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 Windy Gap (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 Windy Gap. 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 doctors and 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.
Windy Gap is located in Wilkes 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 Wilkes County: Alexander, Alleghany, Ashe, Caldwell, Iredell, Surry, Watauga & Yadkin.
Below are the counties that are near Windy Gap. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Windy Gap:
- Wilkes County (The home county of Windy Gap)
- The following are listed by their distance from Windy Gap, with the one closest to Windy Gap listed first.
- Zimmerman ‑ Historic
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Zimmerman is located in Wilkes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zimmerman
- New Castle ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- New Castle is located in Wilkes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Castle
- Brier Creek ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Brier Creek is located in Wilkes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brier Creek
- Clingman
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Clingman is located in Wilkes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clingman
- Roaring River
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Roaring River is located in Wilkes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roaring River
- Ronda
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Henderson ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Henderson is located in Wilkes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henderson
- Fletcher ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Fletcher is located in Wilkes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fletcher
- North Wilkesboro
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Wilkesboro
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Fairplains
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Fairplains is located in Wilkes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairplains
- Moravian Falls
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Alexander County
- The following are listed by their distance from Windy Gap, with the one closest to Windy Gap listed first.
- Vashti
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Vashti is located in Alexander County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vashti
- Rocky Springs
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Rocky Springs is located in Alexander County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Springs
- Hiddenite
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Midway
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Midway is located in Alexander County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midway
- Stony Point
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Stony Point is located in Alexander County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stony Point
- Fairview Park
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Fairview Park is located in Alexander County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairview Park
- Taylorsville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Liledoun
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Liledoun is located in Alexander County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liledoun
- Ellendale
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Ellendale is located in Alexander County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellendale
- Isenhour Park
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Isenhour Park is located in Alexander County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Isenhour Park
- Millersville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Millersville is located in Alexander County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millersville
- Little River
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Little River is located in Alexander County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little River
- Alleghany County
- The following are listed by their distance from Windy Gap, with the one closest to Windy Gap listed first.
- Roaring Gap
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Glade Valley
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Laurel Springs
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Hooker
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Hooker is located in Alleghany County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hooker
- Sparta
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Edmonds
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Edmonds is located in Alleghany County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edmonds
- Ennice
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Scottville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Ashe County
- The following are listed by their distance from Windy Gap, with the one closest to Windy Gap listed first.
- Obids
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Obids is located in Ashe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Obids
- Glendale Springs
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Transou
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Transou is located in Ashe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Transou
- Yates
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Yates is located in Ashe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yates
- Wagoner
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Wagoner is located in Ashe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wagoner
- Orion
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Orion is located in Ashe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orion
- Caldwell County
- The following are listed by their distance from Windy Gap, with the one closest to Windy Gap listed first.
- Kings Creek
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Kings Creek is located in Caldwell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings Creek
- Draco
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Draco is located in Caldwell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Draco
- Downsville ‑ Historic
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Downsville is located in Caldwell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Downsville
- Cilley ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Cilley is located in Caldwell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cilley
- Cedar Rock
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Cedar Rock is located in Caldwell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Rock
- Population from the 2020 Census: 299 people
- Cedar Rock has also been known as:
- Cedar Rock village
- Emanuel ‑ Historic
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Emanuel is located in Caldwell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emanuel
- Catawba County
- The following are listed by their distance from Windy Gap, with the one closest to Windy Gap listed first.
- Sunrise Beach
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Sunrise Beach is located in Catawba County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunrise Beach
- Catfish
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Catfish is located in Catawba County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Catfish
- Oxford Park
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Oxford Park is located in Catawba County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oxford Park
- Catawba
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Claremont
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Saint Stephens
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Saint Stephens is located in Catawba County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Stephens
- Long Island
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Long Island is located in Catawba County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Island
- Conover
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- North Hickory
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- North Hickory is located in Catawba County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Hickory
- Davie County
- The following are listed by their distance from Windy Gap, with the one closest to Windy Gap listed first.
- Calahaln
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Calahaln is located in Davie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calahaln
- Pino
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Pino is located in Davie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pino
- Mocksville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Forsyth County
- Grapewood
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Grapewood is located in Forsyth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grapewood
- Iredell County
- The following are listed by their distance from Windy Gap, with the one closest to Windy Gap listed first.
