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 Spring Valley (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 Spring Valley. 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 Spring Valley ...
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 Spring Valley: Spring Vly. (or less commonly used: Spring Vally. or Spring Vlly.)
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Spring Valley. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Spring Valley.
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 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.
Spring Valley is located in Orange 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 Orange County: Alamance, Caswell, Chatham, Durham & Person.
Below are the counties that are near Spring Valley. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Spring Valley:
- Orange County (The home county of Spring Valley)
- The following are listed by their distance from Spring Valley, with the one closest to Spring Valley listed first.
- Carrboro
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Mount Bolus
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Mount Bolus is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Bolus
- Calvander
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Calvander is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calvander
- Chapel Hill
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Davie Circle
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Davie Circle is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Davie Circle
- Tenney Circle
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Tenney Circle is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tenney Circle
- Ashley Forest
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Ashley Forest is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashley Forest
- Lake Ellen
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Lake Ellen is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Ellen
- Laurel Springs
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Laurel Springs is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurel Springs
- Rangewood
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Rangewood is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rangewood
- Carolwoods
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Carolwoods is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carolwoods
- Cedar Hill
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Cedar Hill is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Hill
- Alamance County
- The following are listed by their distance from Spring Valley, with the one closest to Spring Valley listed first.
- Mandale
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Mandale is located in Alamance County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mandale
- Eli Whitney
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Eli Whitney is located in Alamance County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eli Whitney
- Saxapahaw
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Sutphin
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Sutphin is located in Alamance County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sutphin
- Brook Hollow
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Brook Hollow is located in Alamance County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brook Hollow
- Buena Vista Estates
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Buena Vista Estates is located in Alamance County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buena Vista Estates
- Hawfields
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Hawfields is located in Alamance County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hawfields
- Mebane
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Melville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Melville is located in Alamance County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melville
- Florence Town
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Florence Town is located in Alamance County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florence Town
- Stagecoach Trail
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Stagecoach Trail is located in Alamance County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stagecoach Trail
- Swepsonville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Swepsonville is located in Alamance County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swepsonville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,386 people
- Caswell County
- The following are listed by their distance from Spring Valley, with the one closest to Spring Valley listed first.
- Prospect Hill
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Prospect Hill is located in Caswell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prospect Hill
- Ridgeville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Ridgeville is located in Caswell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgeville
- Anderson
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Anderson is located in Caswell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anderson
- Jericho
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Jericho is located in Caswell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jericho
- Stony Creek
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Stony Creek is located in Caswell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stony Creek
- Chatham County
- The following are listed by their distance from Spring Valley, with the one closest to Spring Valley listed first.
- Fearrington Village
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Fearrington Village is located in Chatham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fearrington Village
- Bynum
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Bynum is located in Chatham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bynum
- Pittsboro
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Cary
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Moncure
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Haywood
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Haywood is located in Chatham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haywood
- Brickhaven
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Brickhaven is located in Chatham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brickhaven
- Corinth
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Corinth is located in Chatham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corinth
- Farmville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Siler City
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Bonlee
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Bonlee is located in Chatham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonlee
- Goldston
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Durham County
- The following are listed by their distance from Spring Valley, with the one closest to Spring Valley listed first.
- Parkwood
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Parkwood is located in Durham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkwood
- The American Village
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- The American Village is located in Durham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The American Village
- Durham
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Brassfield
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Brassfield is located in Durham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brassfield
- Nelson
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Nelson is located in Durham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nelson
- Morrisville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Gorman
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Gorman is located in Durham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gorman
- Bahama
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Rougemont
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Hampton
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Hampton is located in Durham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hampton
- Franklin County
- Wake Forest
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Granville County
- The following are listed by their distance from Spring Valley, with the one closest to Spring Valley listed first.
- Butner
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Lyons
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Lyons is located in Granville County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyons
- Creedmoor
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Stem
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Stem is located in Granville County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stem
- Population from the 2020 Census: 474 people
- Hester
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Hester is located in Granville County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hester
- Mount Energy
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Mount Energy is located in Granville County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Energy
- Guilford County
- The following are listed by their distance from Spring Valley, with the one closest to Spring Valley listed first.
