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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 Shepherds (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 Shepherds. 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.

Shepherds is located in Iredell 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 Iredell County: Alexander, Cabarrus, Catawba, Davie, Lincoln, Mecklenburg, Rowan & Yadkin.

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

  • Iredell County     (The home county of Shepherds)
  • Alexander County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shepherds, with the one closest to Shepherds listed first.
    • Stony Point
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Fairview Park
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Fairview Park is located in Alexander County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairview Park
    • Hiddenite
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Midway
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Midway is located in Alexander County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midway
    • Taylorsville Beach
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Taylorsville Beach is located in Alexander County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taylorsville Beach
    • Isenhour Park
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Isenhour Park is located in Alexander County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Isenhour Park
    • Millersville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Millersville is located in Alexander County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millersville
    • Rocky Springs
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Rocky Springs is located in Alexander County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Springs
    • Taylorsville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Liledoun
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Liledoun is located in Alexander County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liledoun
    • Bethlehem
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Bethlehem is located in Alexander County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bethlehem
    • Vashti
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Cabarrus County
  • Catawba County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shepherds, with the one closest to Shepherds listed first.
    • Lake Norman of Catawba
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Monbo
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Monbo is located in Catawba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monbo
    • Sherrills Ford
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Terrell
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Long Island
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Long Island is located in Catawba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Island
    • Bandy
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Catawba
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Killian Crossroads
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Killian Crossroads is located in Catawba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Killian Crossroads
    • Drums Crossroads
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Drums Crossroads is located in Catawba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drums Crossroads
    • Murrays Hill
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Murrays Hill is located in Catawba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Murrays Hill
    • Olivers Crossroads
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Olivers Crossroads is located in Catawba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olivers Crossroads
    • Sunrise Beach
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Sunrise Beach is located in Catawba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunrise Beach
  • Davidson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shepherds, with the one closest to Shepherds listed first.
    • Lakeview
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Lakeview is located in Davidson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview
    • Tyro
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Linwood
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
  • Davie County
  • Gaston County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shepherds, with the one closest to Shepherds listed first.
    • Lucia
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Alexis
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Mount Holly
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Stanley
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Woodland ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Woodland is located in Gaston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland
    • High Shoals
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • High Shoals is located in Gaston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Shoals
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 757 people
    • Spencer Mountain
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Spencer Mountain is located in Gaston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spencer Mountain
      • Estimated population in 2016: 36 people
    • Brown Town
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Brown Town is located in Gaston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brown Town
    • Belmont
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Dallas
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Lowell
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • McAdenville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Lincoln County
  • Mecklenburg County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shepherds, with the one closest to Shepherds listed first.
    • Davidson
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • River View ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • River View is located in Mecklenburg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River View
    • Cornelius
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Huntersville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Croft
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Spring Lake
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Spring Lake is located in Mecklenburg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Lake
    • Chateau Woods
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Newell
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Newell is located in Mecklenburg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newell
    • Paw Creek
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Paw Creek is located in Mecklenburg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paw Creek
    • Greenville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Greenville is located in Mecklenburg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenville
    • Belmont
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Belmont is located in Mecklenburg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belmont
    • Biddleville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Biddleville is located in Mecklenburg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Biddleville
  • Rowan County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shepherds, with the one closest to Shepherds listed first.
    • Mount Ulla
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Bear Poplar
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Bear Poplar is located in Rowan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Poplar
    • Harts ‑ Historic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Harts is located in Rowan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harts
    • Mill Bridge
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Cleveland
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Five Points
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Five Points is located in Rowan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Points
    • Enochville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Five Forks
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Five Forks is located in Rowan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Forks
    • Barber
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Corriher Heights
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Corriher Heights is located in Rowan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corriher Heights
    • Watson Village
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Watson Village is located in Rowan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Watson Village
    • Landis
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Yadkin County

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

Cemeteries Near Shepherds ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Shepherds.

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

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

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

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Shepherds had railroad service and no post office.

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

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

Newspapers Published in Shepherds ...

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 Shepherds.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Shepherds, there are papers which were published within 15 miles [24.1 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Shepherds.

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 Shepherds:

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 Shepherds, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Shepherds) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.