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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 Stanley (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 Stanley. 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 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.

Stanley is located in Gaston 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 Gaston County: Cleveland, Lincoln, Mecklenburg & York (SC).

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

  • Gaston County     (The home county of Stanley)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Stanley, with the one closest to Stanley listed first.
    • Alexis
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Spencer Mountain
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Spencer Mountain is located in Gaston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spencer Mountain
      • Estimated population in 2016: 36 people
    • Woodland ‑ Historic
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Woodland is located in Gaston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland
    • Lucia
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Ranlo
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Smyre
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Mount Holly
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Dallas
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • High Shoals
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • High Shoals is located in Gaston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Shoals
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 757 people
    • Lowell
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • McAdenville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Belmont
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Burke County
  • Cabarrus County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Stanley, with the one closest to Stanley listed first.
    • Cannon Crossroads
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Tulin ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Tulin is located in Cabarrus County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tulin
    • Harrisburg
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Poplar Tent
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Poplar Tent is located in Cabarrus County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poplar Tent
    • Fisher Town
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Fisher Town is located in Cabarrus County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fisher Town
    • Concord
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
  • Catawba County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Stanley, with the one closest to Stanley listed first.
    • Killian Crossroads
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Killian Crossroads is located in Catawba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Killian Crossroads
    • Olivers Crossroads
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Olivers Crossroads is located in Catawba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olivers Crossroads
    • Providence Mill
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Providence Mill is located in Catawba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Providence Mill
    • Maiden
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Drums Crossroads
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Drums Crossroads is located in Catawba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drums Crossroads
    • Terrell
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Lake Norman of Catawba
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Duan
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Duan is located in Catawba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duan
    • Bandy
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Sherrills Ford
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Murrays Hill
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Murrays Hill is located in Catawba County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Murrays Hill
    • Plateau
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Cleveland County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Stanley, with the one closest to Stanley listed first.
    • Kings Mountain
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Waco
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • White Plains
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • White Plains is located in Cleveland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Plains
    • Stony Point
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Stony Point is located in Cleveland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stony Point
    • Elbethel ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Elbethel is located in Cleveland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elbethel
    • Stubbs
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Wilson ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Wilson is located in Cleveland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilson
    • Beam Mill
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Durbro ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Durbro is located in Cleveland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Durbro
    • Elizabeth City
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Elizabeth City is located in Cleveland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elizabeth City
    • Light Oak
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Light Oak is located in Cleveland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Light Oak
    • Fallston
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
  • Iredell County
  • Lincoln County
  • Mecklenburg County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Stanley, with the one closest to Stanley listed first.
    • Paw Creek
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Paw Creek is located in Mecklenburg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paw Creek
    • Chateau Woods
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Huntersville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Spring Lake
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Spring Lake is located in Mecklenburg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Lake
    • River View ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • River View is located in Mecklenburg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River View
    • Dixie
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Dixie is located in Mecklenburg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dixie
    • Cornelius
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Pinecrest
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Croft
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Dalton Village
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Dalton Village is located in Mecklenburg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dalton Village
    • Biddleville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Biddleville is located in Mecklenburg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Biddleville
    • Greenville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Greenville is located in Mecklenburg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenville
  • Rowan County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Stanley, with the one closest to Stanley listed first.
    • Enochville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Kannapolis
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Harts ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Harts is located in Rowan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harts
    • Five Points
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Five Points is located in Rowan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Points
    • Corriher Heights
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Corriher Heights is located in Rowan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corriher Heights
    • Mount Ulla
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • North Kannapolis
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • North Kannapolis is located in Rowan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Kannapolis
    • Five Forks
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Five Forks is located in Rowan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Forks
    • Landis
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Union County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Stanley, with the one closest to Stanley listed first.
    • Marvin
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Marvin is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marvin
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,920 people
    • Indian Trail
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Stallings
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
    • White Oak
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • White Oak is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Oak
  • Cherokee County (SC)
  • Lancaster County (SC)
  • York County (SC)

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

Cemeteries Near Stanley ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Stanley.

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

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

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

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

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

Newspapers Published in Stanley ...

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 38 newspapers that have been published in the area around Stanley.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Stanley, there are papers which were published within 12 miles [19.3 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Stanley.

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 Stanley:

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