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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 Allwood (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 Allwood. 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 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.

Allwood is located in Amherst 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 Amherst County: Appomattox, Bedford, Campbell, Lynchburg City, Nelson & Rockbridge.

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

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

Cemeteries Near Allwood ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Allwood.

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

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

  • Dodd Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Dodd Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Dodd Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Grant Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Grant Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Grant Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Gatewood Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Gatewood Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Gatewood Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hudson Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hudson Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hudson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hicks Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hicks Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hicks Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Henley Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Henley Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Henley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Roberts Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Burford Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Burford Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Burford Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mays Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mays Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mays Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Higginbotham Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Higginbotham Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Higginbotham Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Watts Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Watts Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Watts Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Pauls Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Pauls Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Pauls Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (184 more) ...
    • Loving Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Loving Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Loving Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Beard Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Carpenter Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Carpenter Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Carpenter Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Allwood had a population of 27 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Forks of Buffalo
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Pleasant View
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Willow
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Willow have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow
    • Willow is located in Amherst County
  • Sandidges
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Sandidges. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandidges
    • Sandidges is located in Amherst County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Sandidges
    • From Allwood to Sandidges
  • Pedlar Mills
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Oronoco
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oronoco have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oronoco
    • Oronoco is located in Amherst County
  • Gidsville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gidsville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gidsville
    • Gidsville is located in Amherst County
  • Salt Creek
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Salt Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salt Creek
    • Salt Creek is located in Amherst County
  • Elon
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elon have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elon
    • Elon is located in Amherst County
  • Lowesville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Snowden
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Snowden have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Snowden
    • Snowden is located in Amherst County
  • Major
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Major have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Major
    • Major is located in Bedford County
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Pearch
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pearch have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pearch
      • Pearch is located in Bedford County
    • Abert
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Abert. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abert
      • Abert is located in Bedford County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Abert
      • From Allwood to Abert
    • Coolwell
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Coolwell. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coolwell
      • Coolwell is located in Amherst County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Coolwell
      • From Allwood to Coolwell

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

Newspapers Published in Allwood ...

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 96 newspapers that have been published in the area around Allwood.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Allwood, there are papers which were published within 17 miles [27.4 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Allwood.

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 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 Allwood:

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

The official website for Amherst County: www.countyofamherst.com/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<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 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.
<4>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.
<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 Allwood, 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- Allwood) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Allwood. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.6500, Longitude: -79.2201       In this case, the coordinates for Allwood have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 31 Mar 2025