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 Watkins Village (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 Watkins Village. 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 Watkins Village ...
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.
- A typical abbreviation for Watkins Village: Watkins Vlg. (in Canada, 'Vlge.' is the more common abbreviation.)
- While the name of this community is Watkins Village, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Watkins Village may originally have been Watkin's Village.
Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Watkins Village might be written as Watkin Village.
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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors 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.
Watkins Village is located in Onslow 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 Onslow County: Carteret, Duplin, Jones & Pender.
Below are the counties that are near Watkins Village. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Watkins Village:
- Onslow County (The home county of Watkins Village)
- The following are listed by their distance from Watkins Village, with the one closest to Watkins Village listed first.
- Midway Park
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Piney Green
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Piney Green is located in Onslow County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Piney Green
- Aragona Village
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Aragona Village is located in Onslow County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aragona Village
- Acorn Forest
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Acorn Forest is located in Onslow County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acorn Forest
- Jacksonville
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Hubert
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Foxhorn Village
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Foxhorn Village is located in Onslow County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foxhorn Village
- Pumpkin Center
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Pumpkin Center is located in Onslow County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pumpkin Center
- Cardinal Village
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Cardinal Village is located in Onslow County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cardinal Village
- Shamrock Village
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Shamrock Village is located in Onslow County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shamrock Village
- Bear Creek
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Half Moon
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Half Moon is located in Onslow County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Half Moon
- Peru
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Peru is located in Onslow County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peru
- Carteret County
- The following are listed by their distance from Watkins Village, with the one closest to Watkins Village listed first.
- Stella
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Kuhns
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Kuhns is located in Carteret County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kuhns
- Cedar Point
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Peletier
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Peletier is located in Carteret County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peletier
- Population from the 2020 Census: 721 people
- Cape Carteret
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Bogue
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Bogue is located in Carteret County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bogue
- Population from the 2020 Census: 706 people
- Emerald Isle
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Broad Creek
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Broad Creek is located in Carteret County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Broad Creek
- Holly Springs
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Holly Springs is located in Carteret County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly Springs
- Indian Beach
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Salter Path
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Conner Village
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Conner Village is located in Carteret County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conner Village
- Newport
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Craven County
- The following are listed by their distance from Watkins Village, with the one closest to Watkins Village listed first.
- Havelock
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Havelock is located in Craven County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Havelock
- Population from the 2020 Census: 19,593 people
- River Bend
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- River Bend is located in Craven County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River Bend
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,006 people
- Slocum Village
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Slocum Village is located in Craven County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slocum Village
- Brices Creek
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Brices Creek is located in Craven County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brices Creek
- Manteo
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Manteo is located in Craven County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manteo
- Hancock Village
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Hancock Village is located in Craven County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hancock Village
- Neuse Forest
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Neuse Forest is located in Craven County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Neuse Forest
- Riverdale
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Riverdale is located in Craven County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverdale
- Snug Harbor
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Snug Harbor is located in Craven County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Snug Harbor
- Trent Woods
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Trent Woods is located in Craven County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trent Woods
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,991 people
- Cherry Point ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Cherry Point is located in Craven County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Point
- Cherry Point has also been known as:
- Cherry Point Landing
- Cherrypoint Landing
- Cherrypoint
- Duplin County
- The following are listed by their distance from Watkins Village, with the one closest to Watkins Village listed first.
- Fountain
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Fountain is located in Duplin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fountain
- Cypress Creek
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Cypress Creek is located in Duplin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cypress Creek
- Cedar Fork
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Cedar Fork is located in Duplin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Fork
- Lyman
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Lyman is located in Duplin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyman
- Pin Hook
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Pin Hook is located in Duplin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pin Hook
- Hadley
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Hadley is located in Duplin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hadley
- Quinns Store
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Quinns Store is located in Duplin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quinns Store
- Maready
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Maready is located in Duplin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maready
- Sholars Crossroads
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Sholars Crossroads is located in Duplin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sholars Crossroads
- Catherine Square
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Catherine Square is located in Duplin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Catherine Square
- Jacksons Crossroads
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Jacksons Crossroads is located in Duplin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jacksons Crossroads
- Potters Hill
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Potters Hill is located in Duplin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Potters Hill
- Chinquapin
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Chinquapin is located in Duplin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chinquapin
- Jones County
- The following are listed by their distance from Watkins Village, with the one closest to Watkins Village listed first.
