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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 Raines (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 Raines. 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.

Name Variations for Raines ...

When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might occur.

While the name of this community is Raines, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Raines may originally have been Raine's.

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Raines. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Raines.

If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.

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 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.

Raines is located in Shelby 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 Shelby County: Crittenden (AR), DeSoto (MS), Marshall (MS), Fayette & Tipton.

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

  • Shelby County     (The home county of Raines)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Raines, with the one closest to Raines listed first.
    • Oakville
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Oakville is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakville
    • Capleville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Capleville is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Capleville
    • Parkway Village
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Parkway Village is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkway Village
    • Hunt Village
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Hunt Village is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunt Village
      • Estimated population in 2014: 1,234 people
    • Memphis
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Binghampton
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Binghampton is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Binghampton
    • The Village
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • The Village is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Village
    • Germantown
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Forest Hill
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Forest Hill is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Hill
    • Woodstock
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Woodstock is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodstock
    • Spring Lake
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Spring Lake is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Lake
      • Estimated population in 2014: 34,269 people
    • Bailey
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Bailey is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bailey
    • Bartlett
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
  • Fayette County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Raines, with the one closest to Raines listed first.
    • Piperton
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Piperton is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Piperton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,128 people
    • Canadaville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Canadaville is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canadaville
    • Elba
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Elba is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elba
    • Rossville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • New Bethel
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • New Bethel is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Bethel
      • Estimated population in 2014: 3,324 people
    • Hickory Withe
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Hickory Withe is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Withe
  • Tipton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Raines, with the one closest to Raines listed first.
    • Wilkinsville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Wilkinsville is located in Tipton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilkinsville
    • Corona
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Corona is located in Tipton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corona
    • Drummonds
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
    • Atoka
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Crittenden County (AR)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Raines, with the one closest to Raines listed first.
    • Hulbert
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Hulbert is located in Crittenden County (AR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hulbert
    • Amanca
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Amanca is located in Crittenden County (AR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amanca
    • Mound City
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Mound City is located in Crittenden County (AR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mound City
    • West Memphis
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Marion
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Marion is located in Crittenden County (AR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marion
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 12,290 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Marion <2>
    • Pinckney
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Pinckney is located in Crittenden County (AR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinckney
    • Sunset
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Sunset is located in Crittenden County (AR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 199 people
    • Edmondson
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Edmondson is located in Crittenden County (AR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edmondson
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 378 people
    • Horseshoe Lake
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Horseshoe Lake is located in Crittenden County (AR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horseshoe Lake
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 270 people
    • Seyppel
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Seyppel is located in Crittenden County (AR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seyppel
    • Anthonyville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Anthonyville is located in Crittenden County (AR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anthonyville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 148 people
    • James Mill
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • James Mill is located in Crittenden County (AR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for James Mill
    • Proctor
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
  • Lee County (AR)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Raines, with the one closest to Raines listed first.
    • Peters
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Peters is located in Lee County (AR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peters
    • Bledsoe
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Bledsoe is located in Lee County (AR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bledsoe
    • Winona ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Winona is located in Lee County (AR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winona
  • Mississippi County (AR)
    • Frenchmans Bayou
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Frenchmans Bayou is located in Mississippi County (AR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frenchmans Bayou
  • Saint Francis County (AR)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Raines, with the one closest to Raines listed first.
    • Hughes
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Hughes is located in Saint Francis County (AR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hughes
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,200 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hughes <2>
    • Heth
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
  • DeSoto County (MS)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Raines, with the one closest to Raines listed first.
    • Horn Lake
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Lynchburg
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Lynchburg is located in DeSoto County (MS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lynchburg
    • Southhaven
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Southhaven is located in DeSoto County (MS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Southhaven
    • De Soto Village
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • De Soto Village is located in DeSoto County (MS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for De Soto Village
    • Aldens
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Aldens is located in DeSoto County (MS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aldens
    • Southaven
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Walls
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Walls is located in DeSoto County (MS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walls
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,441 people
      • Former name for Walls:
      • Alpika
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Walls <2>
    • Glover
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Glover is located in DeSoto County (MS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glover
    • Nesbit
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Norfolk
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Norfolk is located in DeSoto County (MS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norfolk
    • Olive Branch
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Lake Cormorant
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Memphis
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Memphis is located in DeSoto County (MS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Memphis
  • Marshall County (MS)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Raines, with the one closest to Raines listed first.
    • Barton
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Barton is located in Marshall County (MS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barton
    • Byhalia
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Byhalia is located in Marshall County (MS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Byhalia
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,213 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Byhalia <2>
    • Cayce
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Cayce is located in Marshall County (MS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cayce
    • Victoria
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Victoria is located in Marshall County (MS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Victoria
    • Taska
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Taska is located in Marshall County (MS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taska
    • Mount Pleasant
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
    • Red Banks
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Tate County (MS)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Raines, with the one closest to Raines listed first.
    • Arkabutla
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Arkabutla is located in Tate County (MS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arkabutla
    • Coldwater
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Antioch
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Antioch is located in Tate County (MS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Antioch
    • Poagville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Poagville is located in Tate County (MS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poagville
    • Senatobia
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • New Town
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • New Town is located in Tate County (MS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Town
  • Tunica County (MS)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Raines, with the one closest to Raines listed first.
    • Banks
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Banks is located in Tunica County (MS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Banks
    • North Tunica
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • North Tunica is located in Tunica County (MS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Tunica
    • Mhoon Landing ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Mhoon Landing is located in Tunica County (MS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mhoon Landing
    • Tunica
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Tunica is located in Tunica County (MS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tunica
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 823 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tunica <2>

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

Cemeteries Near Raines ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Raines.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Raines, with the one closest to Raines 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>

While we didn't find Raines in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Raines.

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

  • Whitehaven
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Whitehaven is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitehaven
  • Lake View
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Lake View is located in DeSoto County (MS)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake View
  • Horn Lake
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Plum Point
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Plum Point is located in DeSoto County (MS)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plum Point
  • Oakville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Oakville is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakville
  • Bellevue
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Bellevue is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellevue
  • Walls
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Walls is located in DeSoto County (MS)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walls
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,441 people
    • Former name for Walls:
    • Alpika
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Walls <2>
  • Buntyn
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Buntyn is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buntyn
  • Days
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Days is located in DeSoto County (MS)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Days
  • Capleville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Capleville is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Capleville
  • Memphis
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Hopefield ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Hopefield is located in Crittenden County (AR)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopefield
  • Continue List   (20 more) ...
    • Glover
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Glover is located in DeSoto County (MS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glover
    • Nesbit
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Almont ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Almont is located in Crittenden County (AR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Almont

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

Newspapers Published in Raines ...

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 226 newspapers that have been published in the area around Raines.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Raines, there are papers which were published within 14 miles [22.5 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Raines.

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 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 Raines:

Footnotes ...

<1>It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties).
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<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 Raines, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<5>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- Raines) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.