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 Bethel (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 Bethel. 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 doctors 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.
Bethel is located in Benton 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 Benton County: Carroll, Decatur, Henry, Houston, Humphreys & Stewart.
Below are the counties that are near Bethel. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Bethel:
- Benton County (The home county of Bethel)
- The following are listed by their distance from Bethel, with the one closest to Bethel listed first.
- Camden
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Brevards Ferry
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Brevards Ferry is located in Benton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brevards Ferry
- Estimated population in 2014: 40,982 people
- Sandy Point
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Sandy Point is located in Benton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Point
- Wildlife Cove Village
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Crossroads
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Crossroads is located in Benton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crossroads
- Estimated population in 2014: 1,728 people
- Big Sandy
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Faxon
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Faxon is located in Benton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Faxon
- Coxburg
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Coxburg is located in Benton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coxburg
- Chaseville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Chaseville is located in Benton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chaseville
- Carroll County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bethel, with the one closest to Bethel listed first.
- Bruceton
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Hollow Rock
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Buena Vista
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Buena Vista is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buena Vista
- Concord
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Concord is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Concord
- Huntingdon
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Anark
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Anark is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anark
- Hico
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Hico is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hico
- Clarksburg
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Clarksburg is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarksburg
- Population from the 2020 Census: 376 people
- McKenzie
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- McLemoresville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- McLemoresville is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McLemoresville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 326 people
- Wingo
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Wingo is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wingo
- Decatur County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bethel, with the one closest to Bethel listed first.
- Sugar Tree
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Sugar Tree is located in Decatur County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Tree
- Oakview ‑ Historic
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Oakview is located in Decatur County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakview
- Jeannette
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Jeannette is located in Decatur County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jeannette
- Sulphur Springs ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Sulphur Springs is located in Decatur County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sulphur Springs
- Dickson County
- Tennessee City
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Tennessee City is located in Dickson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tennessee City
- Henderson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bethel, with the one closest to Bethel listed first.
- Poplar Springs
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Poplar Springs is located in Henderson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poplar Springs
- Farmville ‑ Historic
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Farmville is located in Henderson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmville
- Parkers Crossroads
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Henry County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bethel, with the one closest to Bethel listed first.
- Manleyville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Manleyville is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manleyville
- Spring Creek
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Spring Creek is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Creek
- Estimated population in 2014: 2,009 people
- Springville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Oakland
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Oakland is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakland
- Haglerville ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Haglerville is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haglerville
- India
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- India is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for India
- Mount Vista ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Mount Vista is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Vista
- Paris
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Henry
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Oak Hill
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Oak Hill is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Hill
- Estimated population in 2014: 4,703 people
- Whitlock
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Whitlock is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitlock
- Mandels ‑ Historic
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Mandels is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mandels
- Estimated population in 2014: 10,349 people
- Hickman County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bethel, with the one closest to Bethel listed first.
- Only
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Whitehouse
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Whitehouse is located in Hickman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitehouse
- Houston County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bethel, with the one closest to Bethel listed first.
- Magnolia
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Magnolia is located in Houston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magnolia
- McKinnon
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- McKinnon is located in Houston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McKinnon
- Tennessee Ridge
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Erin
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Brownsville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Brownsville is located in Houston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brownsville
- Estimated population in 2014: 9,974 people
- Omega ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Omega is located in Houston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Omega
- Humphreys County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bethel, with the one closest to Bethel listed first.
- New Johnsonville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Hustburg
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Hustburg is located in Humphreys County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hustburg
- Plant
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Plant is located in Humphreys County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plant
- Trinity
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Trinity is located in Humphreys County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trinity
- Estimated population in 2014: 625 people
- Pigeon Roost
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Pigeon Roost is located in Humphreys County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pigeon Roost
- Estimated population in 2014: 6,132 people
- Halls Creek
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Halls Creek is located in Humphreys County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halls Creek
- Waverly
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Bakerville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Bakerville is located in Humphreys County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bakerville
- Hurricane Mills
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Buffalo
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Buffalo is located in Humphreys County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo
- Bethpage
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Bethpage is located in Humphreys County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bethpage
- Population from the 2010 Census: 288 people
- McEwen
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Perry County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bethel, with the one closest to Bethel listed first.
- Lobelville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Mousetail ‑ Historic
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Mousetail is located in Perry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mousetail
- Beardstown
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Beardstown is located in Perry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beardstown
- Stewart County
- Dover
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Dover is located in Stewart County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dover
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,578 people
- Former name for Dover:
- Monroe
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dover <1>
- Weakley County
- Tumbling
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Tumbling is located in Weakley County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tumbling
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Bethel, see our County-by-County Page for Bethel.
Cemeteries Near Bethel ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Bethel.
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 Bethel - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Bethel covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Bethel, with the one closest to Bethel listed first.
- Blanchard Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Hudson Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Calvary Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Chalk Hill Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Arhold Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Bethlehem Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Hudson Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Flatwoods Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Flatwoods Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Liberty Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Camden Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Lashlee Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Continue List (1054 more) ...
- Cole Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Robertson Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Old Bethlehem Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
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>
While we didn't find Bethel in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Bethel.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Bethel, with the one closest to Bethel listed first.
- Camden
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Eva
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Johnsonville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Johnsonville is located in Humphreys County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnsonville
- Lipe
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Lipe is located in Benton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lipe
- Hustburg
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Hustburg is located in Humphreys County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hustburg
- Clydeton ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Clydeton is located in Humphreys County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clydeton
- Big Sandy
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Plant
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Plant is located in Humphreys County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plant
- Manleyville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Manleyville is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manleyville
- Springville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Faxon
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Faxon is located in Benton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Faxon
- Hollow Rock
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- Coxburg
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Coxburg is located in Benton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coxburg
- Mansfield
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Mansfield is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mansfield
- Buena Vista
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Buena Vista is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buena Vista
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Bethel. See our List of 1890's Communities around Bethel.
Newspapers Published in Bethel ...
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 54 newspapers that have been published in the area around Bethel.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Bethel, there are papers which were published within 20 miles [32.2 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Bethel.
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 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 Bethel:
- Websites specific to Tennessee
- Pages specific to Benton County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Carroll County
- Decatur County
- Dickson County
- Henderson County
- Henry County
- Hickman County
- Houston County
- Humphreys County
- Perry County
- Stewart County
- Weakley County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Tennessee
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 Bethel, 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Bethel) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |