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 Sunshine (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 Sunshine. 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.
Sunshine is located in Blount 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 Blount County: Graham (NC), Swain (NC), Knox, Loudon, Monroe & Sevier.
Below are the counties that are near Sunshine. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Sunshine:
- Blount County (The home county of Sunshine)
- The following are listed by their distance from Sunshine, with the one closest to Sunshine listed first.
- Townsend
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Miller Cove
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Miller Cove is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Miller Cove
- Estimated population in 2014: 267 people
- Walland
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Red Bank
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Red Bank is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Bank
- Cowan Springs
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Cowan Springs is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cowan Springs
- Estimated population in 2014: 9,010 people
- Rocky Branch
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Rocky Branch is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Branch
- Estimated population in 2014: 5,427 people
- Seaton
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Seaton is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seaton
- Chelsey Village
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Chelsey Village is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chelsey Village
- Wildwood
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Wildwood is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wildwood
- Sixmile
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Sixmile is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sixmile
- Eagleton Village
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Eagleton Village is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagleton Village
- Population from the 2010 Census: 5,052 people
- Happy Valley
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Happy Valley is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Happy Valley
- Anderson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Sunshine, with the one closest to Sunshine listed first.
- Spring Hill
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Spring Hill is located in Anderson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Hill
- Estimated population in 2014: 16,752 people
- Claxton
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Claxton is located in Anderson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Claxton
- Jefferson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Sunshine, with the one closest to Sunshine listed first.
- Cook Mill
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Cook Mill is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cook Mill
- Estimated population in 2014: 31,335 people
- Dumplin
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Dumplin is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dumplin
- Strawberry Plains
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Piedmont
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Piedmont is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Piedmont
- Rocky Valley
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Rocky Valley is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Valley
- Estimated population in 2014: 1,771 people
- Knox County
- The following are listed by their distance from Sunshine, with the one closest to Sunshine listed first.
- Bonny Kate
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Bonny Kate is located in Knox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonny Kate
- Shooks
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Shooks is located in Knox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shooks
- Arrowhead
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Arrowhead is located in Knox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arrowhead
- Topside
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Topside is located in Knox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Topside
- Estimated population in 2014: 346 people
- Colonial Village
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Colonial Village is located in Knox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colonial Village
- Kimberlin Heights
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Whites Village
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Whites Village is located in Knox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whites Village
- Ramsey Ferry
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Ramsey Ferry is located in Knox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ramsey Ferry
- Estimated population in 2014: 320 people
- Riverdale
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Riverdale is located in Knox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverdale
- Aldenwood Park
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Aldenwood Park is located in Knox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aldenwood Park
- Estimated population in 2014: 8,753 people
- Humes Ferry
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Humes Ferry is located in Knox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Humes Ferry
- Estimated population in 2014: 8,348 people
- Kingston Woods
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Kingston Woods is located in Knox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingston Woods
- Estimated population in 2014: 2,790 people
- Loudon County
- The following are listed by their distance from Sunshine, with the one closest to Sunshine listed first.
- Jena
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Jena is located in Loudon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jena
- Estimated population in 2014: 2,279 people
- Greenback
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Alleghany ‑ Historic
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Alleghany is located in Loudon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alleghany
- Estimated population in 2014: 630 people
- Trigonia
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Trigonia is located in Loudon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trigonia
- Centersville
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Centersville is located in Loudon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centersville
- Morganton
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Morganton is located in Loudon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morganton
- Lenoir City
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Sharp Estates
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Sharp Estates is located in Loudon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sharp Estates
- Estimated population in 2014: 919 people
- Vancouver ‑ Historic
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Vancouver is located in Loudon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vancouver
- Eaton Crossroads
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Eaton Crossroads is located in Loudon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eaton Crossroads
- Loudon
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Monroe County
- The following are listed by their distance from Sunshine, with the one closest to Sunshine listed first.
- Ipe ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Ipe is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ipe
- Halfway Town ‑ Historic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Halfway Town is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halfway Town
- Tuskeegee ‑ Historic
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Tuskeegee is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tuskeegee
- Estimated population in 2014: 2,663 people
- Toqua ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Toqua is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toqua
- Vonore
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Ballplay
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Ballplay is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ballplay
- Acorn
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Acorn is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acorn
- Sevier County
- The following are listed by their distance from Sunshine, with the one closest to Sunshine listed first.
