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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 Mecca (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 Mecca. 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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

Mecca is located in McMinn 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 McMinn County: Bradley, Loudon, Meigs, Monroe, Polk & Roane.

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

  • McMinn County     (The home county of Mecca)
  • Blount County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mecca, with the one closest to Mecca listed first.
    • Chilhowee
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Chilhowee is located in Blount County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chilhowee
    • Brick Mill
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Cloyd Creek ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Cloyd Creek is located in Blount County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cloyd Creek
    • McMullens
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • McMullens is located in Blount County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McMullens
      • Estimated population in 2014: 13,620 people
    • Binfield
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Kiser
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Bradley County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mecca, with the one closest to Mecca listed first.
    • Charleston
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Bellefounte
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Etola
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Countryside Village
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Countryside Village is located in Bradley County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Countryside Village
    • Hopewell Estates
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Hopewell Estates is located in Bradley County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopewell Estates
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 1,874 people
    • Hopewell
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Hopewell is located in Bradley County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopewell
    • East Cleveland
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • East Cleveland is located in Bradley County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Cleveland
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 1,608 people
    • Cleveland
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • South Cleveland
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • South Cleveland is located in Bradley County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Cleveland
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 6,912 people
    • Wildwood Lake
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Wildwood Lake is located in Bradley County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wildwood Lake
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 3,124 people
  • Loudon County
  • Meigs County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mecca, with the one closest to Mecca listed first.
    • Sewee
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Cute ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Cute is located in Meigs County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cute
    • Decatur
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Surprise
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Goodfield
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Beta
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Akeman Crossroad
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Calico
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Calico is located in Meigs County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calico
      • Estimated population in 2014: 495 people
    • East View
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • East View is located in Meigs County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East View
      • Estimated population in 2014: 705 people
  • Monroe County
  • Polk County
  • Rhea County
    • Lakewood Village
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Lakewood Village is located in Rhea County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakewood Village
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 990 people
  • Roane County
    • Morrisgap ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Morrisgap is located in Roane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morrisgap
  • Fannin County (GA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mecca, with the one closest to Mecca listed first.
    • Fry
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • McCaysville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Pantertown
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Epworth
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Pierceville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Cutcane
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Cutcane is located in Fannin County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cutcane
      • Estimated population in 2019: 3,417 people
  • Cherokee County (NC)

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

Cemeteries Near Mecca ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Mecca.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Mecca, with the one closest to Mecca 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.<4>

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

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

  • Jalapa
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Rural Vale
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Nonaburg
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Mount Vernon
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Mount Vernon is located in Monroe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Vernon
  • Grady
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Grady is located in McMinn County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grady
  • Williamsburg
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Williamsburg is located in McMinn County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williamsburg
  • Tellico Plains
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Ho ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Ho is located in Monroe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ho
  • Carlock
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Carlock is located in McMinn County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carlock
  • Servilla
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Gudger
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Gudger is located in Monroe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gudger
  • Epperson
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in Mecca ...

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 48 newspapers that have been published in the area around Mecca.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Mecca, there are papers which were published within 12 miles [19.3 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Mecca.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These helpful 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 Mecca:

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>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- Mecca) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<4>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 Mecca, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.