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 Rattler Ford (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 Rattler Ford. 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.
Rattler Ford is located in Graham 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 Graham County: Cherokee, Macon, Swain, Blount (TN) & Monroe (TN).
Below are the counties that are near Rattler Ford. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Rattler Ford:
- Graham County (The home county of Rattler Ford)
- The following are listed by their distance from Rattler Ford, with the one closest to Rattler Ford listed first.
- Lake Santeetlah
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Lake Santeetlah is located in Graham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Santeetlah
- Population from the 2020 Census: 43 people
- Lake Santeetlah has also been known as:
- Santeetla
- Santeetlah
- Santultah
- Thunderbird Mountain
- Thunderbird
- Robbinsville
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Yellow Creek
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Yellow Creek is located in Graham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yellow Creek
- Fontana Dam
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Fontana Dam is located in Graham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fontana Dam
- Population from the 2020 Census: 6 people
- Fontana Dam has also been known as:
- Fontana Village
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fontana Dam <1>
- Cheoah
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Cheoah is located in Graham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cheoah
- Bear Creek
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Bear Creek is located in Graham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Creek
- Stecoah
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Stecoah is located in Graham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stecoah
- Cherokee County
- The following are listed by their distance from Rattler Ford, with the one closest to Rattler Ford listed first.
- Coalville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Coalville is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coalville
- Marble
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Andrews
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Buffalo
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Buffalo is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo
- Boiling Springs
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Boiling Springs is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boiling Springs
- Rhodo
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Rhodo is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rhodo
- Topton
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Unaka
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Unaka is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unaka
- Grape Creek
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Grape Creek is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grape Creek
- Murphy
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Ogreeta
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Ogreeta is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ogreeta
- Hiwassee Village
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Hiwassee Village is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hiwassee Village
- Vests
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Vests is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vests
- Clay County
- The following are listed by their distance from Rattler Ford, with the one closest to Rattler Ford listed first.
- Brasstown
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Hayesville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Elf
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Elf is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elf
- Pine Log Village
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Pine Log Village is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Log Village
- Warne
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Macon County
- The following are listed by their distance from Rattler Ford, with the one closest to Rattler Ford listed first.
- Fairview
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Fairview is located in Macon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairview
- Tellico
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Tellico is located in Macon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tellico
- Leatherman
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Leatherman is located in Macon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leatherman
- Swain County
- The following are listed by their distance from Rattler Ford, with the one closest to Rattler Ford listed first.
- Nantahala
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Nantahala is located in Swain County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nantahala
- Wesser
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Wesser is located in Swain County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wesser
- Bushnell ‑ Historic
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Bushnell is located in Swain County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bushnell
- Almond
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Judson ‑ Historic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Judson is located in Swain County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Judson
- Forney ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Forney is located in Swain County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forney
- Bryson City
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Unahala
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Unahala is located in Swain County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unahala
- Towns County (GA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Rattler Ford, with the one closest to Rattler Ford listed first.
- Hunt ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Hunt is located in Towns County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunt
- Hiawassee
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Young Harris
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Jacksonville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Jacksonville is located in Towns County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jacksonville
- Estimated population in 2019: 5,239 people
- Blount County (TN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Rattler Ford, with the one closest to Rattler Ford listed first.
- Chilhowee
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Chilhowee is located in Blount County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chilhowee
- Happy Valley
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Happy Valley is located in Blount County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Happy Valley
- Red Bank
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Red Bank is located in Blount County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Bank
- Sixmile
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Sixmile is located in Blount County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sixmile
- Townsend
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Walnut Hill Estates
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Walnut Hill Estates is located in Blount County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Hill Estates
- Population from the 2010 Census: 2,394 people
- Brick Mill
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Brick Mill is located in Blount County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brick Mill
- Miller Cove
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Miller Cove is located in Blount County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Miller Cove
- Estimated population in 2014: 267 people
- Binfield
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Binfield is located in Blount County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Binfield
- Chelsey Village
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Chelsey Village is located in Blount County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chelsey Village
- Fairway Estates
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Fairway Estates is located in Blount County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairway Estates
- Estimated population in 2014: 8,224 people
- Seaton
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Seaton is located in Blount County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seaton
- Walland
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Loudon County (TN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Rattler Ford, with the one closest to Rattler Ford listed first.
