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 Buncombe (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 Buncombe. 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 and hospitals 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.
Buncombe is located in Sullivan 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 Sullivan County: Carter, Hawkins, Johnson, Washington, Bristol City (VA), Scott (VA) & Washington (VA).
Below are the counties that are near Buncombe. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Buncombe:
- Sullivan County (The home county of Buncombe)
- The following are listed by their distance from Buncombe, with the one closest to Buncombe listed first.
- Blountville
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Lella ‑ Historic
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Lella is located in Sullivan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lella
- Galloway Mill
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Galloway Mill is located in Sullivan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galloway Mill
- Estimated population in 2014: 665 people
- Beechnut City
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Beechnut City is located in Sullivan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beechnut City
- Cross
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Cross is located in Sullivan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cross
- Estimated population in 2014: 11,330 people
- Akard Addition
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Akard Addition is located in Sullivan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Akard Addition
- Bluff City
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Bluff City is located in Sullivan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluff City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,672 people
- Former name for Bluff City:
- Zollicoffer
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bluff City <1>
- Thom ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Thom is located in Sullivan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thom
- Sac ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Sac is located in Sullivan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sac
- Walnut Hill
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Walnut Hill is located in Sullivan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Hill
- Harrtown
(5 miles [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
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Mill Point is located in Sullivan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mill Point
- Estimated population in 2014: 11,080 people
- Childress
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Childress is located in Sullivan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Childress
- Carter County
- The following are listed by their distance from Buncombe, with the one closest to Buncombe listed first.
- Watauga
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Watauga is located in Carter County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Watauga
- Population from the 2020 Census: 373 people
- Biltmore
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Biltmore is located in Carter County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Biltmore
- Central
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Central is located in Carter County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central
- Elizabethton
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Hunter
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Hunter is located in Carter County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunter
- Pine Crest
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Pine Crest is located in Carter County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Crest
- Siam
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Siam is located in Carter County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Siam
- Buladeen
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Buladeen is located in Carter County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buladeen
- Former names for Buladeen:
- Colesville
- Magnetic
- Gap Run
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Gap Run is located in Carter County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gap Run
- Hampton
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Fish Springs
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Fish Springs is located in Carter County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fish Springs
- Woodby Hill
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Woodby Hill is located in Carter County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodby Hill
- Estimated population in 2014: 2,730 people
- Tolley Town
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Tolley Town is located in Carter County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tolley Town
- Greene County
- The following are listed by their distance from Buncombe, with the one closest to Buncombe listed first.
- Milburnton
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Milburnton is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milburnton
- Jearoldstown
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Jearoldstown is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jearoldstown
- Centersville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Centersville is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centersville
- Rheatown
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Rheatown is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rheatown
- Horse Creek
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Horse Creek is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horse Creek
- Estimated population in 2014: 284 people
- Hawkins County
- The following are listed by their distance from Buncombe, with the one closest to Buncombe listed first.
- Rotherwood
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Rotherwood is located in Hawkins County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rotherwood
- Greenvale
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Greenvale is located in Hawkins County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenvale
- Frisco
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Frisco is located in Hawkins County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frisco
- Solitude ‑ Historic
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Solitude is located in Hawkins County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Solitude
- Mount Carmel
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Waycross
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Waycross is located in Hawkins County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waycross
- Estimated population in 2014: 4,091 people
- Block City
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Block City is located in Hawkins County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Block City
- Green Village
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Green Village is located in Hawkins County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Village
- Church Hill
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Blossom
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Blossom is located in Hawkins County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blossom
- New Canton
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- New Canton is located in Hawkins County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Canton
- Chimneytop ‑ Historic
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Chimneytop is located in Hawkins County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chimneytop
- Greenland
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Greenland is located in Hawkins County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenland
- Johnson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Buncombe, with the one closest to Buncombe listed first.
