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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 Fort Lawn (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 Fort Lawn. 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 Fort Lawn ...

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.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Fort Lawn: Ft. Lawn

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.

Fort Lawn is located in Chester 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 Chester County: Fairfield, Lancaster, Union & York.

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

  • Chester County     (The home county of Fort Lawn)
  • Chesterfield County
  • Fairfield County
  • Kershaw County
  • Lancaster County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fort Lawn, with the one closest to Fort Lawn listed first.
    • Irwin
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Irwin have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irwin
      • Irwin is located in Lancaster County
    • Caskey
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Caskey. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caskey
      • Caskey is located in Lancaster County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Caskey
      • From Fort Lawn to Caskey
    • Lancaster Mill
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lancaster Mill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lancaster Mill
      • Lancaster Mill is located in Lancaster County
    • Riverside
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Riverside. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverside
      • Riverside is located in Lancaster County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Riverside
      • From Fort Lawn to Riverside
    • Bell Town
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bell Town have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bell Town
      • Bell Town is located in Lancaster County
    • Lancaster
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Elgin
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Van Wyck
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Camp Creek
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Pleasant Hill
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Primus
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Heath Springs
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Union
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
  • York County
  • Mecklenburg County (NC)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fort Lawn, with the one closest to Fort Lawn listed first.
    • Weddington
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Weddington have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weddington
      • Weddington is located in Mecklenburg County (NC)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 11,389 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Weddington <1>
    • Pineville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Providence ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Providence have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Providence
      • Providence is located in Mecklenburg County (NC)
    • Matthews
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
  • Union County (NC)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fort Lawn, with the one closest to Fort Lawn listed first.
    • Jaars
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jaars have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jaars
      • Jaars is located in Union County (NC)
    • Jackson
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jackson have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jackson
      • Jackson is located in Union County (NC)
    • Waxhaw
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Mineral Springs
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mineral Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mineral Springs
      • Mineral Springs is located in Union County (NC)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,171 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mineral Springs <1>
    • Marvin
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Marvin have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marvin
      • Marvin is located in Union County (NC)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,920 people
    • White Oak
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for White Oak have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Oak
      • White Oak is located in Union County (NC)
    • Altan
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Trinity
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Trinity have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trinity
      • Trinity is located in Union County (NC)
    • Wesley Chapel
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wesley Chapel have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wesley Chapel
      • Wesley Chapel is located in Union County (NC)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,476 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wesley Chapel <1>
    • Carmel Village
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Carmel Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carmel Village
      • Carmel Village is located in Union County (NC)
    • Indian Trail
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Monroe
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Monroe have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monroe
      • Monroe is located in Union County (NC)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 35,668 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Monroe <1>
    • Rock Rest
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)

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

Cemeteries Near Fort Lawn ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Fort Lawn.

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 Fort Lawn covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Elmwood Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Elmwood Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Elmwood Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Union Ezella Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Union Ezella Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Union Ezella Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Ararat Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ararat Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ararat Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Stroud Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Stroud Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Stroud Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Howze Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Howze Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Howze Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Lancaster Memorial Park
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Hopewell Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hopewell Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hopewell Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Camp Creek Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Camp Creek Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Camp Creek Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Old Presbyterian Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Presbyterian Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Presbyterian Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • West Side Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the West Side Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the West Side Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Anderson Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Anderson Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Anderson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • William Martin Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the William Martin Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the William Martin Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (164 more) ...
    • Blakles, Caldwells & Strouds Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Blakles, Caldwells & Strouds Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Blakles, Caldwells & Strouds Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Browns - Strouds Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Browns - Strouds Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Browns - Strouds Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Clinton Memorial Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Clinton Memorial Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Clinton Memorial Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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.<5>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Fort Lawn had a population of 102 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Fort Lawn had a population of 889 people.

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

  • Caskey
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Caskey. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caskey
    • Caskey is located in Lancaster County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Caskey
    • From Fort Lawn to Caskey
  • Landsford
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Landsford have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Landsford
    • Landsford is located in Chester County
  • Bascomville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bascomville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bascomville
    • Bascomville is located in Chester County
  • Riverside
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Riverside. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverside
    • Riverside is located in Lancaster County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Riverside
    • From Fort Lawn to Riverside
  • Richburg
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Rossville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rossville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rossville
    • Rossville is located in Chester County
  • Harmony
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Harmony have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harmony
    • Harmony is located in York County
  • Catawba
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Knox
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Knox have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knox
    • Knox is located in Chester County
  • Wellridge
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wellridge have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellridge
    • Wellridge is located in Chester County
  • Roddey
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Van Wyck
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Rodman
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rodman have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rodman
      • Rodman is located in Chester County
    • Lesslie
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Lesslie. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lesslie
      • Lesslie is located in York County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Lesslie
      • From Fort Lawn to Lesslie
    • Pleasant Hill
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)

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

Newspapers Published in Fort Lawn ...

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 22 newspapers that have been published in the area around Fort Lawn.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Fort Lawn, there are papers which were published within 17 miles [27.4 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Fort Lawn.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to start with 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 Fort Lawn:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Fort Lawn. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

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

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>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<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>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.
<5>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 Fort Lawn, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>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- Fort Lawn) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Fort Lawn. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.7022, Longitude: -80.8948    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 22 Apr 2025