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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 Bay Ridge (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 Ridge. 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 Ridge ...

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 occur.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Bay Ridge: Bay Rdg. (or less commonly used: Bay Rdge. or Bay Ridg.)

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Bay Ridge. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Bay Ridge.

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 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.

Bay Ridge is located in Northampton County.

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

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

  • Northampton County     (The home county of Bay Ridge)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bay Ridge, with the one closest to Bay Ridge listed first.
    • Cheapside
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Cheapside is located in Northampton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cheapside
    • Cape Charles
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Bayview
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Bayview is located in Northampton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayview
    • Cheriton
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Cherrystone
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Cherrystone is located in Northampton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherrystone
    • Pat Town
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Pat Town is located in Northampton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pat Town
    • Eastville
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Machipongo
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Bridgetown
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Bridgetown is located in Northampton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bridgetown
    • Birdsnest
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Sheps End
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Sheps End is located in Northampton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sheps End
    • Marionville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Marionville is located in Northampton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marionville
  • Accomack County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bay Ridge, with the one closest to Bay Ridge listed first.
    • Belle Haven
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Cats Bridge
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Cats Bridge is located in Accomack County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cats Bridge
    • Savage Town
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Savage Town is located in Accomack County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Savage Town
    • Painter
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Gloucester County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bay Ridge, with the one closest to Bay Ridge listed first.
    • Achilles
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Achilles is located in Gloucester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Achilles
    • Rowes Haven
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Rowes Haven is located in Gloucester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rowes Haven
    • Crab
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Crab is located in Gloucester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crab
    • Gloucester Point
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Ordinary
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Roanes
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Roanes is located in Gloucester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roanes
    • White Marsh
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Money
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Money is located in Gloucester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Money
    • North
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Country Village
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Country Village is located in Gloucester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Country Village
  • Hampton City
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bay Ridge, with the one closest to Bay Ridge listed first.
    • Buckroe Beach
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Buckroe Beach is located in Hampton City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckroe Beach
    • Phoebus
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Phoebus is located in Hampton City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Phoebus
    • Hampton
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Chapel Village
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Chapel Village is located in Hampton City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chapel Village
    • Pine Chapel Village
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Pine Chapel Village is located in Hampton City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Chapel Village
    • Aberdeen Gardens
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Aberdeen Gardens is located in Hampton City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aberdeen Gardens
    • Newgate Village
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Newgate Village is located in Hampton City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newgate Village
    • Greenwood Farms
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Greenwood Farms is located in Hampton City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwood Farms
  • Mathews County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bay Ridge, with the one closest to Bay Ridge listed first.
    • New Point
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Peary
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Peary is located in Mathews County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peary
    • Onemo
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Onemo is located in Mathews County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Onemo
    • Susan
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Susan is located in Mathews County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Susan
    • Beaverlett
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Beaverlett is located in Mathews County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaverlett
    • Diggs
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Ruff
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Ruff is located in Mathews County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruff
    • Mathews
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Cardinal
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Cardinal is located in Mathews County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cardinal
  • Middlesex County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bay Ridge, with the one closest to Bay Ridge listed first.
    • Stingray Point
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Stingray Point is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stingray Point
    • Sandy Bottom ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Sandy Bottom is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Bottom
    • Amburg
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Amburg is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amburg
  • Newport News City
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bay Ridge, with the one closest to Bay Ridge listed first.
    • Hilton Village
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Hilton Village is located in Newport News City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilton Village
    • Bernard Village
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Bernard Village is located in Newport News City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bernard Village
    • Newport News
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Red Hill Village
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Red Hill Village is located in Newport News City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Hill Village
    • Lee Hall
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Lee Hall is located in Newport News City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lee Hall
  • Norfolk City
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bay Ridge, with the one closest to Bay Ridge listed first.
    • Monticello Village
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Monticello Village is located in Norfolk City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monticello Village
    • Glenwood Park
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Glenwood Park is located in Norfolk City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenwood Park
    • Sussex
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Sussex is located in Norfolk City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sussex
    • New Town ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • New Town is located in Norfolk City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Town
    • Norfolk
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Alantic City
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Alantic City is located in Norfolk City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alantic City
  • Poquoson City
    • Poquoson
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
  • Portsmouth City
    • Portsmouth
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Virginia Beach City
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bay Ridge, with the one closest to Bay Ridge listed first.
    • Cape Henry Village
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Cape Henry Village is located in Virginia Beach City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cape Henry Village
    • North Virginia Beach
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • North Virginia Beach is located in Virginia Beach City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Virginia Beach
    • Virginia Beach
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Burtons
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Burtons is located in Virginia Beach City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burtons
    • Aragona Village
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Aragona Village is located in Virginia Beach City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aragona Village
    • Pocahontas Village
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Pocahontas Village is located in Virginia Beach City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pocahontas Village
    • Thalia Village
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Thalia Village is located in Virginia Beach City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thalia Village
    • Kempsville Gardens
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Kempsville Gardens is located in Virginia Beach City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kempsville Gardens
    • Mapleton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Mapleton is located in Virginia Beach City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mapleton
    • Westview Village
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Westview Village is located in Virginia Beach City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westview Village
    • Nimmo
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Nimmo is located in Virginia Beach City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nimmo
  • York County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bay Ridge, with the one closest to Bay Ridge listed first.
    • Dare
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Dare is located in York County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dare
    • Yorkville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Yorkville is located in York County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yorkville
    • Yorktown
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Lackey
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Lackey is located in York County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lackey

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

Cemeteries Near Bay Ridge ...

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

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 Bay Ridge - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Tomb of Custin
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Cape Charles Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Whitehead Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Holland Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Allen Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Hurst Burial Ground
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Hudgins Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Hudgins Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Armistead Burial Ground
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Armistead - Hudgins Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Campground Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Grinnell Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (126 more) ...
    • Jarvis Burial Ground
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • West Burial Ground
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Covill Burial Ground
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)

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.<2>

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

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

  • Cheapside
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Cheapside is located in Northampton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cheapside
  • Capeville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Dalbys
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Dalbys is located in Northampton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dalbys
  • Cape Charles
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Seaview
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Seaview is located in Northampton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seaview
  • Bayview
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Bayview is located in Northampton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayview
  • Cherrystone
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Cherrystone is located in Northampton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherrystone
  • Eastville
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Shadyside
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Shadyside is located in Northampton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shadyside
  • Machipongo
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Bridgetown
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Bridgetown is located in Northampton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bridgetown
  • Birdsnest
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • New Point
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Marionville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Marionville is located in Northampton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marionville
    • Franktown
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)

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

Newspapers Published in Bay Ridge ...

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 13 newspapers that have been published in the area around Bay Ridge.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Bay Ridge, there are papers which were published within 22 miles [35.4 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Bay Ridge.

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 Bay Ridge:

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>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 Ridge, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Bay Ridge) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.