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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 Five Forks (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 Five Forks. 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 Five Forks ...

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.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Five Forks: Five Frks.

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Five Forks. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Five Forks.

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 northwest 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 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.

Five Forks is located in Pickens 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 Pickens County: Transylvania (NC), Anderson, Greenville & Oconee.

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

  • Pickens County     (The home county of Five Forks)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Five Forks, with the one closest to Five Forks listed first.
    • Liberty
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Arial
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Arial is located in Pickens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arial
    • Easley
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Norris
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Central
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Pickens
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Isaqueena Village
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Isaqueena Village is located in Pickens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Isaqueena Village
    • Six Mile
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Clemson
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Dacusville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Dacusville is located in Pickens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dacusville
    • Crow Creek
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Crow Creek is located in Pickens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crow Creek
    • Nine Times
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Nine Times is located in Pickens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nine Times
  • Abbeville County
    • Honea Path
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Anderson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Five Forks, with the one closest to Five Forks listed first.
    • Powderville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Powderville is located in Anderson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powderville
    • Pendleton
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Piedmont
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • La France
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Sandy Springs
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Northlake
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Northlake is located in Anderson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Northlake
    • West Pelzer
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • West Pelzer is located in Anderson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Pelzer
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 953 people
    • Anderson Village
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Anderson Village is located in Anderson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anderson Village
    • Pelzer
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Williamston
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Centerville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Centerville is located in Anderson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerville
    • Leisure Village
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Leisure Village is located in Anderson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leisure Village
  • Greenville County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Five Forks, with the one closest to Five Forks listed first.
    • Golden Grove
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Golden Grove is located in Greenville County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Golden Grove
    • Welcome
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Welcome is located in Greenville County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Welcome
    • White Horse
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • White Horse is located in Greenville County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Horse
    • Parker
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Parker is located in Greenville County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parker
    • Gantt
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Gantt is located in Greenville County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gantt
    • Judson
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Judson is located in Greenville County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Judson
    • Dunean
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Dunean is located in Greenville County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunean
    • Pine Hill Village
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Pine Hill Village is located in Greenville County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Hill Village
    • Berea
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Berea is located in Greenville County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berea
    • City View
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • City View is located in Greenville County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for City View
    • Greenville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Sans Souci
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Sans Souci is located in Greenville County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sans Souci
  • Laurens County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Five Forks, with the one closest to Five Forks listed first.
    • Green Pond
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Green Pond is located in Laurens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Pond
    • Princeton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Princeton is located in Laurens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Princeton
  • Oconee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Five Forks, with the one closest to Five Forks listed first.
    • Newry
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Utica
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Utica is located in Oconee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Utica
    • Seneca
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Salem
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Richland
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • West Union
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Tamassee
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Oakway
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Oakway is located in Oconee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakway
    • Walhalla
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Fair Play
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Westminster
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Mountain Rest
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Spartanburg County
    • Crescent
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Crescent is located in Spartanburg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crescent
  • Hart County (GA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Five Forks, with the one closest to Five Forks listed first.
    • Crawfords Ferry
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Crawfords Ferry is located in Hart County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crawfords Ferry
      • Estimated population in 2019: 473 people
    • Cooleys Ferry
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Cooleys Ferry is located in Hart County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooleys Ferry
      • Estimated population in 2019: 529 people
    • Reed Creek
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Reed Creek is located in Hart County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reed Creek
    • Dooleys Ferry
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Dooleys Ferry is located in Hart County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dooleys Ferry
      • Estimated population in 2019: 136 people
    • Maretts
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Maretts is located in Hart County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maretts
  • Transylvania County (NC)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Five Forks, with the one closest to Five Forks listed first.
    • Cedar Mountain
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • East Fork
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • East Fork is located in Transylvania County (NC)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Fork
    • Rosman
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Rosman is located in Transylvania County (NC)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosman
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 624 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rosman <1>
    • Lake Toxaway
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Toxaway Falls ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Toxaway Falls is located in Transylvania County (NC)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toxaway Falls
    • Sapphire
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Five Forks ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Five Forks.

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 Five Forks - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Golden Grove Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Flat Rock Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Flat Rock Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Carmel Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Liberty Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Ruhamah Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Smith Grove Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Corinth Baptist #2 Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Zion Methodist Church Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Kennemer Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Grant Memorial Park
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Sharon Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (388 more) ...
    • Calvary Baptist Church Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Pickens Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Fairview UMC Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairview UMC Cemetery
      • The Fairview UMC Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Fairview Methodist 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.<3>

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

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

  • Liberty
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Easley
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Central
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Piercetown
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Piercetown is located in Anderson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Piercetown
  • Six Mile
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Pendleton
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Calhoun
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Calhoun is located in Pickens County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calhoun
  • Piedmont
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • White Horse
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • White Horse is located in Greenville County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Horse
  • Crow Creek
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Crow Creek is located in Pickens County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crow Creek
  • Dacusville
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Dacusville is located in Pickens County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dacusville
  • Denver
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Denver is located in Anderson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Denver
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Williamston
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Pelzer
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Nine Times
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Nine Times is located in Pickens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nine Times

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

Newspapers Published in Five Forks ...

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 26 newspapers that have been published in the area around Five Forks.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Five Forks, there are papers which were published within 11 miles [17.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Five Forks.

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 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 Five Forks:

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 Five Forks, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Five Forks) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.