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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 Maple Ridge (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 Maple Ridge. 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 Maple Ridge ...

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: Mapleridge.

  • A typical abbreviation for Maple Ridge: Maple Rdg. (or less commonly used: Maple Rdge. or Maple Ridg.)

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

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.

Maple Ridge is located in Berkeley 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 Berkeley County: Charleston, Dorchester, Georgetown, Orangeburg & Williamsburg.

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

  • Berkeley County     (The home county of Maple Ridge)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Maple Ridge, with the one closest to Maple Ridge listed first.
    • Goose Creek
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Camelot Village
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Camelot Village is located in Berkeley County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camelot Village
    • Mount Holly
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Mount Holly is located in Berkeley County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Holly
    • Caromi Village
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Caromi Village is located in Berkeley County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caromi Village
    • Hanahan
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Highland Village
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Highland Village is located in Berkeley County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland Village
    • Ladson
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Tarry Town
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Tarry Town is located in Berkeley County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tarry Town
    • Wando
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Washington Town
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Washington Town is located in Berkeley County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Washington Town
    • Cordesville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Moncks Corner
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Huger
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Charleston County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Maple Ridge, with the one closest to Maple Ridge listed first.
    • Otranto
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Otranto is located in Charleston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Otranto
    • North Charleston
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Lincolnville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Lincolnville is located in Charleston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincolnville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,624 people
    • Dorchester
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Dorchester is located in Charleston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dorchester
    • Grove Creek Village
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Grove Creek Village is located in Charleston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grove Creek Village
    • Essex Village
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Essex Village is located in Charleston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Essex Village
    • Old Town
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Old Town is located in Charleston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Town
    • Charles Towne Village
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Charles Towne Village is located in Charleston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charles Towne Village
    • Charleston
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Mount Pleasant
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • The Village
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • The Village is located in Charleston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Village
    • James Island
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • James Island is located in Charleston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for James Island
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 12,226 people
    • Island-of-Palms
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Island-of-Palms is located in Charleston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Island-of-Palms
  • Colleton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Maple Ridge, with the one closest to Maple Ridge listed first.
    • Cottageville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Jacksonboro
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Round O
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Dorchester County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Maple Ridge, with the one closest to Maple Ridge listed first.
    • Chandler Village
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Chandler Village is located in Dorchester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chandler Village
    • Summerville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Brownsville
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Brownsville is located in Dorchester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brownsville
    • Flowertown Village
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Flowertown Village is located in Dorchester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flowertown Village
    • Ridgeville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Dorchester
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Harleyville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Maple Ridge ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Maple Ridge.

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 Maple Ridge - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • St. James Goose Creek Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • The Droze Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • The Droze Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Sunset Memorial Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Johnson Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Carolina Memorial Gardens
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Medway Plantation Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Parnassus Plantation Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Whispering Pines Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Huff Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Pear Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Cherry Hill Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (172 more) ...

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 Maple Ridge in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Maple Ridge.

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

  • Mount Holly
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Mount Holly is located in Berkeley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Holly
  • Otranto
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Otranto is located in Charleston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Otranto
  • Belvedere
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Belvedere is located in Berkeley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belvedere
  • Ladson
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Strawberry
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Strawberry is located in Berkeley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Strawberry
  • Summerville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Wando
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Long Ridge
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Long Ridge is located in Berkeley County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Ridge
  • Charleston
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Huger
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Moncks Corner
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
  • Mount Pleasant
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • James Island
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • James Island is located in Charleston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for James Island
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 12,226 people
    • Ridgeville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Bethera
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)

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

Newspapers Published in Maple Ridge ...

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 13 newspapers that have been published in the area around Maple Ridge.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Maple Ridge, there are papers which were published within 8 miles [12.9 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Maple Ridge.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 Maple Ridge:

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