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 Blairs (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 Blairs. 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 Blairs ...
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.
While the name of this community is Blairs, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Blairs may originally have been Blair's.
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Blairs. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Blairs.
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 northwest 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 north.
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 north 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.
Blairs is located in Pittsylvania County.
To see how the shape of Virginia's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Pittsylvania County: Caswell (NC), Rockingham (NC), Bedford, Campbell, Franklin, Halifax & Henry.
Below are the counties that are near Blairs. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Blairs:
- Pittsylvania County (The home county of Blairs)
- The following are listed by their distance from Blairs, with the one closest to Blairs listed first.
- Ridgecrest
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Ridgecrest is located in Pittsylvania County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgecrest
- Kentuck
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Kentuck is located in Pittsylvania County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kentuck
- Mount Cross
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Mount Cross is located in Pittsylvania County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Cross
- Tightsqueeze
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Tightsqueeze is located in Pittsylvania County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tightsqueeze
- Spring Garden
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Spring Garden is located in Pittsylvania County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Garden
- Laurel Grove
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Laurel Grove is located in Pittsylvania County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurel Grove
- Chatham
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Chatham is located in Pittsylvania County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chatham
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,413 people
- Transco Village
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Transco Village is located in Pittsylvania County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Transco Village
- Weal
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Weal is located in Pittsylvania County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weal
- Lucks
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Lucks is located in Pittsylvania County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lucks
- Henrys Mill
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Henrys Mill is located in Pittsylvania County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henrys Mill
- Java
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Java is located in Pittsylvania County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Java
- Campbell County
- The following are listed by their distance from Blairs, with the one closest to Blairs listed first.
- Altavista
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Leesville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Leesville is located in Campbell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leesville
- Danville City
- Danville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Franklin County
- The following are listed by their distance from Blairs, with the one closest to Blairs listed first.
- Laprades Mill
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Laprades Mill is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laprades Mill
- Penhook
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Union Hall
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Sydnorsville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Sydnorsville is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sydnorsville
- Halifax County
- The following are listed by their distance from Blairs, with the one closest to Blairs listed first.
- Sutherlin
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Sutherlin is located in Halifax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sutherlin
- Elmo
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Elmo is located in Halifax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmo
- Delila
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Delila is located in Halifax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delila
- Sign Rock
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Sign Rock is located in Halifax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sign Rock
- Jones
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Jones is located in Halifax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jones
- Rodden
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Rodden is located in Halifax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rodden
- Alton
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Leda
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Leda is located in Halifax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leda
- Harmony
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Harmony is located in Halifax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harmony
- Westside Village
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Westside Village is located in Halifax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westside Village
- Banister Town
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Banister Town is located in Halifax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Banister Town
- Cluster Springs
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Cluster Springs is located in Halifax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cluster Springs
- Henry County
- The following are listed by their distance from Blairs, with the one closest to Blairs listed first.
- Axton
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Sandy Level
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Sandy Level is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Level
- Irisburg
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Irisburg is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irisburg
- Leatherwood
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Leatherwood is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leatherwood
- Laurel Park
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Laurel Park is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurel Park
- Chatmoss
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Chatmoss is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chatmoss
- Ridgeway
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Villa Heights
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Villa Heights is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Villa Heights
- Collinsville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Reed Creek Village
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Reed Creek Village is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reed Creek Village
- Madison County
- Beaver Park
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Beaver Park is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaver Park
- Martinsville City
- Martinsville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Caswell County (NC)
- The following are listed by their distance from Blairs, with the one closest to Blairs listed first.
- Gatewood
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Gatewood is located in Caswell County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gatewood
- Whitetown
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Whitetown is located in Caswell County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitetown
- Blanch
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Providence
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Providence is located in Caswell County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Providence
- Pelham
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Pelham is located in Caswell County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pelham
- Milton
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Estelle
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Estelle is located in Caswell County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Estelle
- Bethel
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Bethel is located in Caswell County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bethel
- Semora
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- West Yanceyville
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- West Yanceyville is located in Caswell County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Yanceyville
- Yanceyville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Quick
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Quick is located in Caswell County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quick
- Person County (NC)
- The following are listed by their distance from Blairs, with the one closest to Blairs listed first.
- Ceffo
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Ceffo is located in Person County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ceffo
- Concord
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Concord is located in Person County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Concord
- Hicks Village
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Hicks Village is located in Person County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hicks Village
- Roseville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Roseville is located in Person County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roseville
- Roxboro
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Whitt Town
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Whitt Town is located in Person County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitt Town
- Rockingham County (NC)
- The following are listed by their distance from Blairs, with the one closest to Blairs listed first.
- Ruffin
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Draper ‑ Historic
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Draper is located in Rockingham County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Draper
- Lawsonville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Lawsonville is located in Rockingham County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawsonville
- Meadow Summit
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Meadow Summit is located in Rockingham County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Summit
- Eden
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Eden is located in Rockingham County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eden
- Population from the 2020 Census: 14,867 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Eden <2>
- Spray ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Spray is located in Rockingham County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spray
- College Village
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- College Village is located in Rockingham County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for College Village
- Fairview
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Fairview is located in Rockingham County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairview
- Providence
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Providence is located in Rockingham County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Providence
- Reidsville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Wentworth
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Wentworth is located in Rockingham County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wentworth
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,734 people
- Belmont
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Belmont is located in Rockingham County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belmont
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Blairs, see our County-by-County Page for Blairs.
Cemeteries Near Blairs ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Blairs.
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 Blairs - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Blairs covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Blairs, with the one closest to Blairs listed first.
- Highland Burial Park
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland Burial Park
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Highland Burial Park is a very large cemetery that is located outside and to the north of Danville.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #50621 <3>
- Cunningham Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Leemont Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Chestnut Level Baptist Church Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Grove Street Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Danville Memorial Gardens
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Mountain View Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain View Cemetery
- The Mountain View Cemetery has also been known as:
- Mt. View Cemetery
- Mt. View Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Danville National Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Freedmens Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Green Hill Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Oak Hill Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Continue List (341 more) ...
- Floral Hill Memorial Garden
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Mt. Zion Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Schoolfield Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
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 Blairs in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Blairs.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Blairs, with the one closest to Blairs listed first.
- Kentuck
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Kentuck is located in Pittsylvania County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kentuck
- Pleasant Gap
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Pleasant Gap is located in Pittsylvania County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Gap
- Dry Fork
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Dry Fork is located in Pittsylvania County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dry Fork
- Keeling
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Keeling is located in Pittsylvania County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keeling
- Mount Cross
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Mount Cross is located in Pittsylvania County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Cross
- Ringgold
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Ringgold is located in Pittsylvania County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ringgold
- Spring Garden
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Spring Garden is located in Pittsylvania County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Garden
- Laurel Grove
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Laurel Grove is located in Pittsylvania County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurel Grove
- Whitmell
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Whitmell is located in Pittsylvania County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitmell
- Gatewood
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Gatewood is located in Caswell County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gatewood
- Chatham
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Chatham is located in Pittsylvania County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chatham
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,413 people
- Bachelors Hall
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Bachelors Hall is located in Pittsylvania County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bachelors Hall
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Vandola
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Vandola is located in Pittsylvania County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vandola
- Sutherlin
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Sutherlin is located in Halifax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sutherlin
- Shockoe
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Shockoe is located in Pittsylvania County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shockoe
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Blairs. See our List of 1890's Communities around Blairs.
Newspapers Published in Blairs ...
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 75 newspapers that have been published in the area around Blairs.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Blairs, there are papers which were published within 13 miles [20.9 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Blairs.
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 websites either 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 Blairs:
- Websites specific to Virginia
- Pages specific to Pittsylvania County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Campbell County
- Danville City
- Franklin County
- Halifax County
- Henry County
- Madison County
- Martinsville City
- Caswell County
- Person County
- Rockingham County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Virginia
Footnotes ...
| <1> | It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties). |
| <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 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. |
| <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 Blairs, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 from Point A (ie- Blairs) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |