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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 Abbs Valley (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 Abbs Valley. 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 Abbs Valley ...

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 have occurred.

  • A typical abbreviation for Abbs Valley: Abbs Vly. (or less commonly used: Abbs Vally. or Abbs Vlly.)
  • While the name of this community is Abbs Valley, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Abbs Valley may originally have been Abb's Valley.

    Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Abbs Valley might be written as Abb Valley.

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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors were in the next county to the east. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the county to the north.

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 north 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.

Abbs Valley is located in Tazewell County.

To see how the shape of Virginia's counties have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Tazewell County: Bland, Buchanan, Russell, Smyth, McDowell (WV) & Mercer (WV).

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

  • Tazewell County     (The home county of Abbs Valley)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Abbs Valley, with the one closest to Abbs Valley listed first.
    • Boissevain
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Wittens Mills
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Five Oaks
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Five Oaks have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Oaks
      • Five Oaks is located in Tazewell County
    • Bishop
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bishop. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bishop
      • Bishop is located in Tazewell County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Bishop
      • From Abbs Valley to Bishop
    • Shraders
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Shraders. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shraders
      • Shraders is located in Tazewell County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Shraders
      • From Abbs Valley to Shraders
    • Saint Clair
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Pocahontas
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Adria
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Adria. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adria
      • Adria is located in Tazewell County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Adria
      • From Abbs Valley to Adria
    • Falls Mills
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Yards
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Tazewell
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tazewell have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tazewell
      • Tazewell is located in Tazewell County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,113 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tazewell <4>
    • Shawver Mill
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Bland County
  • Buchanan County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Abbs Valley, with the one closest to Abbs Valley listed first.
    • Bearwallow
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Peapatch
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Peapatch. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peapatch
      • Peapatch is located in Buchanan County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Peapatch
      • From Abbs Valley to Peapatch
    • Height
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Height. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Height
      • Height is located in Buchanan County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Height
      • From Abbs Valley to Height
    • Jackson Flats
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Paynesville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Matney
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Matney. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Matney
      • Matney is located in Buchanan County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Matney
      • From Abbs Valley to Matney
    • Mavisdale
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Russell County
  • Smyth County
  • Wythe County
  • McDowell County (WV)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Abbs Valley, with the one closest to Abbs Valley listed first.
    • Anawalt
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Anawalt have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anawalt
      • Anawalt is located in McDowell County (WV)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 172 people
    • Bishop
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bishop. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bishop
      • Bishop is located in McDowell County (WV)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Bishop
      • From Abbs Valley to Bishop
    • Thorpe
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Gary
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gary have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gary
      • Gary is located in McDowell County (WV)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 759 people
    • Newhall
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Elkhorn
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Keystone
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Keystone have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keystone
      • Keystone is located in McDowell County (WV)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 213 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Keystone <4>
    • Kyle
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Kyle. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kyle
      • Kyle is located in McDowell County (WV)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Kyle
      • From Abbs Valley to Kyle
    • Big Four
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Northfork
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Northfork have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Northfork
      • Northfork is located in McDowell County (WV)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 322 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Northfork <4>
    • Kimball
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • War
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for War have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for War
      • War is located in McDowell County (WV)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 659 people
  • Mercer County (WV)
  • Raleigh County (WV)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Abbs Valley, with the one closest to Abbs Valley listed first.
    • Rhodell
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rhodell have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rhodell
      • Rhodell is located in Raleigh County (WV)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 159 people
    • Eastgulf
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Helen
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
  • Wyoming County (WV)

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

Cemeteries Near Abbs Valley ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Abbs Valley.

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.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Abbs Valley, with the one closest to Abbs Valley listed first.

  • Dillon Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Dillon Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Dillon Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bowman Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bowman Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bowman Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Billips Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Billips Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Billips Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Harper Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Harper Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Harper Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Yates Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Yates Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Yates Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hayes Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hayes Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hayes Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Dickenson Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Dickenson Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Dickenson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Billips Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Billips Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Billips Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Sluss Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sluss Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sluss Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bowman Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bowman Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bowman Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Sinkford Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sinkford Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sinkford Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Thompson Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Thompson Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Thompson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (537 more) ...
    • Mathena Cemetery
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mathena Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mathena Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • McDowell Cemetery
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the McDowell Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the McDowell Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Sanders Cemetery
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sanders Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sanders Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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.<5>

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

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

  • Bailey
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bailey have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bailey
    • Bailey is located in Tazewell County
  • Springville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Springville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springville
    • Springville is located in Tazewell County
  • Wittens Mills
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Shraders
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Shraders. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shraders
    • Shraders is located in Tazewell County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Shraders
    • From Abbs Valley to Shraders
  • Five Oaks
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Five Oaks have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Oaks
    • Five Oaks is located in Tazewell County
  • Gratton
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gratton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gratton
    • Gratton is located in Tazewell County
  • Saint Clair
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Pocahontas
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Shawver Mill
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Falls Mills
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Coopers
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Sayersville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sayersville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sayersville
    • Sayersville is located in Tazewell County
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Cove Creek
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cove Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cove Creek
      • Cove Creek is located in Tazewell County
    • Abbs Valley ‑ Historic
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Abbs Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abbs Valley
      • Abbs Valley is located in Mercer County (WV)
    • Bramwell
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)

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

Newspapers Published in Abbs Valley ...

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 15 newspapers that have been published in the area around Abbs Valley.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Abbs Valley, there are papers which were published within 14 miles [22.5 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Abbs Valley.

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 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 Abbs Valley:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Abbs Valley. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for State of Virginia: https://www.virginia.gov/

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>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<3>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<4>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<5>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 Abbs Valley, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Abbs Valley) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Abbs Valley. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.2431, Longitude: -81.4537    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 31 Mar 2025