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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 Blountville (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 Blountville. 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.

Blountville is located in Sullivan County and is the County Seat.

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 Sullivan County: Carter, Hawkins, Johnson, Washington, Bristol City (VA), Scott (VA) & Washington (VA).

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

  • Sullivan County     (The home county of Blountville)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Blountville, with the one closest to Blountville listed first.
    • Beechnut City
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Beechnut City is located in Sullivan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beechnut City
    • Cross
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Lella ‑ Historic
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Lella is located in Sullivan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lella
    • Galloway Mill
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Galloway Mill is located in Sullivan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galloway Mill
      • Estimated population in 2014: 665 people
    • Sac ‑ Historic
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Sac is located in Sullivan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sac
    • Akard Addition
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Harrtown
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Harrtown is located in Sullivan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrtown
      • Estimated population in 2014: 4,365 people
    • Mill Point
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Walnut Hill
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Walnut Hill is located in Sullivan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Hill
    • Thom ‑ Historic
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Thom is located in Sullivan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thom
    • Collingwood
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Bluff City
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Colby ‑ Historic
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Colby is located in Sullivan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colby
  • Carter County
  • Greene County
  • Hawkins County
  • Johnson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Blountville, with the one closest to Blountville listed first.
    • Butler
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Winchester
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Winchester is located in Johnson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winchester
      • Estimated population in 2014: 8,547 people
    • High Health ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • High Health is located in Johnson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Health
    • Fuller
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Vaughtsville ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Vaughtsville is located in Johnson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vaughtsville
    • Norris
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Norris is located in Johnson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norris
      • Estimated population in 2014: 1,652 people
    • Mountain City
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Shingletown
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
  • Unicoi County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Blountville, with the one closest to Blountville listed first.
    • Whispering Pines
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Unicoi
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Limestone Cove
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Bumpus Cove
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Bumpus Cove is located in Unicoi County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bumpus Cove
      • Estimated population in 2014: 729 people
    • Erwin
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Banner Hill
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Banner Hill is located in Unicoi County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Banner Hill
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 1,497 people
    • Indian Creek ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Indian Creek is located in Unicoi County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Creek
  • Washington County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Blountville, with the one closest to Blountville listed first.
    • Oak Grove
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Oak Grove is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
    • Spurgeon
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Flourville
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Austin Village
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Austin Village is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Austin Village
    • Gray
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Oakland Village
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Oakland Village is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakland Village
    • North Johnson City
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • North Johnson City is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Johnson City
    • Camelot Two
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Camelot Two is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camelot Two
      • Estimated population in 2014: 3,582 people
    • Carnegie
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Carnegie is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carnegie
    • East Ridge
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • East Ridge is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Ridge
      • Estimated population in 2014: 21,317 people
    • Johnson City
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • South Gate Village
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • South Gate Village is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Gate Village
    • Wheelocktown ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Avery County (NC)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Blountville, with the one closest to Blountville listed first.
    • Mount Gilead
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Mount Gilead is located in Avery County (NC)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Gilead
    • Whaley
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Mitchell County (NC)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Blountville, with the one closest to Blountville listed first.
    • Buladean
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
    • Richlands
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Richlands is located in Mitchell County (NC)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richlands

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

Cemeteries Near Blountville ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Blountville.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Blountville, with the one closest to Blountville 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 Blountville had a population of 224 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2010, Blountville had a population of 3,074 people.

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

  • Sac ‑ Historic
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Sac is located in Sullivan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sac
  • Lella ‑ Historic
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Lella is located in Sullivan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lella
  • Sumpter ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Sumpter is located in Sullivan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sumpter
  • Mill Point
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Edgeworth ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Edgeworth is located in Sullivan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgeworth
  • Lawson ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Lawson is located in Sullivan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawson
  • Thom ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Thom is located in Sullivan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thom
  • Hilton ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Hilton is located in Sullivan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilton
  • Bluff City
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Colby ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Colby is located in Sullivan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colby
  • Samuel ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Samuel is located in Sullivan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Samuel
  • Boring
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Boring is located in Sullivan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boring
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Blountville ...

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 23 newspapers that have been published in the area around Blountville.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Blountville. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Blountville and those printed in the larger area surrounding Blountville.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 11 miles [17.7 km]<4> of Blountville.

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 Blountville:

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 Blountville, 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Blountville) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.