- New Hope ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- New Hope is located in Iredell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Hope
- Love Valley
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Union Grove
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Houstonville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Houstonville is located in Iredell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Houstonville
- Olin
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Olin is located in Iredell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olin
- Harmony
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Turnersburg
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Turnersburg is located in Iredell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turnersburg
- Brevard ‑ Historic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Brevard is located in Iredell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brevard
- Scotts
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Scotts is located in Iredell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scotts
- Statesville
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Cool Springs
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Cool Springs is located in Iredell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cool Springs
- Belmont
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Belmont is located in Iredell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belmont
- Rowan County
- The following are listed by their distance from Windy Gap, with the one closest to Windy Gap listed first.
- Pittsburg
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Pittsburg is located in Rowan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pittsburg
- Mount Vernon
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Mount Vernon is located in Rowan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Vernon
- Needmore
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Needmore is located in Rowan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Needmore
- Surry County
- The following are listed by their distance from Windy Gap, with the one closest to Windy Gap listed first.
- Elkin
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Elkin Valley
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Elkin Valley is located in Surry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkin Valley
- State Road
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Thurmond
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Mulberry
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Mulberry is located in Surry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mulberry
- Rusk ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Rusk is located in Surry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rusk
- Mountain Park
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Mountain Park is located in Surry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Park
- Zephyr
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Zephyr is located in Surry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zephyr
- Fairview
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Fairview is located in Surry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairview
- Rockford
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Rockford is located in Surry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockford
- Devotion
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Devotion is located in Surry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Devotion
- Stony Knoll
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Stony Knoll is located in Surry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stony Knoll
- Watauga County
- Stony Fork
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Stony Fork is located in Watauga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stony Fork
- Yadkin County
- The following are listed by their distance from Windy Gap, with the one closest to Windy Gap listed first.
- Swan Creek
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Swan Creek is located in Yadkin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swan Creek
- Cycle
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Cycle is located in Yadkin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cycle
- Marler
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Marler is located in Yadkin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marler
- Windsors Crossroads
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Windsors Crossroads is located in Yadkin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windsors Crossroads
- Arlington
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Arlington is located in Yadkin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arlington
- Jonesville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Rena
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Rena is located in Yadkin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rena
- Hamptonville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Branon
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Branon is located in Yadkin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Branon
- Footville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Footville is located in Yadkin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Footville
- Boonville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Yadkinville
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Windy Gap, see our County-by-County Page for Windy Gap.
Cemeteries Near Windy Gap ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Windy Gap.
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 Windy Gap - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Windy Gap covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Windy Gap, with the one closest to Windy Gap listed first.
- Hunting Creek Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Mt. Sinai Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Cherry Grove Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Old Brier Creek Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Long Bottom Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Old Bethany Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Shiloh Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Oak Grove Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Swan Creek Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Mountain Park Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Park Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Mountain Park Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the east of Wilkesboro.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #48172 <2>
- Union Grove Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Zion Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Continue List (199 more) ...
- St. Paul Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Mountain Grove Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- St. Pauls Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 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 Windy Gap in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Windy Gap.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Windy Gap, with the one closest to Windy Gap listed first.
- Zimmerman ‑ Historic
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Zimmerman is located in Wilkes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zimmerman
- Lovelace ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Lovelace is located in Wilkes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lovelace
- Hunting Creek ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Hunting Creek is located in Wilkes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunting Creek
- New Castle ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- New Castle is located in Wilkes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Castle
- Dellaplane
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Dellaplane is located in Wilkes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dellaplane
- Osbornville
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Osbornville is located in Wilkes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osbornville
- Clingman
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Clingman is located in Wilkes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clingman
- Brier Creek ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Brier Creek is located in Wilkes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brier Creek
- Gilreath
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Gilreath is located in Wilkes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilreath
- New Hope ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- New Hope is located in Iredell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Hope
- Swan Creek
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Swan Creek is located in Yadkin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swan Creek
- Ronda
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- Marler
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Marler is located in Yadkin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marler
- Wilkesboro
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Vashti
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Vashti is located in Alexander County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vashti
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Windy Gap. See our List of 1890's Communities around Windy Gap.
Newspapers Published in Windy Gap ...
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 36 newspapers that have been published in the area around Windy Gap.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Windy Gap, there are papers which were published within 18 miles [29 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Windy Gap.
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 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 Windy Gap:
- Websites specific to North Carolina
- Pages specific to Wilkes County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Alexander County
- Alleghany County
- Ashe County
- Caldwell County
- Catawba County
- Davie County
- Forsyth County
- Iredell County
- Rowan County
- Surry County
- Watauga County
- Yadkin County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for North Carolina
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 Windy Gap, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Windy Gap) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |