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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 Belleplain (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 Belleplain. 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 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.

Belleplain is located in Cape May County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Cape May County: Atlantic & Cumberland.

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

  • Cape May County     (The home county of Belleplain)
  • Atlantic County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Belleplain, with the one closest to Belleplain listed first.
    • Warners Mill
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Corbin City
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Estell Manor
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Estell Manor have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Estell Manor
      • Estell Manor is located in Atlantic County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,738 people
    • Dorothy
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Estellville
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Milmay
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Somers Point
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Somers Point have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Somers Point
      • Somers Point is located in Atlantic County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,153 people
    • Mizpah
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Clarkstown
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Mays Landing
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Gigantic City
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gigantic City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gigantic City
      • Gigantic City is located in Atlantic County
    • Bargaintown
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Burlington County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Belleplain, with the one closest to Belleplain listed first.
    • Batsto Village ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Green Bank
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Green Bank. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Bank
      • Green Bank is located in Burlington County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Green Bank
      • From Belleplain to Green Bank
  • Camden County
  • Cumberland County
  • Gloucester County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Belleplain, with the one closest to Belleplain listed first.
    • Victory Lakes
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Victory Lakes have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Victory Lakes
      • Victory Lakes is located in Gloucester County
    • Star Cross
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Williamstown
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Williamstown have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williamstown
      • Williamstown is located in Gloucester County
  • Salem County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Belleplain, with the one closest to Belleplain listed first.
    • Norma
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Alliance
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Alliance. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alliance
      • Alliance is located in Salem County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Alliance
      • From Belleplain to Alliance
    • Olivet
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Olivet have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olivet
      • Olivet is located in Salem County
    • Shirley
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Shirley. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shirley
      • Shirley is located in Salem County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Shirley
      • From Belleplain to Shirley
    • Friesburg
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Aldine
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Aldine. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aldine
      • Aldine is located in Salem County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Aldine
      • From Belleplain to Aldine

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

Cemeteries Near Belleplain ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Belleplain.

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 Belleplain covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

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

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

  • Halberton
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Halberton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halberton
    • Halberton is located in Cumberland County
  • Delmont
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Dennisville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Mount Pleasant
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Dorchester
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • South Dennis
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Dennis have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Dennis
    • South Dennis is located in Cape May County
  • Tuckahoe
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Manumuskin
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Manumuskin have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manumuskin
    • Manumuskin is located in Cumberland County
  • Port Elizabeth
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Bricksboro
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bricksboro have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bricksboro
    • Bricksboro is located in Cumberland County
  • Mauricetown
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Leesburg
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Heislerville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Heislerville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heislerville
      • Heislerville is located in Cumberland County
    • Petersburg
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Petersburg have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Petersburg
      • Petersburg is located in Cape May County
    • Goshen
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Goshen. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goshen
      • Goshen is located in Cape May County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Goshen
      • From Belleplain to Goshen

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

Newspapers Published in Belleplain ...

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 26 newspapers that have been published in the area around Belleplain.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Belleplain, there are papers which were published within 15 miles [24.1 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Belleplain.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we start 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 Belleplain:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Belleplain. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Cape May County: www.co.cape-may.nj.us/

The official website for State of New Jersey: https://www.nj.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<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>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 from Point A (ie- Belleplain) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Belleplain. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.2688, Longitude: -74.8664    
<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 Belleplain, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025