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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 Sandy River (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 Sandy River. 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 Sandy River ...

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 Sandy River: Sandy Riv.

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

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 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.

Sandy River is located in Chester 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 Chester County: Fairfield, Lancaster, Union & York.

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

  • Chester County     (The home county of Sandy River)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sandy River, with the one closest to Sandy River listed first.
    • Gayle Mill
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Gayle Mill is located in Chester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gayle Mill
    • Chester
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Eureka Mill
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Eureka Mill is located in Chester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eureka Mill
    • Cornwell
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Cornwell is located in Chester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cornwell
    • Lowrys
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Lowrys is located in Chester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lowrys
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 195 people
    • Blackstock
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Cabal
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Cabal is located in Chester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cabal
    • Smith
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Smith is located in Chester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smith
    • Richburg
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Lando
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Edgemoor
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Fort Lawn
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Great Falls
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
  • Cherokee County
  • Fairfield County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sandy River, with the one closest to Sandy River listed first.
    • Woodward
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Woodward is located in Fairfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodward
    • Blair
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • White Oak
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Adger
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Adger is located in Fairfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adger
    • Monticello
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Monticello is located in Fairfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monticello
    • Mitford
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Mitford is located in Fairfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mitford
    • Winnsboro
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Winnsboro Mills
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Winnsboro Mills is located in Fairfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winnsboro Mills
    • Jenkinsville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Rion
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Rock Hill
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Rock Hill is located in Fairfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Hill
  • Lancaster County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sandy River, with the one closest to Sandy River listed first.
    • Bell Town
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Bell Town is located in Lancaster County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bell Town
    • Springdell
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Springdell is located in Lancaster County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springdell
    • Caskey
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Caskey is located in Lancaster County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caskey
    • Irwin
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Irwin is located in Lancaster County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irwin
    • Riverside
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Riverside is located in Lancaster County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverside
    • Lancaster Mill
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Lancaster Mill is located in Lancaster County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lancaster Mill
    • Van Wyck
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Laurens County
    • Renno
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Renno is located in Laurens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Renno
  • Newberry County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sandy River, with the one closest to Sandy River listed first.
    • Glymphville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Glymphville is located in Newberry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glymphville
    • Whitmire
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Sondleys ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Sondleys is located in Newberry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sondleys
    • Pomaria
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Peak
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Peak is located in Newberry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peak
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 65 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Peak <1>
    • Union
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Union is located in Newberry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union
  • Spartanburg County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sandy River, with the one closest to Sandy River listed first.
    • Central Pacolet
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Central Pacolet is located in Spartanburg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central Pacolet
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 247 people
    • Pacolet Mills
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Pacolet
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Pacolet is located in Spartanburg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pacolet
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,604 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pacolet <1>
    • Cross Anchor
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Union County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sandy River, with the one closest to Sandy River listed first.
    • Carlisle
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Meador ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Meador is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meador
    • Lockhart
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Tuckertown
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Tuckertown is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tuckertown
    • Red Town ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Red Town is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Town
    • Bailey Town ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Bailey Town is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bailey Town
    • Delta
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Delta is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delta
    • Sartor Town
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Sartor Town is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sartor Town
    • Union
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Kelly
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Kelly is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelly
    • Bonham
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Bonham is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonham
    • Buffalo
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Bishop Town ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Bishop Town is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bishop Town
  • York County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sandy River, with the one closest to Sandy River listed first.
    • McConnells
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Blairsville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Blairsville is located in York County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blairsville
    • Hopewell
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Hopewell is located in York County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopewell
    • Sharon
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Hickory Grove
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • York
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Rock Hill
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Lesslie
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Lesslie is located in York County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lesslie
    • Newport
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Newport is located in York County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newport
    • Roddey
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Roddey is located in York County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roddey
      • Roddey has also been known as:
      • Coates Tavern
    • Filbert
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Filbert is located in York County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Filbert
    • Smyrna
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Catawba
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)

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

Cemeteries Near Sandy River ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Sandy River.

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 Sandy River - one of the links might be able to help.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Sandy River, with the one closest to Sandy River 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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Sandy River had railroad service and no post office.

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

  • Baton Rouge
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Baton Rouge is located in Chester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baton Rouge
  • Leeds
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Leeds is located in Chester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leeds
  • Wilksburg
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Wilksburg is located in Chester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilksburg
  • Chester
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Carlisle
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Cornwell
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Cornwell is located in Chester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cornwell
  • Feasterville
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Feasterville is located in Fairfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Feasterville
  • Meador ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Meador is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meador
  • Herbert
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Herbert is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Herbert
  • Blackstock
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Santuc
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Santuc is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Santuc
  • Shelton
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Shelton is located in Fairfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shelton
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Woodward
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Woodward is located in Fairfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodward
    • Orrs
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Orrs is located in Chester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orrs
    • Ada ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Ada is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ada

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

Newspapers Published in Sandy River ...

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 29 newspapers that have been published in the area around Sandy River.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Sandy River, there are papers which were published within 19 miles [30.6 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Sandy River.

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 either 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 Sandy River:

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 Sandy River, 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- Sandy River) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.