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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 Bellsburg (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 Bellsburg. 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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors 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.

Bellsburg is located in Dickson County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Dickson County: Cheatham, Hickman, Houston, Humphreys, Montgomery & Williamson.

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

  • Dickson County     (The home county of Bellsburg)
  • Cheatham County
  • Davidson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bellsburg, with the one closest to Bellsburg listed first.
    • Greenville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Morny
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Addie ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Addie is located in Davidson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Addie
      • Estimated population in 2014: 650 people
    • Watkins ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Watkins is located in Davidson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Watkins
    • Joelton
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Ridgepost ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Ridgepost is located in Davidson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgepost
      • Estimated population in 2014: 1,732 people
    • Bellevue
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Linton
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Tennessee Towne ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Tennessee Towne is located in Davidson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tennessee Towne
      • Estimated population in 2014: 1,347 people
    • Belle Meade
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Belle Meade is located in Davidson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belle Meade
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,788 people
    • Green Hills
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Green Hills is located in Davidson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Hills
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 6,618 people
    • Forest Hills
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Forest Hills is located in Davidson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Hills
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,721 people
  • Hickman County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bellsburg, with the one closest to Bellsburg listed first.
    • Bon Aqua Junction
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Bon Aqua Junction is located in Hickman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bon Aqua Junction
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 1,230 people
    • Lyles
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Wrigley
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Wrigley is located in Hickman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wrigley
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 281 people
  • Houston County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bellsburg, with the one closest to Bellsburg listed first.
    • Omega ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Omega is located in Houston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Omega
    • Erin
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Brownsville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Brownsville is located in Houston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brownsville
      • Estimated population in 2014: 9,974 people
  • Humphreys County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bellsburg, with the one closest to Bellsburg listed first.
    • McEwen
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Bethpage
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Bethpage is located in Humphreys County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bethpage
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 288 people
  • Montgomery County
  • Robertson County
  • Stewart County
  • Sumner County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bellsburg, with the one closest to Bellsburg listed first.
    • Goodlettsville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Millersville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Driftwood Park
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Driftwood Park is located in Sumner County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Driftwood Park
      • Estimated population in 2014: 2,908 people
  • Williamson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bellsburg, with the one closest to Bellsburg listed first.
    • Fairview
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Loriland
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Loriland is located in Williamson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loriland
      • Estimated population in 2014: 1,735 people
    • Fernvale
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Old Town ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Old Town is located in Williamson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Town
    • Wildwood Estates
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Wildwood Estates is located in Williamson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wildwood Estates
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 1,098 people
    • Forest Home
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Berrys Chapel Heights
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Berrys Chapel Heights is located in Williamson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berrys Chapel Heights
      • Estimated population in 2014: 551 people
    • Leipers Fork
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Lynnwood Downs
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Lynnwood Downs is located in Williamson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lynnwood Downs
      • Estimated population in 2014: 282 people
    • Brentwood
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • McEwen ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • McEwen is located in Williamson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McEwen
      • Estimated population in 2014: 1,699 people
    • Franklin
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Christian County (KY)
  • Logan County (KY)
  • Todd County (KY)

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

Cemeteries Near Bellsburg ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Bellsburg.

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 Bellsburg - one of the links might be able to help.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Bellsburg, with the one closest to Bellsburg 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, Bellsburg had a post office and no railroad service.

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

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

Newspapers Published in Bellsburg ...

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 28 newspapers that have been published in the area around Bellsburg.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Bellsburg, there are papers which were published within 17 miles [27.4 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Bellsburg.

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 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 Bellsburg:

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 Bellsburg, 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Bellsburg) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.