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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 Ridgeville (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 Ridgeville. 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 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.

Ridgeville is located in Dorchester 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 Dorchester County: Bamberg, Berkeley, Charleston, Colleton & Orangeburg.

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

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

Cemeteries Near Ridgeville ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Ridgeville.

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 Ridgeville covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Bonnerest Garden Of The Resurrection Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Cypress Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cypress Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cypress Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Cummings Chapel Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cummings Chapel Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cummings Chapel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jedburg Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Jedburg Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Jedburg Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Limestone Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Limestone Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Limestone Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Muckenfuss Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Muckenfuss Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Muckenfuss Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Johnson Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Johnson Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Johnson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Murray Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Murray Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Murray Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mims Lake Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mims Lake Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mims Lake Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Dorchester Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Dorchester Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Dorchester Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Givhans Ferry Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Givhans Ferry Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Givhans Ferry Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Blanton Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Blanton Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Blanton Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (244 more) ...
    • Lebanon Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lebanon Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lebanon Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Ferguson Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ferguson Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ferguson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Magnolia Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Magnolia Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Magnolia Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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 Ridgeville had a population of 212 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Ridgeville had a population of 1,841 people.

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

  • Summerville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Long Ridge
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Long Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Ridge
    • Long Ridge is located in Berkeley County
  • Sandridge
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Sandridge. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandridge
    • Sandridge is located in Berkeley County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Sandridge
    • From Ridgeville to Sandridge
  • Harleyville
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Ladson
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Cottageville
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Holly Hill
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
  • Mount Holly
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Holly have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Holly
    • Mount Holly is located in Berkeley County
  • Strawberry
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Strawberry have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Strawberry
    • Strawberry is located in Berkeley County
  • Connors ‑ Historic
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Connors have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Connors
    • Connors is located in Orangeburg County
  • Otranto
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Otranto. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Otranto
    • Otranto is located in Charleston County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Otranto
    • From Ridgeville to Otranto
  • Moncks Corner
    (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Reevesville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Belvedere
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Belvedere have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belvedere
      • Belvedere is located in Berkeley County
    • Wells
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)

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

Newspapers Published in Ridgeville ...

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 7 newspapers that have been published in the area around Ridgeville.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Ridgeville, there are papers which were published within 9 miles [14.5 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Ridgeville.

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 Ridgeville:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Ridgeville. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Dorchester County: www.dorchestercounty.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>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.
<3>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.
<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 Ridgeville, 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Ridgeville) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Ridgeville. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.0948, Longitude: -80.3143    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 22 Apr 2025