- Trigonia
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Trigonia is located in Loudon County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trigonia
- Jena
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Jena is located in Loudon County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jena
- Estimated population in 2014: 2,279 people
- Greenback
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Morganton
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Morganton is located in Loudon County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morganton
- Alleghany ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Alleghany is located in Loudon County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alleghany
- Estimated population in 2014: 630 people
- Centersville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Centersville is located in Loudon County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centersville
- McMinn County (TN)
- Mecca
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Mecca is located in McMinn County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mecca
- Monroe County (TN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Rattler Ford, with the one closest to Rattler Ford listed first.
- Ipe ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Ipe is located in Monroe County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ipe
- Halfway Town ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Halfway Town is located in Monroe County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halfway Town
- Ballplay
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Ballplay is located in Monroe County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ballplay
- Acorn
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Acorn is located in Monroe County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acorn
- Belltown
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Belltown is located in Monroe County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belltown
- Jacktown
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Jacktown is located in Monroe County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jacktown
- Estimated population in 2014: 67,319 people
- Tellico Plains
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Toqua ‑ Historic
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Toqua is located in Monroe County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toqua
- Coker Creek
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Coker Creek is located in Monroe County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coker Creek
- Tuskeegee ‑ Historic
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Tuskeegee is located in Monroe County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tuskeegee
- Estimated population in 2014: 2,663 people
- Epperson
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Epperson is located in Monroe County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Epperson
- Jalapa
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Jalapa is located in Monroe County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jalapa
- Rural Vale
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Rural Vale is located in Monroe County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rural Vale
- Sevier County (TN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Rattler Ford, with the one closest to Rattler Ford listed first.
- Elkmont ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Elkmont is located in Sevier County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkmont
- Wear Valley
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Wear Valley is located in Sevier County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wear Valley
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Rattler Ford, see our County-by-County Page for Rattler Ford.
Cemeteries Near Rattler Ford ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Rattler Ford.
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 Rattler Ford - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Rattler Ford covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Rattler Ford, with the one closest to Rattler Ford listed first.
- West Buffalo Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Coom Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Odom Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Massey Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Jenkins Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Orr Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Wiggins Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Welch Cove Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Farley Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Holloway Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Rice Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Orr Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Continue List (358 more) ...
- Payne Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Gunter Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Cable Cove Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
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.<2>
While we didn't find Rattler Ford in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Rattler Ford.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Rattler Ford, with the one closest to Rattler Ford listed first.
- Robbinsville
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Yellow Creek
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Yellow Creek is located in Graham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yellow Creek
- Fairfax
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Fairfax is located in Swain County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairfax
- Coalville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Coalville is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coalville
- Marble
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Andrews
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Tuskeegee
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Tuskeegee is located in Graham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tuskeegee
- Stecoah
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Stecoah is located in Graham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stecoah
- Nantahala
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Nantahala is located in Swain County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nantahala
- Proctor
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Proctor is located in Swain County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Proctor
- Caringer ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Caringer is located in Monroe County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caringer
- Hewitt
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Hewitt is located in Swain County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hewitt
- Continue List (17 more) ...
- Tomotla
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Tomotla is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tomotla
- Chilhowee
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Chilhowee is located in Blount County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chilhowee
- Ipe ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Ipe is located in Monroe County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ipe
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Rattler Ford. See our List of 1890's Communities around Rattler Ford.
Newspapers Published in Rattler Ford ...
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 19 newspapers that have been published in the area around Rattler Ford.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Rattler Ford, there are papers which were published within 21 miles [33.8 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Rattler Ford.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we first visit the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These helpful 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 Rattler Ford:
- Websites specific to North Carolina
- Pages specific to Graham County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Cherokee County
- Clay County
- Macon County
- Swain County
- Towns County
- Blount County
- Loudon County
- McMinn County
- Monroe County
- Sevier 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> | 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 Rattler Ford, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Rattler Ford) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |