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Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

So far, we found very little information about Blue Spring. The little that we've found leads us believe that the community is historic.<1>

We've added Blue Spring to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Blue Spring, please Contact Us.

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 Blue Spring (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 Blue Spring. 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 Blue Spring ...

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.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might have occurred.

Another variation: Bluespring.

  • A typical abbreviation for Blue Spring: Blue Spg. (or less commonly used: Blue Spng. or Blue Sprng.)

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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most 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.

Although our information shows that the community of Blue Spring is historic, it would have been located within present day Kershaw County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Kershaw County: Chesterfield, Darlington, Fairfield, Lancaster, Lee, Richland & Sumter.

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

  • Kershaw County     (The home county of Blue Spring)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Blue Spring, with the one closest to Blue Spring listed first.
    • Bethune
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Pine Village
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pine Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Village
      • Pine Village is located in Kershaw County
    • Cassatt
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Westville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Kershaw
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Lafayette Village
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lafayette Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lafayette Village
      • Lafayette Village is located in Kershaw County
    • Camden
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Log Town ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Log Town have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Log Town
      • Log Town is located in Kershaw County
    • Lugoff
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Spring Village
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spring Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Village
      • Spring Village is located in Kershaw County
    • Liberty Hill
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
  • Chesterfield County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Blue Spring, with the one closest to Blue Spring listed first.
    • McBee
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McBee
      • McBee is located in Chesterfield County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 838 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for McBee <2>
    • Angelus
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Angelus
      • Angelus is located in Chesterfield County
    • Jefferson
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Patrick
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • White Plains
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Plains
      • White Plains is located in Chesterfield County
    • Ruby
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruby
      • Ruby is located in Chesterfield County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 334 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ruby <2>
    • Mount Croghan
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Pageland
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Chesterfield
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Darlington County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Blue Spring, with the one closest to Blue Spring listed first.
    • Pine Ridge
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Ridge
      • Pine Ridge is located in Darlington County
    • Prestwood Village
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Prestwood Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prestwood Village
      • Prestwood Village is located in Darlington County
    • Hartsville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • North Hartsville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Hartsville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Hartsville
      • North Hartsville is located in Darlington County
    • Lydia
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Lamar
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lamar
      • Lamar is located in Darlington County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 930 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lamar <2>
    • Dovesville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dovesville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dovesville
      • Dovesville is located in Darlington County
    • Syracuse
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Syracuse
      • Syracuse is located in Darlington County
    • Darlington
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Society Hill
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Alexander Crossroads
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alexander Crossroads
      • Alexander Crossroads is located in Darlington County
    • Pine Village
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pine Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Village
      • Pine Village is located in Darlington County
    • Mont Clare
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mont Clare
      • Mont Clare is located in Darlington County
  • Florence County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Blue Spring, with the one closest to Blue Spring listed first.
    • Cartersville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cartersville
      • Cartersville is located in Florence County
    • Timmonsville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Lancaster County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Blue Spring, with the one closest to Blue Spring listed first.
    • Oakhurst
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oakhurst have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakhurst
      • Oakhurst is located in Lancaster County
    • Heath Springs
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Pleasant Hill
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Hill
      • Pleasant Hill is located in Lancaster County
    • Primus
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Primus
      • Primus is located in Lancaster County
    • Union
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union
      • Union is located in Lancaster County
    • Elgin
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elgin
      • Elgin is located in Lancaster County
  • Lee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Blue Spring, with the one closest to Blue Spring listed first.
    • Bishopville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Alcot
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alcot
      • Alcot is located in Lee County
    • Manville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manville
      • Manville is located in Lee County
    • Elliott
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Lynchburg
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Atkins
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Atkins have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atkins
      • Atkins is located in Lee County
  • Sumter County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Blue Spring, with the one closest to Blue Spring listed first.
    • Rembert
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Dalzell
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Oswego
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oswego
      • Oswego is located in Sumter County
    • Mayesville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
    • Horatio
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)

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

Newspapers Published in Blue Spring ...

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 50 newspapers that have been published in the area around Blue Spring.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Blue Spring, there are papers which were published within 19 miles [30.6 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Blue Spring.

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 Blue Spring:

Cemeteries Near Blue Spring ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Blue Spring.

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

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

  • Brannon Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Brannon Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Brannon Cemetery
  • Bethel Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bethel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bethel Cemetery
  • Sandy Level Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sandy Level Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sandy Level Cemetery
  • Scotch Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Timrod Baptist Church Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Union Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Union Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Union Cemetery
  • Bethany Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bethany Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bethany Cemetery
  • Turkey Creek Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Turkey Creek Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Turkey Creek Cemetery
  • McLean Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the McLean Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the McLean Cemetery
  • Cassatt Baptist Church Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Mt. Zion Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Zion Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Zion Cemetery
  • Shamrock Baptist Church Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (192 more) ...
    • St. Pauls Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • DuBose Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the DuBose Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the DuBose Cemetery
    • Antioch Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Antioch Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Antioch Cemetery

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.

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

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

  • Tillers Ferry
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tillers Ferry have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tillers Ferry
    • Tillers Ferry is located in Kershaw County
  • Clyde
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clyde have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clyde
    • Clyde is located in Darlington County
  • Catarrh
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Catarrh have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Catarrh
    • Catarrh is located in Chesterfield County
  • Antioch
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Antioch have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Antioch
    • Antioch is located in Kershaw County
  • Bishopville
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Hartsville
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
  • Dekalb
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dekalb have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dekalb
    • Dekalb is located in Kershaw County
  • Lydia
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Westville
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
  • Jefferson
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
  • Bay Springs
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bay Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bay Springs
    • Bay Springs is located in Chesterfield County
  • Kershaw
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Flat Rock
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Flat Rock have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flat Rock
      • Flat Rock is located in Kershaw County
    • Oats
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oats have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oats
      • Oats is located in Darlington County
    • Camden
      (19 miles [30.6 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 Blue Spring. See our List of 1890's Communities around Blue Spring.

The official website for State of South Carolina: https://sc.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Blue Spring, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<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- Blue Spring) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Blue Spring. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.4229, Longitude: -80.3298       In this case, the coordinates for Blue Spring have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>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.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024