- Maysville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Chadwick
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Chadwick is located in Jones County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chadwick
- Ravenswood
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Ravenswood is located in Jones County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ravenswood
- Olivers
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Olivers is located in Jones County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olivers
- Olivers Crossroads
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Olivers Crossroads is located in Jones County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olivers Crossroads
- Pollocksville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Comfort
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Comfort is located in Jones County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Comfort
- Oak Grove
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Oak Grove is located in Jones County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
- Trenton
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Jones Corner
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Jones Corner is located in Jones County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jones Corner
- Tenmile Fork
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Tenmile Fork is located in Jones County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tenmile Fork
- Taylors Corner
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Taylors Corner is located in Jones County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taylors Corner
- Combs Fork
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Combs Fork is located in Jones County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Combs Fork
- Pender County
- The following are listed by their distance from Watkins Village, with the one closest to Watkins Village listed first.
- Maple Hill
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Maple Hill is located in Pender County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Hill
- Kings Landing
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Kings Landing is located in Pender County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings Landing
- Topsail Beach
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Topsail
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Topsail is located in Pender County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Topsail
- Hampstead
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Watkins Village, see our County-by-County Page for Watkins Village.
Cemeteries Near Watkins Village ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Watkins Village.
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 Watkins Village - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Watkins Village covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Watkins Village, with the one closest to Watkins Village listed first.
- Jacksonville City Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Montford Point Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montford Point Cemetery
- The Montford Point Cemetery has also been known as:
- Montford Point Federal Cemetery
- Montford Point National Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2169801 <3>
- Coastal Carolina State Veterans Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Oak Grove UMC Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Onslow Memorial Park
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Piney Grove Baptist Church Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Maides Family Cemetery
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Koonce Cemetery
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Sylvester Cemetery
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Adron Hill Whaley Cemetery
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- John E. Steed Cemetery
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Abner Ervin Cemetery
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Continue List (10 more) ...
- Albert W. Lanier Cemetery
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Benjamin Bryan Cemetery
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benjamin Bryan Cemetery
- The Benjamin Bryan Cemetery has also been known as:
- Bryan Cemetery
- Frank Murphy Sr. Cemetery
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frank Murphy Sr. Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Frank Murphy Sr. Cemetery is located outside and to the northwest of Pollocksville.
- The Frank Murphy Sr. Cemetery has also been known as:
- Frank Murphy Cemetery
- Murphy Family Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2259668 <3>
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 Watkins Village in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Watkins Village.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Watkins Village, with the one closest to Watkins Village listed first.
- Jacksonville
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Hubert
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Marines
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Marines is located in Onslow County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marines
- Duck Creek
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Duck Creek is located in Onslow County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duck Creek
- Tar Landing
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Tar Landing is located in Onslow County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tar Landing
- Sneads Ferry
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Stella
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Swansboro
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Cyrus
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Cyrus is located in Onslow County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cyrus
- Gum Branch
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Gum Branch is located in Onslow County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gum Branch
- Catherine Lake
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Catherine Lake is located in Onslow County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Catherine Lake
- Cedar Point
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Maysville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Angola
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Angola is located in Onslow County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Angola
- Richlands
(17 miles [27.4 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 Watkins Village. See our List of 1890's Communities around Watkins Village.
Newspapers Published in Watkins Village ...
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 17 newspapers that have been published in the area around Watkins Village.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Watkins Village, there are papers which were published within 24 miles [38.6 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Watkins Village.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we begin with 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 Watkins Village:
- Websites specific to North Carolina
- Pages specific to Onslow County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Carteret County
- Craven County
- Duplin County
- Jones County
- Pender County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for North Carolina
Footnotes ...
| <1> | It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties). |
| <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> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Watkins Village) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <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 Watkins Village, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |