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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 Grays Hill (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 Grays Hill. 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 Grays Hill ...

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.

While the name of this community is Grays Hill, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Grays Hill may originally have been Gray's Hill.

Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Grays Hill might be written as Gray Hill.

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

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 doctors 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.

Grays Hill is located in Beaufort 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 Beaufort County: Colleton, Hampton & Jasper.

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

  • Beaufort County     (The home county of Grays Hill)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Grays Hill, with the one closest to Grays Hill listed first.
    • Seabrook
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Laurel Bay
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Laurel Bay is located in Beaufort County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurel Bay
    • Lobeco
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Burton
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Polk Village
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Polk Village is located in Beaufort County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Polk Village
    • Dale
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Beaufort
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Sangster Village
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Sangster Village is located in Beaufort County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sangster Village
    • Shell Point
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Shell Point is located in Beaufort County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shell Point
    • Sheldon
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Battery Marina Village
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Port Royal
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Charleston County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Grays Hill, with the one closest to Grays Hill listed first.
    • Edisto Island
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Adams Run
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Canady Landing ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Canady Landing is located in Charleston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canady Landing
  • Colleton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Grays Hill, with the one closest to Grays Hill listed first.
    • White Hall
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • White Hall is located in Colleton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Hall
    • Green Pond
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Ritter
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Ritter is located in Colleton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ritter
    • Edisto Beach
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Edisto Beach is located in Colleton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edisto Beach
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 402 people
    • Drawdy
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Drawdy is located in Colleton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drawdy
    • Jacksonboro
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Sniders Crossroads
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Sniders Crossroads is located in Colleton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sniders Crossroads
    • Walterboro
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Islandton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
  • Hampton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Grays Hill, with the one closest to Grays Hill listed first.
    • Barkerville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Barkerville is located in Hampton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barkerville
      • Barkerville has also been known as:
      • Haywardville
    • Early Branch
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Furman
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Garnett
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Jasper County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Grays Hill, with the one closest to Grays Hill listed first.
    • Ridgeland
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Tillman
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Pineland
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
  • Effingham County (GA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Grays Hill, with the one closest to Grays Hill listed first.
    • Haddonville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Haddonville is located in Effingham County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haddonville
      • Estimated population in 2019: 965 people
    • Two Sisters Ferry
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Two Sisters Ferry is located in Effingham County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Two Sisters Ferry
      • Estimated population in 2019: 3,063 people
    • Clyo
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)

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

Cemeteries Near Grays Hill ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Grays Hill.

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 Grays Hill - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Rose Hill Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Laurel Bay Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Habersham Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Beaufort Memorial Gardens
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Fripp Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Beth Israel Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Citizens Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Evergreen Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Tabernacle Baptist Church Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Beaufort National Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Salvesbarg Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Bethlehem Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (132 more) ...
    • Republican Hall Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Shell Point Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Jericho Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)

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.<4>

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

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

  • Coosaw
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Coosaw is located in Beaufort County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coosaw
  • Beaufort
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Dale
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Port Royal
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Sheldon
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Tomotley
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Tomotley is located in Beaufort County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tomotley
  • Frogmore
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Frogmore is located in Beaufort County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frogmore
  • Ridgeland
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Salkehatchie
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Salkehatchie is located in Colleton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salkehatchie
  • Yemassee
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
  • White Hall
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • White Hall is located in Colleton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Hall
  • Okatie
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Davidson
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Davidson is located in Hampton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Davidson
    • Green Pond
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Bluffton
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)

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

Newspapers Published in Grays Hill ...

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 27 newspapers that have been published in the area around Grays Hill.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Grays Hill, there are papers which were published within 13 miles [20.9 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Grays Hill.

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 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 Grays Hill:

Footnotes ...

<1>It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties).
<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>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 Grays Hill, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<5>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Grays Hill) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.