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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 Garris Park (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 Garris Park. 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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

Garris Park is located in Sumter 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 Sumter County: Calhoun, Clarendon, Florence, Kershaw, Lee & Richland.

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

  • Sumter County     (The home county of Garris Park)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Garris Park, with the one closest to Garris Park listed first.
    • Mulberry
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Mulberry is located in Sumter County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mulberry
    • Sumter
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • South Sumter
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • South Sumter is located in Sumter County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Sumter
    • East Sumter
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • East Sumter is located in Sumter County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Sumter
    • Millwood
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Millwood is located in Sumter County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millwood
    • Ashley Creek Village
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Ashley Creek Village is located in Sumter County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashley Creek Village
    • Oswego
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Oswego is located in Sumter County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oswego
    • Lakewood
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Lakewood is located in Sumter County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakewood
    • Mayesville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Dalzell
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Cane Savannah
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Cane Savannah is located in Sumter County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cane Savannah
    • Cherryvale
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Cherryvale is located in Sumter County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherryvale
  • Calhoun County
    • Creston
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Creston is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Creston
  • Clarendon County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Garris Park, with the one closest to Garris Park listed first.
    • Paxville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Alcolu
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Gable
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Sardinia
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • New Zion
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Turbeville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Silver
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Silver is located in Clarendon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver
    • Manning
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Panola
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Panola is located in Clarendon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Panola
    • Summerton
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Union Crossroads
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Union Crossroads is located in Clarendon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Crossroads
    • Davis Station
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
  • Darlington County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Garris Park, with the one closest to Garris Park listed first.
    • Lamar
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Lamar is located in Darlington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lamar
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 930 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lamar <1>
    • Lydia
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Philadelphia ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Philadelphia is located in Darlington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Philadelphia
    • Alexander Crossroads
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Alexander Crossroads is located in Darlington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alexander Crossroads
    • Syracuse
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Syracuse is located in Darlington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Syracuse
  • Florence County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Garris Park, with the one closest to Garris Park listed first.
    • Cartersville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Cartersville is located in Florence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cartersville
    • Olanta
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Sardis
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Sardis is located in Florence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sardis
    • Timmonsville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Cusac Crossroads
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Cusac Crossroads is located in Florence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cusac Crossroads
    • Jones Crossroads
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Jones Crossroads is located in Florence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jones Crossroads
    • Salem
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Salem is located in Florence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salem
  • Kershaw County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Garris Park, with the one closest to Garris Park listed first.
    • Camden
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Log Town ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Log Town is located in Kershaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Log Town
    • Spring Village
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Spring Village is located in Kershaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Village
    • Lugoff
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Shepard
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Shepard is located in Kershaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shepard
    • Cassatt
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Lafayette Village
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Lafayette Village is located in Kershaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lafayette Village
    • Elgin
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Elgin is located in Kershaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elgin
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,585 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elgin <1>
  • Lee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Garris Park, with the one closest to Garris Park listed first.
    • Atkins
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Atkins is located in Lee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atkins
    • Elliott
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Manville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Manville is located in Lee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manville
    • Lynchburg
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Bishopville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Alcot
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Alcot is located in Lee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alcot
  • Richland County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Garris Park, with the one closest to Garris Park listed first.
    • Eastover
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Gadsden
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Weston
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Weston is located in Richland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weston
    • Bruner
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Bruner is located in Richland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bruner
    • Pinewood
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Pinewood is located in Richland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinewood
  • Williamsburg County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Garris Park, with the one closest to Garris Park listed first.
    • Terrell Crossroad
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Terrell Crossroad is located in Williamsburg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Terrell Crossroad
    • Moore Crossroads
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Moore Crossroads is located in Williamsburg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moore Crossroads

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

Cemeteries Near Garris Park ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Garris Park.

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 Garris Park - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • White Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Sumter Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Webb Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Mitchel Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • White - Dick Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Evergreen Memorial Park
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Green Acres Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Jones Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Reams Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Williams Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Pitts Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Miller Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (174 more) ...
    • Johns Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Gadson Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Dargon Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 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.<2>

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

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

  • Oswego
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Oswego is located in Sumter County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oswego
  • Cane Savannah
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Cane Savannah is located in Sumter County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cane Savannah
  • Mayesville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Privateer
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Privateer is located in Sumter County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Privateer
  • Tindal
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Tindal is located in Sumter County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tindal
  • Brogdon
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Brogdon is located in Sumter County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brogdon
  • Wedgefield
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Catchall
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Catchall is located in Sumter County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Catchall
  • Claremont
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Claremont is located in Sumter County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Claremont
  • Harvin
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Harvin is located in Clarendon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harvin
  • Alcolu
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Atkins
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Atkins is located in Lee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atkins
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Rembert
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Hagood
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Hagood is located in Sumter County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hagood
    • Sardinia
      (16 miles [25.7 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 Garris Park. See our List of 1890's Communities around Garris Park.

Newspapers Published in Garris Park ...

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 Garris Park.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Garris Park, there are papers which were published within Less than 2 miles<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Garris Park.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These helpful 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 Garris Park:

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>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 Garris Park, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>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- Garris Park) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.