Our Genealogy Helper
Introduction ...
So far, we found very little information about Excelsior. The little that we've found leads us believe that the community is historic.<1>
We've added Excelsior to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Excelsior, 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 Excelsior (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 Excelsior. 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 hospitals 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.
Although our information shows that the community of Excelsior is historic, it would have been located within present day Chesterfield 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 Chesterfield County: Anson (NC), Richmond (NC), Union (NC), Darlington, Kershaw, Lancaster & Marlboro.
Below are the counties that are near Excelsior. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Excelsior:
- Chesterfield County (The home county of Excelsior)
- The following are listed by their distance from Excelsior, with the one closest to Excelsior listed first.
- Cheraw
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Chesterfield
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Patrick
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Ruby
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Ruby is located in Chesterfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruby
- Population from the 2020 Census: 334 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ruby <2>
- Mount Croghan
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Angelus
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Angelus is located in Chesterfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Angelus
- McBee
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Jefferson
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Pageland
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- White Plains
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- White Plains is located in Chesterfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Plains
- Darlington County
- The following are listed by their distance from Excelsior, with the one closest to Excelsior listed first.
- Society Hill
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Greenplains ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Greenplains is located in Darlington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenplains
- Dovesville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Dovesville is located in Darlington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dovesville
- Mont Clare
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Mont Clare is located in Darlington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mont Clare
- North Hartsville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- North Hartsville is located in Darlington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Hartsville
- Hartsville
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Prestwood Village
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Prestwood Village is located in Darlington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prestwood Village
- Pine Ridge
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Pine Ridge is located in Darlington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Ridge
- Darlington
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Pine Village
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Pine Village is located in Darlington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Village
- Lydia
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Dillon County
- Minturn
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Kershaw County
- The following are listed by their distance from Excelsior, with the one closest to Excelsior listed first.
- Bethune
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Pine Village
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Pine Village is located in Kershaw County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Village
- Marlboro County
- The following are listed by their distance from Excelsior, with the one closest to Excelsior listed first.
- Wallace
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Bennettsville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Newtonville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Newtonville is located in Marlboro County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newtonville
- Tatum
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Blenheim
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Drake
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Drake is located in Marlboro County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drake
- McColl
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Clio
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Red Bluff
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Red Bluff is located in Marlboro County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Bluff
- Brownsville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Brownsville is located in Marlboro County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brownsville
- Anson County (NC)
- The following are listed by their distance from Excelsior, with the one closest to Excelsior listed first.
- McFarlan
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- McFarlan is located in Anson County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McFarlan
- Population from the 2020 Census: 107 people
- Morven
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Morven is located in Anson County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morven
- Population from the 2020 Census: 465 people
- Cairo
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Cairo is located in Anson County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cairo
- Jones Creek ‑ Historic
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Jones Creek is located in Anson County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jones Creek
- Lilesville
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Wadesboro
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Mineral Springs
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Mineral Springs is located in Anson County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mineral Springs
- Polkton
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Polkton is located in Anson County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Polkton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,288 people
- Peachland
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Sugar Town
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Sugar Town is located in Anson County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Town
- Ansonville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Ansonville is located in Anson County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ansonville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 586 people
- Richmond County (NC)
- The following are listed by their distance from Excelsior, with the one closest to Excelsior listed first.
- Cordova
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Cordova is located in Richmond County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cordova
- Ghio Scholl Station
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Ghio Scholl Station is located in Richmond County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ghio Scholl Station
- East Rockingham
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- East Rockingham is located in Richmond County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Rockingham
- Hamlet
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- New Town
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- New Town is located in Richmond County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Town
- Yates Hill
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Yates Hill is located in Richmond County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yates Hill
- Dobbins Heights
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Dobbins Heights is located in Richmond County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dobbins Heights
- Population from the 2020 Census: 780 people
- Honey Town
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Honey Town is located in Richmond County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Honey Town
- Rockingham
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Steen Town
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Steen Town is located in Richmond County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Steen Town
- Ellerbe
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Marston
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Marston is located in Richmond County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marston
- Mangum
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Mangum is located in Richmond County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mangum
- Scotland County (NC)
- The following are listed by their distance from Excelsior, with the one closest to Excelsior listed first.
- Gibson
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Laurel Hill
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Richmond Mill
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Richmond Mill is located in Scotland County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richmond Mill
- Hasty
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Hasty is located in Scotland County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hasty
- Laurinburg
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- East Laurinburg
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- East Laurinburg is located in Scotland County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Laurinburg
- Population from the 2020 Census: 277 people
- Union County (NC)
- Allens Crossroads
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Allens Crossroads is located in Union County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allens Crossroads
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Excelsior, see our County-by-County Page for Excelsior.
Cemeteries Near Excelsior ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Excelsior.
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 Excelsior - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Excelsior covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Excelsior, with the one closest to Excelsior listed first.
- Pleasant Grove UMC Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Chatham Hill Memorial Gardens
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- St. Davids Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Smithville Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Mt. Olivet Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Montrose Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Brocks Mill Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Zoar Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Pleasant Grove Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Drucilla AME Zion Church Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Bethesda Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Old Saint Marys Presbyterian Church Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (235 more) ...
- True Gospel Emanuel Holiness Church Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Ebenezer Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- White Oak Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
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 Excelsior in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Excelsior.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Excelsior, with the one closest to Excelsior listed first.
- Cheraw
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Cash
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Cash is located in Chesterfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cash
- McFarlan
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- McFarlan is located in Anson County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McFarlan
- Population from the 2020 Census: 107 people
- Morven
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Morven is located in Anson County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morven
- Population from the 2020 Census: 465 people
- Osborne
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Osborne is located in Richmond County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osborne
- Cairo
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Cairo is located in Anson County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cairo
- Society Hill
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Bay Springs
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Bay Springs is located in Chesterfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bay Springs
- Jones Creek ‑ Historic
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Jones Creek is located in Anson County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jones Creek
- Ruby
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Ruby is located in Chesterfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruby
- Population from the 2020 Census: 334 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ruby <2>
- Greenplains ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Greenplains is located in Darlington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenplains
- Bennettsville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Continue List (16 more) ...
- Paris ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Paris is located in Anson County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paris
- Newtonville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Newtonville is located in Marlboro County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newtonville
- Deep Creek
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Deep Creek is located in Anson County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deep Creek
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Excelsior. See our List of 1890's Communities around Excelsior.
Newspapers Published in Excelsior ...
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 99 newspapers that have been published in the area around Excelsior.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Excelsior, there are papers which were published within 22 miles [35.4 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Excelsior.
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 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 Excelsior:
- Websites specific to South Carolina
- Pages specific to Chesterfield County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Darlington County
- Dillon County
- Kershaw County
- Marlboro County
- Anson County
- Richmond County
- Scotland County
- Union County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for South Carolina
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 Excelsior, 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 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. |
| <4> | 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- Excelsior) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |