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 Watts Crossroads (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 Watts Crossroads. 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 Watts Crossroads ...
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 Watts Crossroads: Watts Xrds.
- While the name of this community is Watts Crossroads, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Watts Crossroads may originally have been Watt's Crossroads.
Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Watts Crossroads might be written as Watt Crossroads.
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Watts Crossroads. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Watts Crossroads.
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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.
Watts Crossroads is located in Cabarrus 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 Cabarrus County: Iredell, Mecklenburg, Rowan, Stanly & Union.
Below are the counties that are near Watts Crossroads. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Watts Crossroads:
- Cabarrus County (The home county of Watts Crossroads)
- The following are listed by their distance from Watts Crossroads, with the one closest to Watts Crossroads listed first.
- Rimer
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Rimer is located in Cabarrus County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rimer
- Mount Pleasant
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Concord
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Georgeville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Georgeville is located in Cabarrus County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Georgeville
- Bosts Mill ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Bosts Mill is located in Cabarrus County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bosts Mill
- Fisher Town
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Fisher Town is located in Cabarrus County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fisher Town
- Poplar Tent
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Poplar Tent is located in Cabarrus County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poplar Tent
- Tulin ‑ Historic
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Tulin is located in Cabarrus County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tulin
- Midland
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Harrisburg
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Cannon Crossroads
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Cannon Crossroads is located in Cabarrus County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cannon Crossroads
- Cannon Crossroads has also been known as:
- Cannon Cross Roads
- Cannon's Crossroads
- Wallace Cross Roads
- Wallace Crossroads
- Anson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Watts Crossroads, with the one closest to Watts Crossroads listed first.
- Burnsville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Burnsville is located in Anson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burnsville
- Roper ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Roper is located in Anson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roper
- Catawba County
- The following are listed by their distance from Watts Crossroads, with the one closest to Watts Crossroads listed first.
- Lake Norman of Catawba
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Terrell
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Davidson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Watts Crossroads, with the one closest to Watts Crossroads listed first.
- Southmont
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Southmont is located in Davidson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Southmont
- Lakeview
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Lakeview is located in Davidson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview
- Linwood
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Cotton Grove
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Cotton Grove is located in Davidson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cotton Grove
- Handy
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Handy is located in Davidson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Handy
- Silver Hill
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Silver Hill is located in Davidson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Hill
- Complex
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Complex is located in Davidson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Complex
- Cedar Grove
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Cedar Grove is located in Davidson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Grove
- Denton
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Tyro
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Tyro is located in Davidson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tyro
- Sapona
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Sapona is located in Davidson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sapona
- Lexington
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Davie County
- The following are listed by their distance from Watts Crossroads, with the one closest to Watts Crossroads listed first.
- Clinton
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Clinton is located in Davie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clinton
- Cooleemee
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Ephesus
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Ephesus is located in Davie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ephesus
- Mocksville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Iredell County
- The following are listed by their distance from Watts Crossroads, with the one closest to Watts Crossroads listed first.
- Mazeppa
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Mazeppa is located in Iredell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mazeppa
- Mooresville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Mount Mourne
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Mount Mourne is located in Iredell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Mourne
- Shepherds
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Shepherds is located in Iredell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shepherds
- Doolie
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Doolie is located in Iredell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doolie
- Mayhew
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Mayhew is located in Iredell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayhew
- Ostwalt
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Ostwalt is located in Iredell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ostwalt
- Troutman
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Barium Springs
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Barium Springs is located in Iredell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barium Springs
- Belmont
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Belmont is located in Iredell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belmont
- Cool Springs
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Cool Springs is located in Iredell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cool Springs
- Lincoln County
- Westport
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Westport is located in Lincoln County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westport
- Mecklenburg County
- The following are listed by their distance from Watts Crossroads, with the one closest to Watts Crossroads listed first.
- Allen
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Allen is located in Mecklenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allen
- Newell
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Newell is located in Mecklenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newell
- Davidson
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Croft
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Croft is located in Mecklenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Croft
- Mint Hill
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Cornelius
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Huntersville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Spring Lake
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Spring Lake is located in Mecklenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Lake
- Belmont
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Belmont is located in Mecklenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belmont
- Chantilly
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Chantilly is located in Mecklenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chantilly
- Greenville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Greenville is located in Mecklenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenville
- Charlotte
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Montgomery County
- The following are listed by their distance from Watts Crossroads, with the one closest to Watts Crossroads listed first.
