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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 Wilmington Beach (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 Wilmington Beach. 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 Wilmington Beach ...

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.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Wilmington Beach: Wilmington Bch.

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 and hospitals 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.

Wilmington Beach is located in New Hanover 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 New Hanover County: Brunswick & Pender.

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

  • New Hanover County     (The home county of Wilmington Beach)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wilmington Beach, with the one closest to Wilmington Beach listed first.
    • Carolina Beach
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Kure Beach
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Sea Breeze
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Sea Breeze is located in New Hanover County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sea Breeze
    • Myrtle Grove
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Myrtle Grove is located in New Hanover County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Myrtle Grove
    • Silver Lake
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Silver Lake is located in New Hanover County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Lake
    • Masonboro
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Masonboro is located in New Hanover County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Masonboro
    • Seagate
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Seagate is located in New Hanover County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seagate
    • Wilmington
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Wrightsville Beach
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Windemere
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Windemere is located in New Hanover County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windemere
    • Smith Creek
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Smith Creek is located in New Hanover County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smith Creek
    • Hightsville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Hightsville is located in New Hanover County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hightsville
  • Brunswick County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wilmington Beach, with the one closest to Wilmington Beach listed first.
    • Old Town
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Old Town is located in Brunswick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Town
    • Southport
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Boiling Spring Lakes
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Boiling Spring Lakes is located in Brunswick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boiling Spring Lakes
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,430 people
    • Bald Head Island
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Caswell Beach
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Leland
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Leland is located in Brunswick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leland
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 25,647 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Leland <1>
    • Saint James
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Saint James is located in Brunswick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint James
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,607 people
    • Winnabow
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Long Beach
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Long Beach is located in Brunswick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Beach
    • Oak Island
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Yaupon Beach
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Yaupon Beach is located in Brunswick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yaupon Beach
    • Bolivia
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
  • Columbus County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wilmington Beach, with the one closest to Wilmington Beach listed first.
    • Acme
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Acme is located in Columbus County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acme
    • Delco
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Riegelwood
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Armour
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Armour is located in Columbus County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Armour
  • Pender County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wilmington Beach, with the one closest to Wilmington Beach listed first.
    • Brown Town
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Brown Town is located in Pender County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brown Town
    • Hampstead
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Rocky Point
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Kings Landing
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Kings Landing is located in Pender County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings Landing
    • Topsail Beach
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Topsail
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Topsail is located in Pender County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Topsail

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

Cemeteries Near Wilmington Beach ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Wilmington Beach.

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 Wilmington Beach - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Federal Point Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Drew Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Oak Grove Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Oak Grove Cemetery is located in Wilmington.
    • The Oak Grove Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Hanks Chapel Cemetery
    • Oak Hill Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2485215 <2>
  • Freeman Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Bethel Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Sacred Heart Catholic Church Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • John N. Smith Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Farrow Family Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Masonboro Baptist Church Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Greenlawn Memorial Park
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
  • Oleander Memorial Gardens
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
  • St. Andrews On-the-Sound Episcopal Church Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (62 more) ...
    • Delgado Cemetery
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Oak Grove Cemetery
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Forest Lawn Cemetery
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)

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 Wilmington Beach in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Wilmington Beach.

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

  • Southport
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Wilmington
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
  • Wrightsville
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Wrightsville is located in New Hanover County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wrightsville
  • Winnabow
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Town Creek
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Town Creek is located in Brunswick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Town Creek
  • Navassa
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Navassa is located in Brunswick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Navassa
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,534 people
  • Wrightsboro
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Wrightsboro is located in New Hanover County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wrightsboro
  • Malmo
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Malmo is located in Brunswick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Malmo
  • Kirkland
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Kirkland is located in New Hanover County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kirkland
  • Phoenix
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Phoenix is located in Brunswick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Phoenix
  • Supply
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
  • Scotts Hill
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Scotts Hill is located in Pender County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scotts Hill
  • Continue List   (7 more) ...
    • Castle Hayne
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Northwest
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Northwest is located in Brunswick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Northwest
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 806 people
    • Hampstead
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)

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

Newspapers Published in Wilmington Beach ...

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 92 newspapers that have been published in the area around Wilmington Beach.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Wilmington Beach, there are papers which were published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Wilmington Beach.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These 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 Wilmington Beach:

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 Wilmington Beach, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>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- Wilmington Beach) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.