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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 Beta (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 Beta. 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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

Beta is located in Meigs 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 Meigs County: Bradley, Hamilton, McMinn, Rhea & Roane.

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

  • Meigs County     (The home county of Beta)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Beta, with the one closest to Beta listed first.
    • Goodfield
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • East View
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • East View is located in Meigs County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East View
      • Estimated population in 2014: 705 people
    • Cayuga Town ‑ Historic
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Cayuga Town is located in Meigs County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cayuga Town
    • Calico
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Calico is located in Meigs County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calico
      • Estimated population in 2014: 495 people
    • Decatur
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Cute ‑ Historic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Cute is located in Meigs County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cute
    • Akeman Crossroad
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Sewee
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Surprise
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Bledsoe County
  • Bradley County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Beta, with the one closest to Beta listed first.
    • Etola
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Charleston
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Bellefounte
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Countryside Village
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Countryside Village is located in Bradley County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Countryside Village
    • Hopewell Estates
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Hopewell Estates is located in Bradley County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopewell Estates
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 1,874 people
    • Hopewell
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Hopewell is located in Bradley County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopewell
    • Bent Tree Acres
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Bent Tree Acres is located in Bradley County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bent Tree Acres
      • Estimated population in 2014: 1,309 people
    • Cleveland
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • East Cleveland
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • East Cleveland is located in Bradley County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Cleveland
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 1,608 people
    • South Cleveland
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • South Cleveland is located in Bradley County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Cleveland
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 6,912 people
    • McDonald
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Mineral Park
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
  • Cumberland County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Beta, with the one closest to Beta listed first.
    • Jewett
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Burke
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
  • Hamilton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Beta, with the one closest to Beta listed first.
    • Birchwood
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Lakewood
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Lakewood is located in Hamilton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakewood
      • Estimated population in 2011: 2,336 people
    • Sale Creek
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Soddy Lake Heights
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Soddy Lake Heights is located in Hamilton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Soddy Lake Heights
      • Estimated population in 2014: 13,190 people
    • Soddy
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Flat Top
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Soddy - Daisy
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Daisy
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Daisy is located in Hamilton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Daisy
    • Lakesite
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Lakesite is located in Hamilton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakesite
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,866 people
    • Mowbray
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Caramel Village
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Caramel Village is located in Hamilton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caramel Village
    • Crabtree Hills
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Crabtree Hills is located in Hamilton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crabtree Hills
      • Estimated population in 2014: 763 people
  • Loudon County
  • McMinn County
  • Monroe County
  • Polk County
  • Rhea County
  • Roane County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Beta, with the one closest to Beta listed first.
    • Pioneer Village
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Pioneer Village is located in Roane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pioneer Village
    • Glen Alice
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Morrisgap ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Morrisgap is located in Roane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morrisgap
    • Lakemont Heights
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Lakemont Heights is located in Roane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakemont Heights
      • Estimated population in 2014: 12,564 people
  • Sequatchie County
  • Whitfield County (GA)

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

Cemeteries Near Beta ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Beta.

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

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

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

  • Beta Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Shiloh Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • McKenzie Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Burketts Chapel Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Mt. Carmel Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Sewell Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Mt. Olivet Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Howser Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Cowan Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Lewis Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Melton Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Coffman Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (810 more) ...
    • Short Creek Cemetery
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Perry Cemetery
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Bethsadia Cemetery
      (3 miles [4.8 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.<2>

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

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

  • Big Spring
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Big Spring is located in Meigs County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Spring
  • Pineland ‑ Historic
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Pineland is located in Meigs County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pineland
  • Goodfield
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Cotton Port ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Cotton Port is located in Meigs County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cotton Port
  • Brittsville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Brittsville is located in Meigs County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brittsville
  • Lamontville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Folger ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Folger is located in McMinn County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Folger
  • Decatur
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Etola
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Breedenton
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Breedenton is located in Meigs County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Breedenton
  • Dayton
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Sanford
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Sanford is located in McMinn County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sanford
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Riceville
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Evensville
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Evensville is located in Rhea County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evensville
    • Charleston
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)

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

Newspapers Published in Beta ...

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 40 newspapers that have been published in the area around Beta.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Beta, there are papers which were published within 15 miles [24.1 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Beta.

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 professional and volunteer 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 Beta:

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>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 Beta, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Beta) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.