- Gibsonville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Whitsett
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Harnett County
- The following are listed by their distance from Spring Valley, with the one closest to Spring Valley listed first.
- Duncan
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Duncan is located in Harnett County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duncan
- Cokesbury
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Cokesbury is located in Harnett County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cokesbury
- Rawls
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Rawls is located in Harnett County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rawls
- Lee County
- The following are listed by their distance from Spring Valley, with the one closest to Spring Valley listed first.
- Osgood
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Osgood is located in Lee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osgood
- Cumnock
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Cumnock is located in Lee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cumnock
- Colon
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Colon is located in Lee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colon
- Green Valley Estates
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Glenwood Village
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Glenwood Village is located in Lee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenwood Village
- Wildwood
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Wildwood is located in Lee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wildwood
- San-Lee Park
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- San-Lee Park is located in Lee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for San-Lee Park
- Person County
- The following are listed by their distance from Spring Valley, with the one closest to Spring Valley listed first.
- Hurdle Mills
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Cates
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Cates is located in Person County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cates
- Mount Tirzah
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Mount Tirzah is located in Person County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Tirzah
- Timberlake
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Allens Level
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Allens Level is located in Person County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allens Level
- Moriah
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Moriah is located in Person County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moriah
- Roseville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Roseville is located in Person County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roseville
- Whitt Town
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Whitt Town is located in Person County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitt Town
- Randolph County
- The following are listed by their distance from Spring Valley, with the one closest to Spring Valley listed first.
- Liberty
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Staley
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Wake County
- The following are listed by their distance from Spring Valley, with the one closest to Spring Valley listed first.
- Hazelwood
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Hazelwood is located in Wake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hazelwood
- Apex
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Dutchess Village
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Dutchess Village is located in Wake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dutchess Village
- Indian Trail
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Indian Trail is located in Wake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Trail
- New Hill
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Pickwick Village
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Pickwick Village is located in Wake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pickwick Village
- Meredith Townes
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Meredith Townes is located in Wake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meredith Townes
- Method
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Method is located in Wake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Method
- Hollemans Crossroads
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Hollemans Crossroads is located in Wake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollemans Crossroads
- Former names for Hollemans Crossroads:
- Collins
- Enno
- Holly Springs
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Glenwood Village
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Glenwood Village is located in Wake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenwood Village
- Woodbury Village
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Woodbury Village is located in Wake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodbury Village
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Spring Valley, see our County-by-County Page for Spring Valley.
Cemeteries Near Spring Valley ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Spring Valley.
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 Spring Valley - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Spring Valley covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Spring Valley, with the one closest to Spring Valley listed first.
- McCauley Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Tilley Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Partin Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Cheek Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Sparrows Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Chapel Hill Memorial Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Restland Memorial Gardens
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Manns Chapel Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Riggsbee Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Cross Roads Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Beechwood Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Maplewood Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Continue List (118 more) ...
- Mt. Olive Baptist Church Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Rosewood Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Haw River Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
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>
While we didn't find Spring Valley in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Spring Valley.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Spring Valley, with the one closest to Spring Valley listed first.
- Chapel Hill
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Blackwood
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Blackwood is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackwood
- Teer
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Teer is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Teer
- Oaks
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Oaks is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oaks
- Bynum
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Bynum is located in Chatham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bynum
- Hillsborough
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Efland
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Durham
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Nelson
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Nelson is located in Durham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nelson
- Brassfield
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Brassfield is located in Durham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brassfield
- Saxapahaw
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Sutphin
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Sutphin is located in Alamance County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sutphin
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Pittsboro
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Morrisville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Mebane
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Spring Valley. See our List of 1890's Communities around Spring Valley.
Newspapers Published in Spring Valley ...
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 44 newspapers that have been published in the area around Spring Valley.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Spring Valley, there are papers which were published within 11 miles [17.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Spring Valley.
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 Spring Valley:
- Websites specific to North Carolina
- Pages specific to Orange County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Alamance County
- Caswell County
- Chatham County
- Durham County
- Franklin County
- Granville County
- Guilford County
- Harnett County
- Lee County
- Person County
- Randolph County
- Wake 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> | 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 Spring Valley, 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Spring Valley) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |