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 McGowans Ferry (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 McGowans Ferry. 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 McGowans Ferry ...
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 McGowans Ferry, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So McGowans Ferry may originally have been McGowan's Ferry.
Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case McGowans Ferry might be written as McGowan Ferry.
You might be interested in other communities that are also named McGowans Ferry. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for McGowans Ferry.
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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.
McGowans Ferry is located in Richland 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 Richland County: Calhoun, Fairfield, Kershaw, Lexington, Newberry & Sumter.
Below are the counties that are near McGowans Ferry. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to McGowans Ferry:
- Richland County (The home county of McGowans Ferry)
- The following are listed by their distance from McGowans Ferry, with the one closest to McGowans Ferry listed first.
- Saint Andrews
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Saint Andrews is located in Richland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Andrews
- Columbia
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Hollywood
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Hollywood is located in Richland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollywood
- Brickyard Village
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Brickyard Village is located in Richland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brickyard Village
- Forest Acres
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Forest Acres is located in Richland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Acres
- Population from the 2020 Census: 10,269 people
- Belmont
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Ravenwood
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Ravenwood is located in Richland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ravenwood
- Arthurtown
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Arthurtown is located in Richland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arthurtown
- Valencia Heights
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Valencia Heights is located in Richland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valencia Heights
- Arcadia Lakes
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Arcadia Lakes is located in Richland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arcadia Lakes
- Population from the 2020 Census: 874 people
- Dentsville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Capitol View
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Capitol View is located in Richland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Capitol View
- Aiken County
- The following are listed by their distance from McGowans Ferry, with the one closest to McGowans Ferry listed first.
- Seivern
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Seivern is located in Aiken County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seivern
- Perry
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Wagener
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Calhoun County
- Saint Matthews
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Fairfield County
- The following are listed by their distance from McGowans Ferry, with the one closest to McGowans Ferry listed first.
- Smallwood
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Smallwood is located in Fairfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smallwood
- Rion
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Rock Hill
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Rock Hill is located in Fairfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Hill
- Ridgeway
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Jenkinsville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Winnsboro Mills
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Winnsboro Mills is located in Fairfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winnsboro Mills
- Winnsboro
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Monticello
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Monticello is located in Fairfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monticello
- Adger
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Adger is located in Fairfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adger
- Kershaw County
- The following are listed by their distance from McGowans Ferry, with the one closest to McGowans Ferry listed first.
- Elgin
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Lugoff
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Spring Village
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Spring Village is located in Kershaw County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Village
- Camden
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Lancaster County
- Springdale
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Lexington County
- The following are listed by their distance from McGowans Ferry, with the one closest to McGowans Ferry listed first.
- West Columbia
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Cayce
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Seven Oaks
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Arthur
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Arthur is located in Lexington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arthur
- Oak Grove
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Oak Grove is located in Lexington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
- Springdale
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Springdale is located in Lexington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springdale
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,732 people
- Irmo
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Irmo is located in Lexington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irmo
- Population from the 2020 Census: 12,734 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Irmo <2>
- Pineridge
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Pineridge is located in Lexington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pineridge
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,419 people
- Styx ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Styx is located in Lexington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Styx
- South Congaree
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- South Congaree is located in Lexington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Congaree
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,485 people
- Glenn Village
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Glenn Village is located in Lexington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenn Village
- Lexington
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Newberry County
- The following are listed by their distance from McGowans Ferry, with the one closest to McGowans Ferry listed first.
- Peak
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Little Mountain
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Slighs
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Slighs is located in Newberry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slighs
- Pomaria
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Prosperity
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Stoney Hill
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Stoney Hill is located in Newberry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stoney Hill
- Orangeburg County
- The following are listed by their distance from McGowans Ferry, with the one closest to McGowans Ferry listed first.
- Woodford
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Woodford is located in Orangeburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodford
- Population from the 2020 Census: 169 people
- North
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Sumter County
- The following are listed by their distance from McGowans Ferry, with the one closest to McGowans Ferry listed first.
- Horatio
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Claremont
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Claremont is located in Sumter County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Claremont
- Rembert
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Stateburg
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Stateburg is located in Sumter County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stateburg
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to McGowans Ferry, see our County-by-County Page for McGowans Ferry.
Cemeteries Near McGowans Ferry ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of McGowans Ferry.
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 McGowans Ferry - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for McGowans Ferry covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from McGowans Ferry, with the one closest to McGowans Ferry listed first.
- Factory Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Randolph Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- State Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Elmwood Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmwood Cemetery
- The Elmwood Cemetery has also been known as:
- Elmwood Memorial Gardens
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #69943 <3>
- Douglas Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Geiger Ave. Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Geiger Ave. Cemetery
- The Geiger Ave. Cemetery has also been known as:
- Confederate Home Cemetery
- South Carolina State Hospital Cemetery
- White Asylum Cemetery
- Miller Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Hebrew Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- St. Peters Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Taylor Burying Ground
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Leevy Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Palmetto Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Continue List (284 more) ...
- Lincoln Memorial Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Mt. Hebron UMC Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Mt. Hermon Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 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.<4>
While we didn't find McGowans Ferry in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of McGowans Ferry.
These communities are listed based on their distance from McGowans Ferry, with the one closest to McGowans Ferry listed first.
- Columbia
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Cayce
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Leaphart
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Leaphart is located in Lexington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leaphart
- Spring Hill
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Spring Hill is located in Lexington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Hill
- Arthur
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Arthur is located in Lexington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arthur
- Irmo
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Irmo is located in Lexington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irmo
- Population from the 2020 Census: 12,734 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Irmo <2>
- Pineridge
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Pineridge is located in Lexington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pineridge
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,419 people
- Childs
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Childs is located in Richland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Childs
- Bookman
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Bookman is located in Richland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bookman
- Killian
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Killian is located in Richland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Killian
- Pleasant ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Pleasant is located in Richland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant
- Ballentine
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Lever ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Lever is located in Richland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lever
- Sharp
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Sharp is located in Richland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sharp
- Hopkins
(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 McGowans Ferry. See our List of 1890's Communities around McGowans Ferry.
Newspapers Published in McGowans Ferry ...
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 176 newspapers that have been published in the area around McGowans Ferry.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of McGowans Ferry, there are papers which were published within 7 miles [11.3 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for McGowans Ferry.
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 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 McGowans Ferry:
- Websites specific to South Carolina
- Pages specific to Richland County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Aiken County
- Calhoun County
- Fairfield County
- Kershaw County
- Lancaster County
- Lexington County
- Newberry County
- Orangeburg County
- Sumter County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for South Carolina
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 McGowans Ferry, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <5> | 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- McGowans Ferry) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |