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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 Sheephead Rock (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 Sheephead Rock. 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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

Sheephead Rock is located in New Hanover County.

To see how the shape of North Carolina's counties have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of New Hanover County: Brunswick & Pender.

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

  • New Hanover County     (The home county of Sheephead Rock)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sheephead Rock, with the one closest to Sheephead Rock listed first.
    • Kure Beach
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kure Beach have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kure Beach
      • Kure Beach is located in New Hanover County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,077 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kure Beach <2>
    • Carolina Beach
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Carolina Beach have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carolina Beach
      • Carolina Beach is located in New Hanover County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,369 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Carolina Beach <2>
    • Sea Breeze
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sea Breeze have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sea Breeze
      • Sea Breeze is located in New Hanover County
    • Myrtle Grove
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Myrtle Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Myrtle Grove
      • Myrtle Grove is located in New Hanover County
    • Silver Lake
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Silver Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Lake
      • Silver Lake is located in New Hanover County
    • Masonboro
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Masonboro have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Masonboro
      • Masonboro is located in New Hanover County
    • Wilmington
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Seagate
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Seagate have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seagate
      • Seagate is located in New Hanover County
    • Wrightsville Beach
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wrightsville Beach have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wrightsville Beach
      • Wrightsville Beach is located in New Hanover County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,516 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wrightsville Beach <2>
    • Windemere
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Windemere have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windemere
      • Windemere is located in New Hanover County
    • Hightsville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hightsville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hightsville
      • Hightsville is located in New Hanover County
    • Kings Grant
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kings Grant have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings Grant
      • Kings Grant is located in New Hanover County
    • Smith Creek
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Smith Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smith Creek
      • Smith Creek is located in New Hanover County
  • Brunswick County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sheephead Rock, with the one closest to Sheephead Rock listed first.
    • Bald Head Island
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bald Head Island have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bald Head Island
      • Bald Head Island is located in Brunswick County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 186 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bald Head Island <2>
    • Southport
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Caswell Beach
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Caswell Beach have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caswell Beach
      • Caswell Beach is located in Brunswick County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 438 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Caswell Beach <2>
    • Boiling Spring Lakes
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Boiling Spring Lakes have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boiling Spring Lakes
      • Boiling Spring Lakes is located in Brunswick County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,430 people
    • Long Beach
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Long Beach have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Beach
      • Long Beach is located in Brunswick County
    • Saint James
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saint James have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint James
      • Saint James is located in Brunswick County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,607 people
    • Yaupon Beach
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Yaupon Beach have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yaupon Beach
      • Yaupon Beach is located in Brunswick County
    • Oak Island
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oak Island have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Island
      • Oak Island is located in Brunswick County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,735 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oak Island <2>
    • Old Town
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Old Town have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Town
      • Old Town is located in Brunswick County
    • Bolivia
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bolivia have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bolivia
      • Bolivia is located in Brunswick County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 154 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bolivia <2>
    • Leland
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Leland have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leland
      • Leland is located in Brunswick County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 25,647 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Leland <2>
    • Winnabow
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Winnabow have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winnabow
      • Winnabow is located in Brunswick County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Winnabow <2>
    • Town Creek
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Town Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Town Creek
      • Town Creek is located in Brunswick County
  • Pender County
    • Brown Town
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brown Town have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brown Town
      • Brown Town is located in Pender County

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

Cemeteries Near Sheephead Rock ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Sheephead Rock.

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.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Sheephead Rock, with the one closest to Sheephead Rock listed first.

  • Federal Point Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Federal Point Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Federal Point Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bethel Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bethel Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bethel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Sacred Heart Catholic Church Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • John N. Smith Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Drew Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Drew Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Drew Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Oak Grove Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oak Grove Cemetery
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Oak Grove Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Oak Grove Cemetery is located in Wilmington.
    • The Oak Grove Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Hanks Chapel Cemetery
    • Oak Hill Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2485215 <3>
  • Freeman Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Freeman Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Freeman Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Farrow Family Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Farrow Family Cemetery
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Farrow Family Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Farrow Family Cemetery is located in Wilmington.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2290437 <3>
  • Mercer Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mercer Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mercer Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Forest Lawn Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Forest Lawn Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Forest Lawn Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Greenlawn Memorial Park
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Greenlawn Memorial Park
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Greenlawn Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Masonboro Baptist Church Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (43 more) ...
    • Randolph Cemetery
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Randolph Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Randolph Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Zion Hill Baptist Church Cemetery
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Delgado Cemetery
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)

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.<5>

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

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

  • Southport
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Winnabow
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Winnabow have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winnabow
    • Winnabow is located in Brunswick County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Winnabow <2>
  • Town Creek
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Town Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Town Creek
    • Town Creek is located in Brunswick County
  • Wilmington
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
  • Wrightsville
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wrightsville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wrightsville
    • Wrightsville is located in New Hanover County
  • Supply
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Supply have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Supply
    • Supply is located in Brunswick County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Supply <2>
  • Navassa
    (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Navassa have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Navassa
    • Navassa is located in Brunswick County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,534 people
  • Wrightsboro
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wrightsboro have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wrightsboro
    • Wrightsboro is located in New Hanover County
  • Malmo
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Malmo. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Malmo
    • Malmo is located in Brunswick County
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Phoenix
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Phoenix. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Phoenix
      • Phoenix is located in Brunswick County
    • Kirkland
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kirkland have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kirkland
      • Kirkland is located in New Hanover County
    • Shallotte
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Scotts Hill
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Scotts Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scotts Hill
      • Scotts Hill is located in Pender County
    • Castle Hayne
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Castle Hayne have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Castle Hayne
      • Castle Hayne is located in New Hanover County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Castle Hayne <2>
    • Northwest
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Northwest
      • Northwest is located in Brunswick County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 806 people

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

Newspapers Published in Sheephead Rock ...

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 92 newspapers that have been published in the area around Sheephead Rock.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Sheephead Rock, there are papers which were published within 26 miles [41.8 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Sheephead Rock.

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 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 Sheephead Rock:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Sheephead Rock. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for New Hanover County: www.nhcgov.com/

The official website for State of North Carolina: https://www.nc.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<5>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 Sheephead Rock, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>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 from Point A (ie- Sheephead Rock) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Sheephead Rock. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.9402, Longitude: -77.9136       In this case, the coordinates for Sheephead Rock have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025