- Blaine
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Blaine is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blaine
- Eldorado
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Eldorado is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eldorado
- Ophir
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Ophir is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ophir
- Abner
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Abner is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abner
- Shiloh ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Shiloh is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shiloh
- Mount Gilead
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Mount Gilead is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Gilead
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,141 people
- Wadeville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Wadeville is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wadeville
- Randolph County
- Eleazer
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Eleazer is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eleazer
- Rowan County
- The following are listed by their distance from Watts Crossroads, with the one closest to Watts Crossroads listed first.
- Shupings Mill
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Shupings Mill is located in Rowan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shupings Mill
- Garfield ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Garfield is located in Rowan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garfield
- Rockwell
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Crescent
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Crescent is located in Rowan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crescent
- Gold Hill
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Faith
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Correll Park
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Correll Park is located in Rowan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Correll Park
- Granite Quarry
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- China Grove
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Harris Chapel
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Harris Chapel is located in Rowan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harris Chapel
- Kannapolis
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- North Kannapolis
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- North Kannapolis is located in Rowan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Kannapolis
- Stanly County
- The following are listed by their distance from Watts Crossroads, with the one closest to Watts Crossroads listed first.
- Misenheimer
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Misenheimer is located in Stanly County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Misenheimer
- Population from the 2020 Census: 742 people
- Millingport
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Millingport is located in Stanly County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millingport
- Richfield
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Plyer
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Plyer is located in Stanly County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plyer
- Bloomington
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Bloomington is located in Stanly County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bloomington
- Lambert
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Lambert is located in Stanly County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lambert
- New London
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Locust
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Red Cross
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Red Cross is located in Stanly County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Cross
- Population from the 2020 Census: 769 people
- Stanfield
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Albemarle
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Cedar Village
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Cedar Village is located in Stanly County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Village
- Union County
- The following are listed by their distance from Watts Crossroads, with the one closest to Watts Crossroads listed first.
- Fairview
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Fairview is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairview
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,984 people
- Hemby Bridge
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Hemby Bridge is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hemby Bridge
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,846 people
- Unionville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Unionville is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unionville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 7,344 people
- Stallings
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Fairfield
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Fairfield is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairfield
- Lake Park
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Lake Park is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Park
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,999 people
- Indian Trail
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Watts Crossroads, see our County-by-County Page for Watts Crossroads.
Cemeteries Near Watts Crossroads ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Watts Crossroads.
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 Watts Crossroads - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Watts Crossroads covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Watts Crossroads, with the one closest to Watts Crossroads listed first.
- St. James Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- St. Peters Lutheran Church Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Gold Hill Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Oakwood Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- St. Peters Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Christiana Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Carolina Memorial Park
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Rutherford Memorial Park
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- China Grove Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Green Lawn Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Lawn Cemetery
- The Green Lawn Cemetery has also been known as:
- Greenlawn Cemetery
- West Lawn Memorial Park
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Savitz Church Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Continue List (124 more) ...
- Union Grove Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Shiloh Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Antioch Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
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 Watts Crossroads in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Watts Crossroads.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Watts Crossroads, with the one closest to Watts Crossroads listed first.
- Rimer
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Rimer is located in Cabarrus County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rimer
- Mount Pleasant
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Drys Mill ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Drys Mill is located in Cabarrus County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drys Mill
- Garfield ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Garfield is located in Rowan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garfield
- Rockwell
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Gold Hill
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Concord
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Finger
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Finger is located in Stanly County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Finger
- Faith
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Pool ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Pool is located in Rowan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pool
- Granite Quarry
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- China Grove
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Georgeville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Georgeville is located in Cabarrus County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Georgeville
- Bosts Mill ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Bosts Mill is located in Cabarrus County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bosts Mill
- Plyer
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Plyer is located in Stanly County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plyer
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Watts Crossroads. See our List of 1890's Communities around Watts Crossroads.
Newspapers Published in Watts Crossroads ...
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 64 newspapers that have been published in the area around Watts Crossroads.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Watts Crossroads, there are papers which were published within 14 miles [22.5 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Watts Crossroads.
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 Watts Crossroads:
- Websites specific to North Carolina
- Pages specific to Cabarrus County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Anson County
- Catawba County
- Davidson County
- Davie County
- Iredell County
- Lincoln County
- Mecklenburg County
- Montgomery County
- Randolph County
- Rowan County
- Stanly County
- Union 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> | 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- Watts Crossroads) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <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 Watts Crossroads, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |