RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of North Carolina >> Dare County >> Southern Shores >> Genealogy HelperIndex...

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 Southern Shores (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 Southern Shores. 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 Southern Shores ...

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.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Southern Shores: Southern Shrs.

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

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 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.

Southern Shores is located in Dare 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 Dare County: Hyde & Tyrrell.

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

  • Dare County     (The home county of Southern Shores)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Southern Shores, with the one closest to Southern Shores listed first.
    • George Town Sands
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • George Town Sands is located in Dare County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for George Town Sands
    • Poteskeet Village
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Poteskeet Village is located in Dare County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poteskeet Village
    • Duck
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Sandy Ridge
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Sandy Ridge is located in Dare County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Ridge
    • Kitty Hawk
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Kill Devil Hills
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Fort Raleigh City
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Fort Raleigh City is located in Dare County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Raleigh City
    • Nags Head
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Manteo
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Manns Harbor
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Whalebone
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Whalebone is located in Dare County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whalebone
    • Wanchese
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Buffalo City
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Buffalo City is located in Dare County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo City
  • Camden County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Southern Shores, with the one closest to Southern Shores listed first.
    • Alder Branch
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Alder Branch is located in Camden County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alder Branch
    • Riddle
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Riddle is located in Camden County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riddle
    • Elizabeth City Beach
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Elizabeth City Beach is located in Camden County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elizabeth City Beach
    • Shiloh
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Shiloh is located in Camden County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shiloh
    • Belcross
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Belcross is located in Camden County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belcross
    • Camden
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Currituck County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Southern Shores, with the one closest to Southern Shores listed first.
    • Point Harbor
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Harbinger
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Powells Point
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Jarvisburg
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Grandy
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Bertha
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Bertha is located in Currituck County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bertha
    • Poplar Branch
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Aydlett
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Aydlett is located in Currituck County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aydlett
    • Corolla
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Coinjock
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Waterlily
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Waterlily is located in Currituck County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterlily
    • Barco
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Maple
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Maple is located in Currituck County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple
  • Pasquotank County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Southern Shores, with the one closest to Southern Shores listed first.
    • Weeksville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Weeksville is located in Pasquotank County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weeksville
    • Elizabeth City
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Nixonton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Nixonton is located in Pasquotank County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nixonton
  • Tyrrell County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Southern Shores, with the one closest to Southern Shores listed first.
    • Fort Landing
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Fort Landing is located in Tyrrell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Landing
    • Alligator
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Alligator is located in Tyrrell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alligator

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

Cemeteries Near Southern Shores ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Southern Shores.

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 Southern Shores - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

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

  • Harbinger
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Colington
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Colington is located in Dare County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colington
  • Jarvisburg
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Mashoes
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Mashoes is located in Dare County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mashoes
  • Nags Head
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Poplar Branch
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Manteo
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
  • Manns Harbor
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
  • Old Trap
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Old Trap is located in Camden County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Trap
  • Wanchese
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
  • Coinjock
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
  • East Lake
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • East Lake is located in Dare County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Lake
  • Continue List   (12 more) ...
    • Fort Landing
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Fort Landing is located in Tyrrell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Landing
    • Buffalo City
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Buffalo City is located in Dare County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo City
    • Shiloh
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Shiloh is located in Camden County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shiloh

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

Newspapers Published in Southern Shores ...

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 31 newspapers that have been published in the area around Southern Shores.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Southern Shores, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Southern Shores.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to start 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 Southern Shores:

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 'straight-line' (or 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- Southern Shores) 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 Southern Shores, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.