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A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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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 Bon Aire (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 Bon Aire. 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 southeast 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 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 east 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.

Bon Aire is located in Beaufort 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 Beaufort County: Colleton, Hampton & Jasper.

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

  • Beaufort County     (The home county of Bon Aire)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bon Aire, with the one closest to Bon Aire listed first.
    • Shell Point
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Shell Point is located in Beaufort County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shell Point
    • Battery Marina Village
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Port Royal
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Burton
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Sangster Village
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Sangster Village is located in Beaufort County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sangster Village
    • Beaufort
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Polk Village
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Polk Village is located in Beaufort County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Polk Village
    • Laurel Bay
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Laurel Bay is located in Beaufort County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurel Bay
    • Frogmore
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Frogmore is located in Beaufort County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frogmore
    • Seabrook
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Dale
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Lobeco
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Bluffton
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Charleston County
  • Colleton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bon Aire, with the one closest to Bon Aire listed first.
    • White Hall
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • White Hall is located in Colleton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Hall
    • Green Pond
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Edisto Beach
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Edisto Beach is located in Colleton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edisto Beach
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 402 people
    • Ritter
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Ritter is located in Colleton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ritter
    • Jacksonboro
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Hampton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bon Aire, with the one closest to Bon Aire listed first.
    • Barkerville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Barkerville is located in Hampton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barkerville
      • Barkerville has also been known as:
      • Haywardville
    • Early Branch
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Jasper County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bon Aire, with the one closest to Bon Aire listed first.
    • Ridgeland
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Tillman
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Pineland
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Chatham County (GA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bon Aire, with the one closest to Bon Aire listed first.
    • Fort Screven
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Fort Screven is located in Chatham County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Screven
    • Tybee Island
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Golden Isles
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Port Wentworth
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Robert M Hitch Village
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Robert M Hitch Village is located in Chatham County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robert M Hitch Village
    • Whitemarsh Island
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Whitemarsh Island is located in Chatham County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitemarsh Island
    • Garden City
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Isle of Armstrong
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Isle of Armstrong is located in Chatham County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Isle of Armstrong
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 2,402 people
    • Savannah
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Savannah is located in Chatham County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Savannah
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 143,632 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Savannah <1>
    • Thunderbolt
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Wilmington Island
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Effingham County (GA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bon Aire, with the one closest to Bon Aire listed first.
    • Haddonville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Haddonville is located in Effingham County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haddonville
      • Estimated population in 2019: 965 people
    • Rincon
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Rincon is located in Effingham County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rincon
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,655 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rincon <1>
    • Two Sisters Ferry
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Two Sisters Ferry is located in Effingham County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Two Sisters Ferry
      • Estimated population in 2019: 3,063 people
    • Exley
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Exley is located in Effingham County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Exley
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 2,894 people

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

Cemeteries Near Bon Aire ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Bon Aire.

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 Bon Aire - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Shell Point Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Jericho Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Port Royal Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Habersham Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Beaufort Memorial Gardens
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Fripp Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Old Fort Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Bethlehem Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Tabernacle Baptist Church Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Beth Israel Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Evergreen Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Citizens Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (115 more) ...

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

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

  • Port Royal
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Beaufort
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Frogmore
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Frogmore is located in Beaufort County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frogmore
  • Coosaw
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Coosaw is located in Beaufort County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coosaw
  • Dale
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Bluffton
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Hilton Head Island
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Okatie
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Sheldon
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
  • Ridgeland
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Pritchardville
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Pritchardville is located in Beaufort County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pritchardville
  • Tomotley
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Tomotley is located in Beaufort County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tomotley
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Hardeeville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Salkehatchie
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Salkehatchie is located in Colleton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salkehatchie
    • Yemassee
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)

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

Newspapers Published in Bon Aire ...

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 27 newspapers that have been published in the area around Bon Aire.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Bon Aire, there are papers which were published within 15 miles [24.1 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Bon Aire.

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 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 Bon Aire:

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 Bon Aire, 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Bon Aire) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.