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 Allendale (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 Allendale. 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 southwest 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 south.
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 south 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.
Allendale is located in Allendale County and is the County Seat.
To see how the shape of South 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 Allendale County: Burke (GA), Screven (GA), Bamberg, Barnwell, Colleton & Hampton.
Below are the counties that are near Allendale. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Allendale:
- Allendale County (The home county of Allendale)
- The following are listed by their distance from Allendale, with the one closest to Allendale listed first.
- Sycamore
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Fairfax
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Ulmer
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Martin
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Bamberg County
- The following are listed by their distance from Allendale, with the one closest to Allendale listed first.
- Olar
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Govan
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Ehrhardt
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Denmark
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Bamberg
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Barnwell County
- The following are listed by their distance from Allendale, with the one closest to Allendale listed first.
- Kline
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Barnwell
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Hilda
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Snelling
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Hattieville
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Blackville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Reynold
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Reynold is located in Barnwell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reynold
- Elko
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Williston
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Whaley
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Colleton County
- The following are listed by their distance from Allendale, with the one closest to Allendale listed first.
- Ashton
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Lodge
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Islandton
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Sniders Crossroads
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Williams
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Ruffin
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Smoaks
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Hampton County
- The following are listed by their distance from Allendale, with the one closest to Allendale listed first.
- Brunson
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Gifford
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Pond Town
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Pond Town is located in Hampton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pond Town
- Luray
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Crocketville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Hampton
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Miley
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Estill
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Varnville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Scotia
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Furman
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Garnett
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Jasper County
- Pineland
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Orangeburg County
- Cope
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Burke County (GA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Allendale, with the one closest to Allendale listed first.
- Girard
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Sardis
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Screven County (GA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Allendale, with the one closest to Allendale listed first.
- Millhaven
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Hilltonia
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Hilltonia is located in Screven County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilltonia
- Population from the 2010 Census: 262 people
- Hiltonia
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Sylvania
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Zeigler
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Allendale, see our County-by-County Page for Allendale.
Cemeteries Near Allendale ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Allendale.
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 Allendale - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Allendale covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Allendale, with the one closest to Allendale listed first.
- Swallow Savannah Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- New Home Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Allen Chapel Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Smyrna Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Concord Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Smart Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Miller Creek Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Mt. Calvary Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Antioch Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Brown Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Magdalene Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Flowers Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (195 more) ...
- Folger Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Cohen Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Brown Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
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>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Allendale had a population of 749 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Allendale had a population of 2,829 people.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Allendale, with the one closest to Allendale listed first.
- Fairfax
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Sycamore
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Brunson
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Ulmer
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Gifford
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Luray
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Crocketville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Peeples ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Peeples is located in Hampton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peeples
- Hampton
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Miley
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Govan
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Estill
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Continue List (17 more) ...
- Varnville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Snelling
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Dunbarton ‑ Historic
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Dunbarton is located in Barnwell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunbarton
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Allendale. See our List of 1890's Communities around Allendale.
Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Allendale ...
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 30 newspapers that have been published in the area around Allendale.
We have organized these newspapers into two lists:
- A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Allendale. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Allendale and those printed in the larger area surrounding Allendale.
- An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<4> of Allendale.
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 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 Allendale:
- Websites specific to South Carolina
- Pages specific to Allendale County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Bamberg County
- Barnwell County
- Colleton County
- Hampton County
- Jasper County
- Orangeburg County
- Burke County
- Screven County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for South 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 Allendale, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Allendale) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |