RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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Welcome to Big Island ...

Big Island is located in Bedford County<1>.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Big Island, you might consider that their post office opened  in 1846.

A typical abbreviation for Big Island: Big Is. (in Canada, 'Isld.' is the more common abbreviation.)

Big Island is 730 feet [223 m] above sea level.<2>.

Time Zone: Big Island lies in the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT) and observes daylight saving time

Communities Also Named Big Island ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 6 communities that are also named Big Island - they are located in Louisiana, Minnesota, New York, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia and Ohio.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Big Island.

Communities near Big Island ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Big Island.

  • Lynchburg
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Lexington
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
  • Bedford
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Buena Vista
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Buena Vista have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buena Vista
    • Buena Vista is located in Buena Vista City
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,402 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Buena Vista <3>
  • Amherst
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
  • Buchanan
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
  • Glasgow
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Pedlar Mills
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Pedlar Mills. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<5>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pedlar Mills
    • Pedlar Mills is located in Amherst County
  • Abert
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • 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.<5>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abert
    • Abert is located in Bedford County
  • Boonsboro
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boonsboro
    • Boonsboro is located in Bedford County

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Big Island. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Big Island.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Big Island. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Big Island.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Big Island. See our Newspapers Page for Big Island.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Big Island ...

Looking for more information about Big Island? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

In addition to the Tourism page for Big Island, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Big Island.

Adding Big Island to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Big Island in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Big Island was in the book titled U.S. Post Offices (Oct. 1846).

We also found Big Island in the book titled Table of U.S. Post Offices in the United States (Jan. 1851).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Big Island.

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of Virginia's counties, including Bedford, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Big Island - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>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.
<5>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.