
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Dalton Village
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Dalton Village is located in Mecklenburg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dalton Village
    • Spring Lake
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Spring Lake is located in Mecklenburg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Lake
    • Biddleville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Biddleville is located in Mecklenburg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Biddleville
    • Wilmore
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Yorkmont
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Greenville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Greenville is located in Mecklenburg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenville
    • Huntersville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Charlotte
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
  • Rowan County
  • Union County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ranlo, with the one closest to Ranlo listed first.
    • Marvin
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Marvin is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marvin
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,920 people
    • White Oak
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • White Oak is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Oak
    • Indian Trail
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Stallings
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Hemby Bridge
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Cherokee County (SC)
  • Lancaster County (SC)
  • York County (SC)

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

Cemeteries Near Ranlo ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Ranlo.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Ranlo, with the one closest to Ranlo 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>

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

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

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

Newspapers Published in Ranlo ...

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 23 newspapers that have been published in the area around Ranlo.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Ranlo, there are papers which were published within 13 miles [20.9 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Ranlo.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin 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 Ranlo:

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 Ranlo, 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- Ranlo) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.