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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 Whiteville (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 Whiteville. 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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals 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.

Whiteville is located in Columbus County and is the County Seat.

To see how the shape of North Carolina's counties have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Columbus County: Bladen, Brunswick, Pender, Robeson & Horry (SC).

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

  • Columbus County     (The home county of Whiteville)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Whiteville, with the one closest to Whiteville listed first.
    • Brunswick
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Redbug
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Hallsboro
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Mount Olive
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Olive have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Olive
      • Mount Olive is located in Columbus County
    • Chadbourn
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Rico
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Grist
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Lake Waccamaw
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Cribb Town
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cribb Town have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cribb Town
      • Cribb Town is located in Columbus County
    • Evergreen
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Clarendon
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Cedar Grove
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Cerro Gordo
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cerro Gordo have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cerro Gordo
      • Cerro Gordo is located in Columbus County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 195 people
  • Bladen County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Whiteville, with the one closest to Whiteville listed first.
    • Clarkton
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clarkton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarkton
      • Clarkton is located in Bladen County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 741 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clarkton <1>
    • Abbottsburg
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Rosindale
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Rosindale. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosindale
      • Rosindale is located in Bladen County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Rosindale
      • From Whiteville to Rosindale
    • Bladenboro
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bladenboro have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bladenboro
      • Bladenboro is located in Bladen County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,697 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bladenboro <1>
    • Council
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Council have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Council
      • Council is located in Bladen County
    • Butters
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Butters have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Butters
      • Butters is located in Bladen County
    • Mount Olive
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Olive have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Olive
      • Mount Olive is located in Bladen County
    • Elizabethtown
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elizabethtown have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elizabethtown
      • Elizabethtown is located in Bladen County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,378 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elizabethtown <1>
    • East Arcadia
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Dublin
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dublin have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dublin
      • Dublin is located in Bladen County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 328 people
    • Yorick
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Kelly
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • White Lake
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for White Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Lake
      • White Lake is located in Bladen County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 742 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for White Lake <1>
  • Brunswick County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Whiteville, with the one closest to Whiteville listed first.
    • Exum
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Exum. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Exum
      • Exum is located in Brunswick County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Exum
      • From Whiteville to Exum
    • Ash
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Makatoka
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Longwood
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Longwood have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longwood
      • Longwood is located in Brunswick County
    • Northwest
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Robeson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Whiteville, with the one closest to Whiteville listed first.
    • Orrum
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Orrum have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orrum
      • Orrum is located in Robeson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 72 people
    • Barnesville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Barnesville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barnesville
      • Barnesville is located in Robeson County
    • Allenton
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Proctorville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Proctorville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Proctorville
      • Proctorville is located in Robeson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 119 people
    • Marietta
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Marietta have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marietta
      • Marietta is located in Robeson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 168 people
    • Fairmont
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Lumberton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Barker Ten Mile
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Barker Ten Mile have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barker Ten Mile
      • Barker Ten Mile is located in Robeson County
    • McDonald
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Dillon County (SC)
  • Horry County (SC)
  • Marion County (SC)

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

Cemeteries Near Whiteville ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Whiteville.

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.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Whiteville, with the one closest to Whiteville listed first.

  • Columbus Country Memorial Park
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Columbus Country Memorial Park
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Columbus Country Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Whiteville Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Whiteville Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Whiteville Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Cherry Grove Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cherry Grove Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cherry Grove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Smith Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Smith Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Smith Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Flynn Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Flynn Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Flynn Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Marley Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Faison Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Faison Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Faison Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Pierce Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pierce Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pierce Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Belle View Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Belle View Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Belle View Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Ward Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ward Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ward Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Sibbitt Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sibbitt Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sibbitt Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mt. Hebron Memorial Park
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Hebron Memorial Park
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Hebron Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (396 more) ...
    • Chadbourn Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Chadbourn Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Chadbourn Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Benevolent Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Benevolent Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Benevolent Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Batten Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Batten Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Batten Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Whiteville had a population of 372 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Whiteville had a population of 5,242 people.

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

  • Hallsboro
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Chadbourn
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Lake Waccamaw
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Elkton
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elkton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkton
    • Elkton is located in Bladen County
  • Clarkton
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clarkton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarkton
    • Clarkton is located in Bladen County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 741 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clarkton <1>
  • Emerson
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Emerson have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emerson
    • Emerson is located in Bladen County
  • Clarendon
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Rosindale
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Rosindale. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosindale
    • Rosindale is located in Bladen County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Rosindale
    • From Whiteville to Rosindale
  • Abbottsburg
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
  • Evergreen
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Cerro Gordo
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cerro Gordo have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cerro Gordo
    • Cerro Gordo is located in Columbus County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 195 people
  • Mollie
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mollie have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mollie
    • Mollie is located in Columbus County
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Old Dock
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Old Dock have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Dock
      • Old Dock is located in Columbus County
    • Emerson
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Ironhill
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ironhill. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ironhill
      • Ironhill is located in Columbus County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Ironhill
      • From Whiteville to Ironhill

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Whiteville ...

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 27 newspapers that have been published in the area around Whiteville.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Whiteville. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Whiteville and those printed in the larger area surrounding Whiteville.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 22 miles [35.4 km]<6> of Whiteville.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to 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 Whiteville:

The official website for Whiteville: www.ci.whiteville.nc.us/

The official website for Columbus County: www.columbusco.org/main

The official website for State of North Carolina: https://www.nc.gov/

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 location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<3>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<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 Whiteville, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Whiteville) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Whiteville. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.3387, Longitude: -78.7036    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025