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The Commemorative Quarter for Virginia





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 Bay Island (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 Bay Island. 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 Bay Island ...

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.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Bay Island: Bay Is. (in Canada, 'Isld.' is the more common abbreviation.)

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.

Cemeteries Near Bay Island ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Bay Island.

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

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

  • Lynnhaven Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lynnhaven Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lynnhaven Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Princess Ann Memorial Park
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Princess Ann Memorial Park
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Princess Ann Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Eastern Shore Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Eastern Shore Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Eastern Shore Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jones Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Jones Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Jones Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Rosewood Memorial Park
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rosewood Memorial Park
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rosewood Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Woodlawn Memorial Gardens
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Woodlawn Memorial Gardens
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Woodlawn Memorial Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Colonial Grove Memorial Park
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Whitehart Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Whitehart Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Whitehart Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Lane Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lane Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lane Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Nimmo Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Nimmo Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Nimmo Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mt. Gilead Missionary Baptist Church
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Bethel Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bethel Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bethel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (87 more) ...
    • Kellam Family Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Kellam Family Cemetery
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Kellam Family Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Kellam Family Cemetery is located outside and to the southwest of Virginia Beach.
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2239233 <2>
    • St. Marys Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Calvary Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Calvary Cemetery
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Calvary Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located in Norfolk.
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #49657 <2>

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.<4>

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

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

  • London Bridge
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for London Bridge have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for London Bridge
    • London Bridge is located in Virginia Beach City
  • Lynnhaven
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lynnhaven have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lynnhaven
    • Lynnhaven is located in Virginia Beach City
  • Virginia Beach
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Thalia
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Thalia have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thalia
    • Thalia is located in Virginia Beach City
  • Mapleton
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mapleton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mapleton
    • Mapleton is located in Virginia Beach City
  • Kempsville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kempsville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kempsville
    • Kempsville is located in Virginia Beach City
  • Elizabeth Park
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elizabeth Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elizabeth Park
    • Elizabeth Park is located in Norfolk City
  • Nimmo
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Nimmo. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nimmo
    • Nimmo is located in Virginia Beach City
  • Ocean View
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ocean View have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ocean View
    • Ocean View is located in Norfolk City
  • Brambleton
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brambleton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brambleton
    • Brambleton is located in Norfolk City
  • Pungo
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pungo
    • Pungo is located in Virginia Beach City
  • Norfolk
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Berkley
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Berkley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berkley
      • Berkley is located in Norfolk City
    • Lamberts Point
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lamberts Point have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lamberts Point
      • Lamberts Point is located in Norfolk City
    • Phoebus
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Phoebus
      • Phoebus is located in Hampton City

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

Newspapers Published in Bay Island ...

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 16 newspapers that have been published in the area around Bay Island.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Bay Island, there are papers which were published within 5 miles [8 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Bay Island.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These professional and volunteer 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 Bay Island:

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

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>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>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>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 Bay Island, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<5>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Bay Island) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Bay Island. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.9090, Longitude: -76.0488       In this case, the coordinates for Bay Island have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 31 Mar 2025