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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 Afton (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 Afton. 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 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.

Afton is located in Nelson 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 Nelson County: Albemarle, Appomattox, Augusta & Buckingham.

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

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

Cemeteries Near Afton ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Afton.

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 Afton covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Lebanon Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lebanon Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lebanon Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mt. Lebanon Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Lebanon Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Lebanon Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Fairview Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Old Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Emmanuel Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Emmanuel Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Emmanuel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Riverview Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Riverview Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Riverview Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Holy Cross Episcopal Church Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Bethlehem Lutheran Church Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Hildebrand Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hildebrand Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hildebrand Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Wild Rose Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wild Rose Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wild Rose Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hillsboro Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hillsboro Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hillsboro Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Rockgate Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (321 more) ...
    • Augusta Memorial Gardens
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Augusta Memorial Gardens
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Augusta Memorial Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Diamond Hill Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Diamond Hill Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Diamond Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • St. Paul Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Paul Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Paul Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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.<7>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Afton had a population of 292 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service.

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

  • Avon
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Avon have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avon
    • Avon is located in Nelson County
  • Onan
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Greenwood
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Greenwood have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwood
    • Greenwood is located in Albemarle County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Greenwood <3>
  • Dooms
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dooms have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dooms
    • Dooms is located in Augusta County
  • Lyndhurst
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Batesville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Yancey Mills
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Yancey Mills. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yancey Mills
    • Yancey Mills is located in Albemarle County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Yancey Mills
    • From Afton to Yancey Mills
  • Ladd
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ladd have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ladd
    • Ladd is located in Augusta County
  • Sherando
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Madrid
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Madrid have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Madrid
    • Madrid is located in Augusta County
  • Greenfield
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Greenfield. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenfield
    • Greenfield is located in Nelson County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Greenfield
    • From Afton to Greenfield
  • Crozet
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...
    • Lipscomb
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Lipscomb. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lipscomb
      • Lipscomb is located in Augusta County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Lipscomb
      • From Afton to Lipscomb
    • Lodebar
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Hermitage
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hermitage have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hermitage
      • Hermitage is located in Augusta County

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

Newspapers Published in Afton ...

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 73 newspapers that have been published in the area around Afton.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Afton, there are papers which were published within 16 miles [25.7 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Afton.

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 Afton:

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

The official website for Nelson County: www.nelsoncounty.com/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>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.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>To help visualize the location of the cemetery, we've drawn a straight line between the communities of Greenfield and Batesville. The cemetery can be found near that line and roughly halfway between the two communities. Remember that this is just an approximate location.
<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 drawn from Point A (ie- Afton) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Afton. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.0327, Longitude: -78.8392    
<6>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.
<7>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 Afton, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 31 Mar 2025