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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 Townsend (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 Townsend. 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 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.

Townsend 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 Townsend. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Townsend:

  • Blount County     (The home county of Townsend)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Townsend, with the one closest to Townsend listed first.
    • Red Bank
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Red Bank is located in Blount County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Bank
    • Miller Cove
      (4 miles [6.4 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
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Cowan Springs
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Cowan Springs is located in Blount County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cowan Springs
      • Estimated population in 2014: 9,010 people
    • Rocky Branch
      (6 miles [9.7 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
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Wildwood
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Chelsey Village
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Chelsey Village is located in Blount County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chelsey Village
    • Sixmile
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Eagleton Village
      (12 miles [19.3 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
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Maryville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Rockgardens
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Rockgardens is located in Blount County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockgardens
      • Estimated population in 2014: 861 people
  • Cocke County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Townsend, with the one closest to Townsend listed first.
    • Cosby
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Birdsville ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Birdsville is located in Cocke County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Birdsville
  • Jefferson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Townsend, with the one closest to Townsend 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)
    • Strawberry Plains
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Piedmont
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Rocky Valley
      (28 miles [45.1 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
    • New Market
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
    • Alena ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Alena is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alena
    • Dandridge
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Flat Gap
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Knox County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Townsend, with the one closest to Townsend listed first.
    • Shooks
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Bonny Kate
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Kimberlin Heights
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Arrowhead
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Topside
      (17 miles [27.4 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
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Colonial Village is located in Knox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colonial Village
    • Riverdale
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Whites Village
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Whites Village is located in Knox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whites Village
    • Peters Mill
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Ramsey Ferry
      (20 miles [32.2 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
    • Moshina Heights
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Moshina Heights is located in Knox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moshina Heights
      • Estimated population in 2014: 2,335 people
    • Aldenwood Park
      (21 miles [33.8 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
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Humes Ferry is located in Knox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Humes Ferry
      • Estimated population in 2014: 8,348 people
  • Loudon County
  • Monroe County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Townsend, with the one closest to Townsend listed first.
    • Ipe ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Ipe is located in Monroe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ipe
    • Halfway Town ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Halfway Town is located in Monroe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halfway Town
    • Toqua ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Tuskeegee ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Tuskeegee is located in Monroe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tuskeegee
      • Estimated population in 2014: 2,663 people
    • Vonore
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Ballplay
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Acorn
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Sevier County
  • Cherokee County (NC)
  • Graham County (NC)
  • Jackson County (NC)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Townsend, with the one closest to Townsend listed first.
    • Whittier
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Paint Town
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Paint Town is located in Jackson County (NC)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paint Town
  • Macon County (NC)
  • Swain County (NC)

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

Cemeteries Near Townsend ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Townsend.

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

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

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

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

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

  • Line Spring
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Line Spring is located in Sevier County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Line Spring
  • Hornet
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Hornet is located in Sevier County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hornet
  • Wear Valley
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Seaton
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Ellejoy
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Ellejoy is located in Blount County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellejoy
  • Notime ‑ Historic
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Notime is located in Blount County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Notime
  • Waldens Creek
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Blockhouse
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Blockhouse is located in Blount County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blockhouse
  • Bank ‑ Historic
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Bank is located in Blount County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bank
  • Henderson Springs
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Henderson Springs is located in Sevier County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henderson Springs
  • Montvale
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Montvale is located in Blount County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montvale
  • Gatlinburg
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...
    • Pigeon Forge
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Maryville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • 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 Townsend. See our List of 1890's Communities around Townsend.

Newspapers Published in Townsend ...

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 40 newspapers that have been published in the area around Townsend.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Townsend, there are papers which were published within 14 miles [22.5 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Townsend.

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 either 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 Townsend:

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 Townsend, 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- Townsend) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.