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The Commemorative
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The Commemorative Quarter for South Carolina





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 Prosperity (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 Prosperity. 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.

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 and 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.

Prosperity is located in Newberry County.

To see how the shape of South Carolina's counties have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Newberry County: Fairfield, Greenwood, Laurens, Lexington, Richland, Saluda & Union.

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

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

Cemeteries Near Prosperity ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Prosperity.

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.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

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

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

  • Prosperity Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Shiloh Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Shiloh Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Shiloh Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mt. Pilgrim Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Pilgrim Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Pilgrim Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Colony Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Colony Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Colony Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Luke's Lutheran Church Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Bachman Chapel Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bachman Chapel Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bachman Chapel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Cannon Creek Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cannon Creek Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cannon Creek Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Chapman - Summers Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Zion Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Zion Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Zion Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Oak Grove Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oak Grove Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oak Grove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Cannons Creek Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cannons Creek Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cannons Creek Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mt. Hebron Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Hebron Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Hebron Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (339 more) ...
    • Newberry Memorial Gardens
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Newberry Memorial Gardens
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Newberry Memorial Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Ebenezer Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ebenezer Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ebenezer Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Mt. Olivet Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Olivet Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Olivet Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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.<5>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Prosperity had a population of 565 people in 1895 with railroad service and no post office. In 2020, Prosperity had a population of 1,306 people.

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

  • Slighs
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Little Mountain
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Pomaria
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Helena
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Helena. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helena
    • Helena is located in Newberry County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Helena
    • From Prosperity to Helena
  • Sondleys ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sondleys have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sondleys
    • Sondleys is located in Newberry County
  • Chapin
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Reuben ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Reuben have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reuben
    • Reuben is located in Newberry County
  • Silverstreet
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Ella
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ella. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ella
    • Ella is located in Lexington County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Ella
    • From Prosperity to Ella
  • Alston
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alston have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alston
    • Alston is located in Fairfield County
  • Peak
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
  • Walton ‑ Historic
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Walton have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walton
    • Walton is located in Newberry County
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Jalapa
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jalapa have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jalapa
      • Jalapa is located in Newberry County
    • Dawkins
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dawkins have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dawkins
      • Dawkins is located in Fairfield County
    • Jenkinsville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Prosperity ...

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 63 newspapers that have been published in the area around Prosperity.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Prosperity. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Prosperity and those printed in the larger area surrounding Prosperity.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 21 miles [33.8 km]<6> of Prosperity.

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 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 Prosperity:

The official website for Prosperity: www.prosperitysc.com/

The official website for Newberry County: www.newberrycounty.net/

The official website for State of South Carolina: https://sc.gov/

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>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<3>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<4>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.
<5>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 Prosperity, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>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 from Point A (ie- Prosperity) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Prosperity. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.2090, Longitude: -81.5333    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 22 Apr 2025