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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 Syracuse (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 Syracuse. 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.

Syracuse is located in Darlington 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 Darlington County: Chesterfield, Florence, Kershaw, Lee & Marlboro.

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

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

Cemeteries Near Syracuse ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Syracuse.

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

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

  • Garner Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Garner Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Garner Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Lake Swamp Baptist Church Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Anderson Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Anderson Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Anderson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Quarters Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Indian Branch Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Indian Branch Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Indian Branch Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Odom Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Odom Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Odom Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Wesley Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wesley Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wesley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Swift Creek Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Reynolds Family Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Sansbury Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Cannon Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cannon Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cannon Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Magnolia Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • 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.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (241 more) ...
    • Mill Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mill Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Bethel Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bethel Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bethel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Cherry Grove Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cherry Grove Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cherry Grove 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.<6>

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

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

  • Philadelphia ‑ Historic
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Lamar
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Timmonsville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Oats
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oats have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oats
    • Oats is located in Darlington County
  • Ebenezer
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Palmetto
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Palmetto. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palmetto
    • Palmetto is located in Darlington County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Palmetto
    • From Syracuse to Palmetto
  • Lydia
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Cartersville
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Floyd
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Floyd have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Floyd
    • Floyd is located in Darlington County
  • Florence
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Hartsville
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Dovesville
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Dovesville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dovesville
    • Dovesville is located in Darlington County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Dovesville
    • From Syracuse to Dovesville
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Lynchburg
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Sardis
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Sardis. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sardis
      • Sardis is located in Florence County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Sardis
      • From Syracuse to Sardis
    • Howe
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Howe have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howe
      • Howe is located in Florence County

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

Newspapers Published in Syracuse ...

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 55 newspapers that have been published in the area around Syracuse.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Syracuse, there are papers which were published within 11 miles [17.7 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Syracuse.

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 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 Syracuse:

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

The official website for Darlington County: www.darcosc.com/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<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 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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Syracuse) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Syracuse. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.2318, Longitude: -79.9680    
<6>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 Syracuse, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 22 Apr 2025