RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of South Carolina >> Laurens County >> Mount Olive >> Genealogy HelperIndex...

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 Mount Olive (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 Mount Olive. 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 Mount Olive ...

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.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Mount Olive: Mt. Olive

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

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 and doctors 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.

Mount Olive is located in Laurens 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 Laurens County: Abbeville, Anderson, Greenville, Greenwood, Newberry, Spartanburg & Union.

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

  • Laurens County     (The home county of Mount Olive)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mount Olive, with the one closest to Mount Olive listed first.
    • Mount Gallagher
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Mount Gallagher is located in Laurens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Gallagher
    • Ekom
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Ekom is located in Laurens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ekom
    • Waterloo
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Collins Lakeside Village
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Simpson ‑ Historic
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Simpson is located in Laurens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Simpson
    • Cold Point
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Cold Point is located in Laurens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cold Point
    • Lisbon ‑ Historic
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Lisbon is located in Laurens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lisbon
    • Mountville
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Cross Hill
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Laurens
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Princeton
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Princeton is located in Laurens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Princeton
    • Gray Court
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
  • Abbeville County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mount Olive, with the one closest to Mount Olive listed first.
    • Ware Shoals
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Donalds
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Due West
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Honea Path
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Cana ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Cana is located in Abbeville County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cana
    • Abbeville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Level Land
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Level Land is located in Abbeville County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Level Land
    • Antreville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Antreville is located in Abbeville County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Antreville
    • Monterey ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Monterey is located in Abbeville County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monterey
    • Lake Secession
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Lake Secession is located in Abbeville County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Secession
    • Latimer
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Latimer is located in Abbeville County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Latimer
    • Lowndesville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Anderson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mount Olive, with the one closest to Mount Olive listed first.
    • Belton
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Pelzer
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Williamston
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • West Pelzer
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • West Pelzer is located in Anderson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Pelzer
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 953 people
    • Piedmont
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Anderson
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Caldwell Village
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Caldwell Village is located in Anderson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caldwell Village
    • Iva
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Iva is located in Anderson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iva
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,341 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Iva <1>
    • Deans
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Deans is located in Anderson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deans
    • Homeland Park
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Homeland Park is located in Anderson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homeland Park
    • Starr
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Greenville County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mount Olive, with the one closest to Mount Olive listed first.
    • Fork Shoals
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Fork Shoals is located in Greenville County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fork Shoals
    • Lickville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Lickville is located in Greenville County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lickville
    • Fountain Inn
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Simpsonville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Woodland Village
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Woodland Village is located in Greenville County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland Village
    • Mauldin
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Mauldin is located in Greenville County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mauldin
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 25,562 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mauldin <1>
    • Five Forks
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Five Forks is located in Greenville County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Forks
    • Conestee
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Golden Grove
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Golden Grove is located in Greenville County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Golden Grove
  • Greenwood County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mount Olive, with the one closest to Mount Olive listed first.
    • Cokesbury
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Cokesbury is located in Greenwood County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cokesbury
    • Coronaca
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Coronaca is located in Greenwood County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coronaca
    • Hodges
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Greenwood Village
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Greenwood Village is located in Greenwood County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwood Village
    • Greenwood
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Grendel Village
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Grendel Village is located in Greenwood County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grendel Village
    • Fairforest
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Fairforest is located in Greenwood County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairforest
    • Mathews Village
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Mathews Village is located in Greenwood County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mathews Village
    • Panola Village
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Panola Village is located in Greenwood County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Panola Village
    • Ninety Six
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Springdale
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Springdale is located in Greenwood County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springdale
    • Promised Land
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Promised Land is located in Greenwood County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Promised Land
  • Newberry County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mount Olive, with the one closest to Mount Olive listed first.
    • Mudlick
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Mudlick is located in Newberry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mudlick
    • Chappells
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Smyrna
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Old Town Ferry
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Old Town Ferry is located in Newberry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Town Ferry
    • Silverstreet
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Helena
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Helena is located in Newberry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helena
  • Spartanburg County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mount Olive, with the one closest to Mount Olive listed first.
    • Enoree
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Cross Anchor
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Woodruff
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Crescent
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Crescent is located in Spartanburg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crescent
    • Green Pond
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Green Pond is located in Spartanburg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Pond
  • Union County
    • Sedalia
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Sedalia is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sedalia

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

Cemeteries Near Mount Olive ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Mount Olive.

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 Mount Olive - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

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

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

  • Mount Gallagher
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Mount Gallagher is located in Laurens County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Gallagher
  • Ekom
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Ekom is located in Laurens County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ekom
  • Waterloo
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Brewerton
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Brewerton is located in Laurens County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brewerton
  • Hodges
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Lisbon ‑ Historic
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Lisbon is located in Laurens County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lisbon
  • Cross Hill
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Mountville
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Princeton
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Princeton is located in Laurens County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Princeton
  • Donalds
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Greenwood
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Due West
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Barksdale
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Barksdale is located in Laurens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barksdale
    • Darraugh
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Darraugh is located in Abbeville County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Darraugh
    • Honea Path
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)

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

Newspapers Published in Mount Olive ...

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 32 newspapers that have been published in the area around Mount Olive.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Mount Olive, there are papers which were published within 15 miles [24.1 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Mount Olive.

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 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 Mount Olive:

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 Mount Olive, 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Mount Olive) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.