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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 Sandy Plain (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 Sandy Plain. 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 Sandy Plain ...

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.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Sandy Plain: Sandy Pln.

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Sandy Plain. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Sandy Plain.

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 southeast 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 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 east 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.

Sandy Plain is located in Wake 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 Wake County: Chatham, Durham, Franklin, Granville, Harnett, Johnston & Nash.

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

  • Wake County     (The home county of Sandy Plain)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sandy Plain, with the one closest to Sandy Plain listed first.
    • New Light
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • New Light is located in Wake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Light
    • Stony Hill
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Stony Hill is located in Wake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stony Hill
    • Falls
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Falls is located in Wake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falls
    • Forestville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Forestville is located in Wake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forestville
    • Wyatt
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Wyatt is located in Wake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyatt
    • Pickwick Village
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Pickwick Village is located in Wake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pickwick Village
    • Neuse Crossroads
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Neuse Crossroads is located in Wake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Neuse Crossroads
    • Neuse
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Millbrook
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Millbrook is located in Wake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millbrook
    • Woodbury Village
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Woodbury Village is located in Wake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodbury Village
    • Brentwood Village
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Brentwood Village is located in Wake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brentwood Village
    • Glenwood Village
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Glenwood Village is located in Wake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenwood Village
  • Caswell County
    • Prospect Hill
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Prospect Hill is located in Caswell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prospect Hill
  • Chatham County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sandy Plain, with the one closest to Sandy Plain listed first.
    • Cary
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Cary is located in Chatham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cary
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 173,587 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cary <1>
    • Fearrington Village
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Fearrington Village is located in Chatham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fearrington Village
  • Durham County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sandy Plain, with the one closest to Sandy Plain listed first.
    • Gorman
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Gorman is located in Durham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gorman
    • Bahama
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Brassfield
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Brassfield is located in Durham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brassfield
    • Durham
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Hampton
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Hampton is located in Durham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hampton
    • Nelson
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Nelson is located in Durham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nelson
    • The American Village
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • The American Village is located in Durham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The American Village
    • Rougemont
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Parkwood
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Parkwood is located in Durham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkwood
    • Morrisville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Franklin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sandy Plain, with the one closest to Sandy Plain listed first.
    • Wake Forest
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Youngsville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Franklinton
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Katesville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Katesville is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Katesville
    • Louisburg
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Ingleside
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Ingleside is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ingleside
    • Bunn
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Bunn is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bunn
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 401 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bunn <1>
    • Lake View
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Lake View is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake View
    • Mapleville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Mapleville is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mapleville
    • Sutton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Sutton is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sutton
    • Alert
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Alert is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alert
  • Granville County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sandy Plain, with the one closest to Sandy Plain listed first.
    • Creedmoor
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Mount Energy
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Mount Energy is located in Granville County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Energy
    • Lyons
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Lyons is located in Granville County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyons
    • Butner
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Hester
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Hester is located in Granville County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hester
    • Wilton
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Wilton is located in Granville County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilton
    • Stem
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Stem is located in Granville County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stem
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 474 people
    • Tar River
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Tar River is located in Granville County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tar River
    • Providence
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Providence is located in Granville County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Providence
    • Clay
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Clay is located in Granville County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clay
    • Fairport
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Fairport is located in Granville County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairport
    • Berea
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Berea is located in Granville County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berea
  • Nash County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sandy Plain, with the one closest to Sandy Plain listed first.
    • Murraytown
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Murraytown is located in Nash County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Murraytown
    • Rocky Cross
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Rocky Cross is located in Nash County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Cross
    • Union Hope
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Union Hope is located in Nash County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Hope
  • Orange County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sandy Plain, with the one closest to Sandy Plain listed first.
    • Pleasant Green Estates
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Fieldstream
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Fieldstream is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fieldstream
    • Brigadoon
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Brigadoon is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brigadoon
    • Eno
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Eno is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eno
    • Caldwell
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Caldwell is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caldwell
    • Charter Meadows
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Charter Meadows is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charter Meadows
    • Summerfield Crossing
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Summerfield Crossing is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summerfield Crossing
    • Oak Hills
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Oak Hills is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Hills
    • Piney Grove
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Piney Grove is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Piney Grove
    • University Acres
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • University Acres is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for University Acres
    • University
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • University is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for University
    • Carolwoods
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Carolwoods is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carolwoods
  • Person County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sandy Plain, with the one closest to Sandy Plain listed first.
    • Moriah
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Moriah is located in Person County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moriah
    • Mount Tirzah
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Mount Tirzah is located in Person County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Tirzah
    • Timberlake
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Cates
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Cates is located in Person County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cates
    • Hurdle Mills
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Allens Level
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Allens Level is located in Person County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allens Level
    • Allensville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Allensville is located in Person County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allensville
    • Roseville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Roseville is located in Person County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roseville
    • Whitt Town
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Whitt Town is located in Person County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitt Town
    • Roxboro
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Hicks Village
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Hicks Village is located in Person County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hicks Village
  • Vance County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sandy Plain, with the one closest to Sandy Plain listed first.
    • Kittrell
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Bobbitt
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Bobbitt is located in Vance County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bobbitt
    • Bear Pond
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Bear Pond is located in Vance County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Pond
    • Gill
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Gill is located in Vance County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gill
    • Dabney
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Dabney is located in Vance County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dabney
    • Gillburg
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Gillburg is located in Vance County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gillburg
    • South Henderson
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • South Henderson is located in Vance County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Henderson
    • Henderson
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Adcock Crossroads
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Adcock Crossroads is located in Vance County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adcock Crossroads
    • Flat Rock
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Flat Rock is located in Vance County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flat Rock

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

Cemeteries Near Sandy Plain ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Sandy Plain.

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 Sandy Plain - one of the links might be able to help.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Sandy Plain, with the one closest to Sandy Plain 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 Sandy Plain in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Sandy Plain.

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

  • Creedmoor
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Grissom
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Grissom is located in Granville County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grissom
  • Mount Energy
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Mount Energy is located in Granville County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Energy
  • Cozart
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Cozart is located in Granville County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cozart
  • Lyons
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Lyons is located in Granville County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyons
  • New Light
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • New Light is located in Wake County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Light
  • Hester
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Hester is located in Granville County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hester
  • Knap of Reeds
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Knap of Reeds is located in Granville County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knap of Reeds
  • Pocomoke
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Pocomoke is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pocomoke
  • Wilton
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Wilton is located in Granville County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilton
  • Fairntosh
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Fairntosh is located in Durham County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairntosh
  • Stem
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Stem is located in Granville County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stem
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 474 people
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Falls
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Falls is located in Wake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falls
    • Wake Forest
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Tar River
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Tar River is located in Granville County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tar River

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

Newspapers Published in Sandy Plain ...

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 50 newspapers that have been published in the area around Sandy Plain.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Sandy Plain, there are papers which were published within 13 miles [20.9 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Sandy Plain.

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 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 Sandy Plain:

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>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- Sandy Plain) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Sandy Plain, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.