- Butler
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Winchester
(20 miles [32.2 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
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- High Health is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Health
- Vaughtsville ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Vaughtsville is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vaughtsville
- Norris
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Norris is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norris
- Estimated population in 2014: 1,652 people
- Fuller
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Fuller is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fuller
- Mountain City
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Shingletown
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Shingletown is located in Johnson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shingletown
- Unicoi County
- The following are listed by their distance from Buncombe, with the one closest to Buncombe listed first.
- Whispering Pines
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Whispering Pines is located in Unicoi County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whispering Pines
- Unicoi
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Limestone Cove
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Limestone Cove is located in Unicoi County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Limestone Cove
- Erwin
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Banner Hill
(26 miles [41.8 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
- Bumpus Cove
(26 miles [41.8 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
- Indian Creek ‑ Historic
(29 miles [46.7 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 Buncombe, with the one closest to Buncombe listed first.
- Flourville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Flourville is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flourville
- 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)
- Spurgeon is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spurgeon
- Population from the 2010 Census: 3,957 people
- Austin Village
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Austin Village is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Austin Village
- Gray
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Oakland Village
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Oakland Village is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakland Village
- Camelot Two
(12 miles [19.3 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
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Carnegie is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carnegie
- Johnson City
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Johnson City is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnson City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 67,142 people
- Former names for Johnson City:
- Blue Plum Station
- Haynesville
- Johnsons Depot
- Johnsons Tank
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Johnson City <1>
- North Johnson City
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- North Johnson City is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Johnson City
- East Ridge
(13 miles [20.9 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
- South Gate Village
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- South Gate Village is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Gate Village
- Wheelocktown ‑ Historic
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Wheelocktown is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheelocktown
- Avery County (NC)
- The following are listed by their distance from Buncombe, with the one closest to Buncombe listed first.
- Mount Gilead
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Mount Gilead is located in Avery County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Gilead
- Whaley
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Whaley is located in Avery County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whaley
- Elk Park
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Mitchell County (NC)
- The following are listed by their distance from Buncombe, with the one closest to Buncombe listed first.
- Buladean
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Buladean is located in Mitchell County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buladean
- Richlands
(29 miles [46.7 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 Buncombe, see our County-by-County Page for Buncombe.
Cemeteries Near Buncombe ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Buncombe.
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 Buncombe - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Buncombe covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Buncombe, with the one closest to Buncombe listed first.
- New Hope Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Holston Grove Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- St. John Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Webb Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Hines Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Blountville Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Lindamood Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Droke Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Wilson Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Taylor Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Mackey Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Cox Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Continue List (843 more) ...
- Acuff Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Muddy Creek Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Smith Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
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>
While we didn't find Buncombe in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Buncombe.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Buncombe, with the one closest to Buncombe listed first.
- Lella ‑ Historic
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Lella is located in Sullivan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lella
- Blountville
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Sumpter ‑ Historic
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Sumpter is located in Sullivan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sumpter
- Thom ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Thom is located in Sullivan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thom
- Bluff City
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Bluff City is located in Sullivan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluff City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,672 people
- Former name for Bluff City:
- Zollicoffer
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bluff City <1>
- Sac ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Sac is located in Sullivan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sac
- Edgeworth ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Edgeworth is located in Sullivan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgeworth
- Lawson ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Lawson is located in Sullivan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawson
- Hilton ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Hilton is located in Sullivan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilton
- Mill Point
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Mill Point is located in Sullivan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mill Point
- Estimated population in 2014: 11,080 people
- Colby ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Colby is located in Sullivan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colby
- Boring
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Boring is located in Sullivan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boring
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- Piney Flats
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Childress
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Childress is located in Sullivan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Childress
- Samuel ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Samuel is located in Sullivan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Samuel
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Buncombe. See our List of 1890's Communities around Buncombe.
Newspapers Published in Buncombe ...
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 11 newspapers that have been published in the area around Buncombe.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Buncombe, there are papers which were published within 9 miles [14.5 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Buncombe.
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 Buncombe:
- Websites specific to Tennessee
- Pages specific to Sullivan County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Carter County
- Greene County
- Hawkins County
- Johnson County
- Unicoi County
- Washington County
- Avery County
- Mitchell 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> | 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 Buncombe, 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' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Buncombe) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |