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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 Germantown (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 Germantown. 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 Germantown ...

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 occur.

Another variation: German Town.

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

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 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.

Germantown is located in Charleston 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 Charleston County: Berkeley, Colleton, Dorchester & Georgetown.

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

  • Charleston County     (The home county of Germantown)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Germantown, with the one closest to Germantown listed first.
    • McClellanville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Pineland
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Pineland is located in Charleston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pineland
    • Awendaw
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Berkeley County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Germantown, with the one closest to Germantown listed first.
    • Jamestown
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Bethera
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Huger
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Wrangle Town ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Wrangle Town is located in Berkeley County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wrangle Town
    • Alvin
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Alvin is located in Berkeley County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alvin
    • Cordesville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Wando
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Harris Town
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Harris Town is located in Berkeley County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harris Town
    • Bonneau
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Georgetown County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Germantown, with the one closest to Germantown listed first.
    • Sampit
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Sampit is located in Georgetown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sampit
    • Georgetown
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Steele Town
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Steele Town is located in Georgetown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Steele Town
    • Andrews
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Campfield
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Campfield is located in Georgetown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Campfield
    • Willie Towne
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Willie Towne is located in Georgetown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willie Towne
    • Pawleys Island
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Jackson
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Jackson is located in Georgetown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jackson
    • Waverly Mills
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Waverly Mills is located in Georgetown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waverly Mills
    • Litchfield Beach
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Allentown
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Allentown is located in Georgetown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allentown
  • Williamsburg County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Germantown, with the one closest to Germantown listed first.
    • Cedar Creek ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Cedar Creek is located in Williamsburg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Creek
    • Snow Town
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Snow Town is located in Williamsburg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Snow Town

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

Cemeteries Near Germantown ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Germantown.

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

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

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

  • Mt. Zion Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • St. Paul AME Church Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • New Hope Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Pennyroyal Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Morning Glory Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Halfway Creek Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • St. James Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Baptist Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Jewish Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Prince George Winyah Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Bethel Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
  • Wilson Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (63 more) ...
    • Eccles Cemetery
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Oak Ridge Memorial Cemetery
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Ridge Memorial Cemetery
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Oak Ridge Memorial Cemetery is located
      • The Oak Ridge Memorial Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Bird Pond Cemetery
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #69565 <2>
    • Apple Old Field Cemetery
      (19 miles [30.6 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 Germantown in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Germantown.

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

  • McClellanville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Honey Hill
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Honey Hill is located in Berkeley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Honey Hill
  • Sampit
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Sampit is located in Georgetown County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sampit
  • Palmerville
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Palmerville is located in Berkeley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palmerville
  • Graves
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Graves is located in Georgetown County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graves
  • Georgetown
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Bethel
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Bethel is located in Georgetown County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bethel
  • Bethera
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
  • Huger
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
  • Earle
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Earle is located in Williamsburg County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Earle
  • Suttons
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Suttons is located in Williamsburg County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Suttons
  • Alvin
    (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Alvin is located in Berkeley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alvin
  • Continue List   (9 more) ...
    • Waverly Mills
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Waverly Mills is located in Georgetown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waverly Mills
    • Trio
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Trio is located in Williamsburg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trio
    • Bloomingvale
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Bloomingvale is located in Williamsburg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bloomingvale

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

Newspapers Published in Germantown ...

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 43 newspapers that have been published in the area around Germantown.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Germantown, there are papers which were published within 24 miles [38.6 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Germantown.

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 Germantown:

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