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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 Tompkins Cross Roads (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 Tompkins Cross Roads. 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 Tompkins Cross Roads ...

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.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might occur.

  • A typical abbreviation for Tompkins Cross Roads: Tompkins Xrds.
  • While the name of this community is Tompkins Cross Roads, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Tompkins Cross Roads may originally have been Tompkin's Cross Roads.

    Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Tompkins Cross Roads might be written as Tompkin Cross Roads.

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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the east. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the county to the north.

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 north 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.

Tompkins Cross Roads is located in Edgefield 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 Edgefield County: Columbia (GA), Richmond (GA), Aiken, Greenwood, McCormick & Saluda.

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

  • Edgefield County     (The home county of Tompkins Cross Roads)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Tompkins Cross Roads, with the one closest to Tompkins Cross Roads listed first.
    • Edgefield
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Johnston
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Trenton
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Colliers
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Colliers is located in Edgefield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colliers
    • Lenoir ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Lenoir is located in Edgefield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lenoir
    • Murphys Estates
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Murphys Estates is located in Edgefield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Murphys Estates
  • Abbeville County
    • Cana ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Cana is located in Abbeville County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cana
  • Aiken County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Tompkins Cross Roads, with the one closest to Tompkins Cross Roads listed first.
    • Eureka
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Eureka is located in Aiken County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eureka
    • Monetta
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Springdale
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Springdale is located in Aiken County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springdale
    • Vaucluse
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Graniteville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Belvedere
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Belvedere is located in Aiken County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belvedere
    • Warrenville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Gloverville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Aiken
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Burnettown
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Burnettown is located in Aiken County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burnettown
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,769 people
    • Langley
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Bath
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Clearwater
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
  • Greenwood County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Tompkins Cross Roads, with the one closest to Tompkins Cross Roads listed first.
    • Springdale
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Springdale is located in Greenwood County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springdale
    • Ninety Six
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Bradley
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Fairforest
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Fairforest is located in Greenwood County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairforest
    • Mathews Village
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Mathews Village is located in Greenwood County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mathews Village
    • Panola Village
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Panola Village is located in Greenwood County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Panola Village
    • Troy
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Troy is located in Greenwood County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Troy
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 101 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Troy <2>
    • Promised Land
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Promised Land is located in Greenwood County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Promised Land
    • Verdery
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Verdery is located in Greenwood County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Verdery
    • Greenwood Village
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Greenwood Village is located in Greenwood County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwood Village
    • Greenwood
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Grendel Village
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Grendel Village is located in Greenwood County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grendel Village
    • Coronaca
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Coronaca is located in Greenwood County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coronaca
  • Laurens County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Tompkins Cross Roads, with the one closest to Tompkins Cross Roads listed first.
    • Anglers Haven
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Anglers Haven is located in Laurens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anglers Haven
    • Cross Hill
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Collins Lakeside Village
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Mountville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
    • Waterloo
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
  • Lexington County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Tompkins Cross Roads, with the one closest to Tompkins Cross Roads listed first.
    • Batesburg - Leesville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Batesburg - Leesville is located in Lexington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Batesburg - Leesville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,402 people
    • Batesburg
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Leesville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Fredonia
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Fredonia is located in Lexington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fredonia
    • Lake Village
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Lake Village is located in Lexington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Village
    • Summit
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Summit is located in Lexington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summit
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 486 people
    • Clubhouse Crossroads
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Clubhouse Crossroads is located in Lexington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clubhouse Crossroads
    • Ella
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Ella is located in Lexington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ella
    • Gilbert
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • McCormick County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Tompkins Cross Roads, with the one closest to Tompkins Cross Roads listed first.
    • Liberty Hill
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Liberty Hill is located in McCormick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty Hill
    • Parksville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Plum Branch
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Modoc
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • McCormick
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Clarks Hill
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Willington
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Willington is located in McCormick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willington
  • Newberry County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Tompkins Cross Roads, with the one closest to Tompkins Cross Roads listed first.
    • Chappells
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Old Town Ferry
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Old Town Ferry is located in Newberry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Town Ferry
    • Silverstreet
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Mudlick
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Mudlick is located in Newberry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mudlick
    • Stoney Hill
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Stoney Hill is located in Newberry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stoney Hill
    • Smyrna
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Helena
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Helena is located in Newberry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helena
    • Newberry
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Prosperity
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Saluda County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Tompkins Cross Roads, with the one closest to Tompkins Cross Roads listed first.
    • Saluda
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Ward
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Ridge Spring
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Hickory Grove
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Hickory Grove is located in Saluda County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Grove
  • Columbia County (GA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Tompkins Cross Roads, with the one closest to Tompkins Cross Roads listed first.
    • Snead
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Snead is located in Columbia County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Snead
      • Estimated population in 2019: 20,077 people
    • Memory Park
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Memory Park is located in Columbia County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Memory Park
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 122 people
    • Evans
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Kiokee
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Kiokee is located in Columbia County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kiokee
    • Lamkin
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Lamkin is located in Columbia County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lamkin
    • Lulaville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Lulaville is located in Columbia County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lulaville
      • Estimated population in 2019: 2,961 people
    • Martinez
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Arrow Head
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Arrow Head is located in Columbia County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arrow Head
  • Richmond County (GA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Tompkins Cross Roads, with the one closest to Tompkins Cross Roads listed first.
    • Bonair
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Bonair is located in Richmond County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonair
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 3,135 people
    • National Hills
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • National Hills is located in Richmond County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for National Hills
    • Rockbrook
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Rockbrook is located in Richmond County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockbrook
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 160 people
    • Waverly
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Waverly is located in Richmond County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waverly

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

Cemeteries Near Tompkins Cross Roads ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Tompkins Cross Roads.

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 Tompkins Cross Roads - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Dorn Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Hegwood Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Blocker Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Wright Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Harling Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Hamilton Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Pressley Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Simkin Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Bland Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Holmes Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Griffis Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Corley Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (289 more) ...
    • Gassaway Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Hill Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Gassaway Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)

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.<4>

While we didn't find Tompkins Cross Roads in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Tompkins Cross Roads.

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

  • Meeting Street
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Meeting Street is located in Edgefield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meeting Street
  • Pleasant Lane
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Pleasant Lane is located in Edgefield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Lane
  • Johnston
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Trenton
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Colliers
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Colliers is located in Edgefield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colliers
  • Ridge Spring
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
  • Ninety Six
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
  • Eureka
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Eureka is located in Aiken County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eureka
  • Chappells
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
  • Plum Branch
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
  • Milledgeville ‑ Historic
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Milledgeville is located in Aiken County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milledgeville
  • Monetta
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Bradley
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Modoc
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • McCormick
      (20 miles [32.2 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 Tompkins Cross Roads. See our List of 1890's Communities around Tompkins Cross Roads.

Newspapers Published in Tompkins Cross Roads ...

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 36 newspapers that have been published in the area around Tompkins Cross Roads.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Tompkins Cross Roads, there are papers which were published within 22 miles [35.4 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Tompkins Cross Roads.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to 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 Tompkins Cross Roads:

Footnotes ...

<1>It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties).
<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 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.
<4>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 Tompkins Cross Roads, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<5>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Tompkins Cross Roads) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.