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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 Berlin (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 Berlin. 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.

Berlin is located in Aiken County.

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 Aiken County: Burke (GA), Richmond (GA), Barnwell, Edgefield, Lexington, Orangeburg & Saluda.

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

  • Aiken County     (The home county of Berlin)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Berlin, with the one closest to Berlin listed first.
    • Perry
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Wagener
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Seivern
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Seivern is located in Aiken County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seivern
    • Salley
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Camp Rawls
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Camp Rawls is located in Aiken County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camp Rawls
    • Kitchings Mill
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Kitchings Mill is located in Aiken County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kitchings Mill
      • Kitchings Mill has also been known as:
      • Kinchens Mill
    • Windsor
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Oakwood
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Oakwood is located in Aiken County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakwood
    • Monetta
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Montmorenci
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Nicholson Village
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Nicholson Village is located in Aiken County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nicholson Village
    • Roseland
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Roseland is located in Aiken County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roseland
    • Aiken
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
  • Bamberg County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Berlin, with the one closest to Berlin listed first.
    • Denmark
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Bamberg
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Barnwell County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Berlin, with the one closest to Berlin listed first.
    • Whaley
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Whaley is located in Barnwell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whaley
    • Williston
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Elko
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Elko is located in Barnwell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elko
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 180 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elko <1>
    • Blackville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Reynold
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Reynold is located in Barnwell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reynold
    • Hilda
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Barnwell
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
  • Calhoun County
    • Saint Matthews
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Edgefield County
    • Johnston
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Lancaster County
  • Lexington County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Berlin, with the one closest to Berlin listed first.
    • Pelion
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Swansea
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Gaston
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Gaston is located in Lexington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gaston
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,712 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gaston <1>
    • Gilbert
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Red Bank
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Red Bank is located in Lexington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Bank
    • Summit
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Summit is located in Lexington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summit
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 486 people
    • Glenn Village
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Glenn Village is located in Lexington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenn Village
    • South Congaree
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • South Congaree is located in Lexington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Congaree
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,485 people
    • Pineridge
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Pineridge is located in Lexington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pineridge
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,419 people
    • Styx ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Styx is located in Lexington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Styx
    • Fredonia
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Fredonia is located in Lexington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fredonia
    • Clubhouse Crossroads
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Clubhouse Crossroads is located in Lexington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clubhouse Crossroads
    • Leesville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Orangeburg County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Berlin, with the one closest to Berlin listed first.
    • Woodford
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Woodford is located in Orangeburg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodford
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 169 people
    • North
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • North is located in Orangeburg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 699 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for North <1>
    • Springfield
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Livingston
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Livingston is located in Orangeburg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Livingston
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 124 people
    • Boiling Spring ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Boiling Spring is located in Orangeburg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boiling Spring
    • Neeses
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Norway
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Bolen Town
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Bolen Town is located in Orangeburg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bolen Town
    • Cope
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Cope is located in Orangeburg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cope
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 70 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cope <1>
    • Edisto
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Edisto is located in Orangeburg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edisto
    • Cordova
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Jamison
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Jamison is located in Orangeburg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamison
    • Orangeburg
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Richland County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Berlin, with the one closest to Berlin listed first.
    • Arthurtown
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Arthurtown is located in Richland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arthurtown
    • Columbia
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Hollywood
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Hollywood is located in Richland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollywood
    • Valencia Heights
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Valencia Heights is located in Richland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valencia Heights
    • Saint Andrews
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Saint Andrews is located in Richland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Andrews
    • Capitol View
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Capitol View is located in Richland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Capitol View
    • Forest Acres
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Forest Acres is located in Richland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Acres
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,269 people
    • Hopkins
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Pinewood
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Pinewood is located in Richland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinewood
    • Brickyard Village
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Brickyard Village is located in Richland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brickyard Village
  • Saluda County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Berlin, with the one closest to Berlin listed first.
    • Ridge Spring
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Ward
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Berlin ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Berlin.

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 Berlin - one of the links might be able to help.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Berlin, with the one closest to Berlin 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.<2>

While we didn't find Berlin in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Berlin.

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

  • Wagener
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Perry
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Seivern
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Seivern is located in Aiken County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seivern
  • Salley
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Sawyerdale
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Sawyerdale is located in Orangeburg County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sawyerdale
  • Kitchings Mill
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Kitchings Mill is located in Aiken County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kitchings Mill
    • Kitchings Mill has also been known as:
    • Kinchens Mill
  • Woodford
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Woodford is located in Orangeburg County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodford
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 169 people
  • Springfield
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • North
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • North is located in Orangeburg County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 699 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for North <1>
  • Swansea
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
  • Boiling Spring ‑ Historic
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Boiling Spring is located in Orangeburg County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boiling Spring
  • Samaria
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Samaria is located in Lexington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Samaria
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...
    • Gaston
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Gaston is located in Lexington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gaston
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,712 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gaston <1>
    • Whaley
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Whaley is located in Barnwell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whaley
    • Windsor
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)

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

Newspapers Published in Berlin ...

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 Berlin.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Berlin, there are papers which were published within 21 miles [33.8 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Berlin.

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 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 Berlin:

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>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 Berlin, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>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- Berlin) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.