- Wear Valley
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Wear Valley is located in Sevier County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wear Valley
- Dupont
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Dupont is located in Sevier County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dupont
- Waldens Creek
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Waldens Creek is located in Sevier County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waldens Creek
- Elkmont ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Elkmont is located in Sevier County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkmont
- Starkeytown
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Starkeytown is located in Sevier County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Starkeytown
- Estimated population in 2014: 431 people
- Seymour Heights
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Seymour Heights is located in Sevier County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seymour Heights
- Population from the 2010 Census: 10,919 people
- Chalet Village
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Chalet Village is located in Sevier County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chalet Village
- Seymour
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Gatlinburg
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Oak City
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Oak City is located in Sevier County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak City
- Pigeon Forge
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Middle Creek
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Middle Creek is located in Sevier County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middle Creek
- Cherokee County (NC)
- Topton
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Graham County (NC)
- The following are listed by their distance from Sunshine, with the one closest to Sunshine listed first.
- Fontana Dam
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Fontana Dam is located in Graham County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fontana Dam
- Population from the 2020 Census: 6 people
- Fontana Dam has also been known as:
- Fontana Village
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fontana Dam <1>
- Yellow Creek
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Yellow Creek is located in Graham County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yellow Creek
- Lake Santeetlah
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Lake Santeetlah is located in Graham County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Santeetlah
- Population from the 2020 Census: 43 people
- Lake Santeetlah has also been known as:
- Santeetla
- Santeetlah
- Santultah
- Thunderbird Mountain
- Thunderbird
- Stecoah
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Stecoah is located in Graham County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stecoah
- Cheoah
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Cheoah is located in Graham County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cheoah
- Robbinsville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Bear Creek
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Bear Creek is located in Graham County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Creek
- Jackson County (NC)
- Whittier
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Macon County (NC)
- Fairview
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Fairview is located in Macon County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairview
- Swain County (NC)
- The following are listed by their distance from Sunshine, with the one closest to Sunshine listed first.
- Bushnell ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Bushnell is located in Swain County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bushnell
- Forney ‑ Historic
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Forney is located in Swain County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forney
- Judson ‑ Historic
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Judson is located in Swain County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Judson
- Almond
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Bryson City
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Wesser
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Wesser is located in Swain County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wesser
- Nantahala
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Nantahala is located in Swain County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nantahala
- Oconaluftee Indian Village
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Cherokee
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Sunshine, see our County-by-County Page for Sunshine.
Cemeteries Near Sunshine ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Sunshine.
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 Sunshine - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Sunshine covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Sunshine, with the one closest to Sunshine listed first.
- Tuckaleechee Chapel Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Tuckaleechee Campground Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Caylors Chapel Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Myers Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Millers Cove Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Bethel Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Burns Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Tuckaleechee Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Amerine Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Walker Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Brickey Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Rocky Branch MB Church Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Continue List (686 more) ...
- Rocky Branch Holiness Church of God Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Buchanan Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Cades Cove Cemetery
(5 miles [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.<2>
While we didn't find Sunshine in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Sunshine.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Sunshine, with the one closest to Sunshine listed first.
- Seaton
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Seaton is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seaton
- Hornet
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Hornet is located in Sevier County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hornet
- Line Spring
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Line Spring is located in Sevier County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Line Spring
- Notime ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Notime is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Notime
- Wear Valley
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Wear Valley is located in Sevier County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wear Valley
- Ellejoy
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Ellejoy is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellejoy
- Blockhouse
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Blockhouse is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blockhouse
- Bank ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Bank is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bank
- Montvale
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Montvale is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montvale
- Waldens Creek
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Waldens Creek is located in Sevier County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waldens Creek
- Maryville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Rockford
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Rockford is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockford
- Population from the 2020 Census: 851 people
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Mint
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Mint is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mint
- Chilhowee
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Chilhowee is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chilhowee
- Proctor
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Proctor is located in Swain County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Proctor
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Sunshine. See our List of 1890's Communities around Sunshine.
Newspapers Published in Sunshine ...
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 35 newspapers that have been published in the area around Sunshine.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Sunshine, there are papers which were published within 11 miles [17.7 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Sunshine.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we begin 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 Sunshine:
- Websites specific to Tennessee
- Pages specific to Blount County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Anderson County
- Jefferson County
- Knox County
- Loudon County
- Monroe County
- Sevier County
- Cherokee County
- Graham County
- Jackson County
- Macon County
- Swain 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 Sunshine, 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Sunshine) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |