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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 Calico (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 Calico. 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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

Calico is located in Spartanburg 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 Spartanburg County: Polk (NC), Rutherford (NC), Cherokee, Greenville, Laurens & Union.

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

  • Spartanburg County     (The home county of Calico)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Calico, with the one closest to Calico listed first.
    • Pacolet
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Pacolet is located in Spartanburg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pacolet
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,604 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pacolet <1>
    • White Stone
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Central Pacolet
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Central Pacolet is located in Spartanburg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central Pacolet
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 247 people
    • Pacolet Mills
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Glendale
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Camp Croft
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Camp Croft is located in Spartanburg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camp Croft
    • Clifton
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Converse
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Zion Hill
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Zion Hill is located in Spartanburg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zion Hill
    • Pauline
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Cowpens
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Cowpens is located in Spartanburg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cowpens
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,465 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cowpens <1>
    • Drayton
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Spartanburg
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Cherokee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Calico, with the one closest to Calico listed first.
    • Macedonia
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Macedonia is located in Cherokee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Macedonia
    • Gaffney
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • East Gaffney
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • East Gaffney is located in Cherokee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Gaffney
    • Chesnee
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Blacksburg
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Kings Creek
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
  • Chester County
    • Cabal
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Cabal is located in Chester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cabal
  • Greenville County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Calico, with the one closest to Calico listed first.
    • Greer
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Greer is located in Greenville County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greer
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 35,316 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Greer <1>
    • Pelham
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Pelham is located in Greenville County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pelham
    • Five Forks
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Five Forks is located in Greenville County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Forks
    • Fountain Inn
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Chick Springs
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Chick Springs is located in Greenville County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chick Springs
    • Woodland Village
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Woodland Village is located in Greenville County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland Village
    • Gowensville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Gowensville is located in Greenville County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gowensville
    • Simpsonville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • East Gate Village
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • East Gate Village is located in Greenville County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Gate Village
    • O'Neal
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • O'Neal is located in Greenville County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for O'Neal
    • Taylors
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Mauldin
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Mauldin is located in Greenville County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mauldin
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 25,562 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mauldin <1>
    • Wade Hampton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Wade Hampton is located in Greenville County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wade Hampton
  • Laurens County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Calico, with the one closest to Calico listed first.
    • Tylersville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Tylersville is located in Laurens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tylersville
    • Gray Court
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Clinton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
    • Renno
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Renno is located in Laurens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Renno
    • Green Pond
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Green Pond is located in Laurens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Pond
    • Laurens
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Newberry County
    • Whitmire
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
  • Union County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Calico, with the one closest to Calico listed first.
    • Jonesville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Colerain
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Colerain is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colerain
    • Bonham
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Bonham is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonham
    • Kelly
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Kelly is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelly
    • Buffalo
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Bailey Town ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Bailey Town is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bailey Town
    • Union
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Bishop Town ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Bishop Town is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bishop Town
    • Lockhart
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Sedalia
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Sedalia is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sedalia
    • Meador ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Meador is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meador
    • Red Town ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Red Town is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Town
    • Carlisle
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
  • York County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Calico, with the one closest to Calico listed first.
    • Hopewell
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Hopewell is located in York County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopewell
    • Hickory Grove
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Smyrna
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Blairsville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Blairsville is located in York County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blairsville
    • Sharon
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
  • Cleveland County (NC)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Calico, with the one closest to Calico listed first.
    • Byersville ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Byersville is located in Cleveland County (NC)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Byersville
    • Erwinsville ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Erwinsville is located in Cleveland County (NC)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erwinsville
    • Cliffside
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Cliffside is located in Cleveland County (NC)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cliffside
    • Flint Hill ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Flint Hill is located in Cleveland County (NC)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flint Hill
    • Boiling Springs
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Earl
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Earl is located in Cleveland County (NC)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Earl
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 261 people
    • Grover
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Grover is located in Cleveland County (NC)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grover
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 709 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Grover <1>
    • Sharon
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Sharon is located in Cleveland County (NC)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sharon
    • Mooresboro
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Mooresboro is located in Cleveland County (NC)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mooresboro
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 316 people
    • Brittain Village
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Brittain Village is located in Cleveland County (NC)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brittain Village
    • Patterson Springs
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Patterson Springs is located in Cleveland County (NC)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Patterson Springs
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 628 people
    • Durbro ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Durbro is located in Cleveland County (NC)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Durbro
    • Pleasant Hill
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Pleasant Hill is located in Cleveland County (NC)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Hill
  • Rutherford County (NC)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Calico, with the one closest to Calico listed first.
    • Harris
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Harris is located in Rutherford County (NC)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harris
    • Henrietta
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Henrietta is located in Rutherford County (NC)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henrietta
    • Holly Springs
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Holly Springs is located in Rutherford County (NC)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly Springs
    • Caroleen
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Caroleen is located in Rutherford County (NC)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caroleen
    • Six Points
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Six Points is located in Rutherford County (NC)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Six Points
    • Sandy Mush
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Sandy Mush is located in Rutherford County (NC)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Mush
    • Alexander Mills
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Alexander Mills is located in Rutherford County (NC)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alexander Mills
    • Shiloh
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Shiloh is located in Rutherford County (NC)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shiloh
    • Ellenboro
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Forest City
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Concord
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Concord is located in Rutherford County (NC)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Concord

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

Cemeteries Near Calico ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Calico.

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

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

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

  • Bates Family Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Lebanon Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Foster Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Piney Grove Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Green Bethel Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Brown Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Brown Family Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Glendale Methodist Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Bagwell Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Lee Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Antioch Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Oeland Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (434 more) ...
    • Cedar Spring Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Fleming Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Lancaster Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 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>

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

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

  • Pacolet
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Pacolet is located in Spartanburg County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pacolet
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,604 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pacolet <1>
  • Glendale
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Clifton
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Golightly
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Golightly is located in Spartanburg County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Golightly
  • Converse
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Glenn Springs
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Glenn Springs is located in Spartanburg County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenn Springs
  • Cowpens
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Cowpens is located in Spartanburg County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cowpens
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,465 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cowpens <1>
  • Jonesville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Spartanburg
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • West Springs
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • West Springs is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Springs
  • Whitney
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Whitney is located in Spartanburg County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitney
  • Walnut Grove
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Walnut Grove is located in Spartanburg County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Grove
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Dutchman
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Dutchman is located in Spartanburg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dutchman
    • Moore
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Colerain
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Colerain is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colerain

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

Newspapers Published in Calico ...

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 28 newspapers that have been published in the area around Calico.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Calico, there are papers which were published within 10 miles [16.1 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Calico.

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 professional and volunteer 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 Calico:

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 Calico, 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' (or 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- Calico) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.