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 Bowers Ferry (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 Bowers Ferry. 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 Bowers Ferry ...
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 Bowers Ferry, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Bowers Ferry may originally have been Bower's Ferry.
Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Bowers Ferry might be written as Bower Ferry.
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Bowers Ferry. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Bowers Ferry.
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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.
Bowers Ferry is located in Carroll 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 Carroll County: Floyd, Grayson, Patrick, Pulaski, Surry & Wythe.
Below are the counties that are near Bowers Ferry. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Bowers Ferry:
- Carroll County (The home county of Bowers Ferry)
- The following are listed by their distance from Bowers Ferry, with the one closest to Bowers Ferry listed first.
- Oak Grove
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Oak Grove is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
- Sheep Town
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Sheep Town is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sheep Town
- Shorts Creek
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Shorts Creek is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shorts Creek
- Woodlawn
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Pipers Gap
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Pipers Gap is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pipers Gap
- Hillsville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Sylvatus
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Sylvatus is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sylvatus
- Star
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Star is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Star
- Drenn
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Drenn is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drenn
- Fancy Gap
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Lambsburg
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Dugspur
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Bland County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bowers Ferry, with the one closest to Bowers Ferry listed first.
- Bland
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Mechanicsburg
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Mechanicsburg is located in Bland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mechanicsburg
- Bastian
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Hicksville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Hicksville is located in Bland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hicksville
- Floyd County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bowers Ferry, with the one closest to Bowers Ferry listed first.
- Indian Valley
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Duncan
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Duncan is located in Floyd County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duncan
- Galax City
- Galax
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Grayson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bowers Ferry, with the one closest to Bowers Ferry listed first.
- Fries
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Baywood
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Baywood is located in Grayson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baywood
- Elk Creek
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Low Gap
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Low Gap is located in Grayson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Low Gap
- Independence
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Bridle Creek
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Bridle Creek is located in Grayson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bridle Creek
- Flat Ridge
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Flat Ridge is located in Grayson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flat Ridge
- Mouth-of-Wilson
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Trout Dale
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Rugby
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Rugby is located in Grayson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rugby
- Montgomery County
- Childress
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Childress is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Childress
- Patrick County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bowers Ferry, with the one closest to Bowers Ferry listed first.
- Ararat
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Carters Mill
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Carters Mill is located in Patrick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carters Mill
- Meadows of Dan
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Pulaski County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bowers Ferry, with the one closest to Bowers Ferry listed first.
- Draper
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Mack Creek Village
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Mack Creek Village is located in Pulaski County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mack Creek Village
- Pulaski
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Hilton Village
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Hilton Village is located in Pulaski County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilton Village
- Wurno
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Wurno is located in Pulaski County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wurno
- Newbern
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Dublin
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Sassin ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Sassin is located in Pulaski County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sassin
- Snowville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Snowville is located in Pulaski County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Snowville
- Radford City
- New Town
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- New Town is located in Radford City
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Town
- Smyth County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bowers Ferry, with the one closest to Bowers Ferry listed first.
- Sugar Grove
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Sugar Grove is located in Smyth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Grove
- Atkins
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Mount Carmel
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Mount Carmel is located in Smyth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Carmel
- Wythe County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bowers Ferry, with the one closest to Bowers Ferry listed first.
- Ivanhoe
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Austinville
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Siloam
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Siloam is located in Wythe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Siloam
- Fort Chiswell
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Fort Chiswell is located in Wythe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Chiswell
- Locust Hill
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Locust Hill is located in Wythe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locust Hill
- Kent
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Kent is located in Wythe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kent
- Max Meadows
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Rowe Crossroads
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Rowe Crossroads is located in Wythe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rowe Crossroads
- Speedwell
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Speedwell is located in Wythe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Speedwell
- Wytheville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Crockett
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Rural Retreat
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Alleghany County (NC)
- The following are listed by their distance from Bowers Ferry, with the one closest to Bowers Ferry listed first.
- Edmonds
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Edmonds is located in Alleghany County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edmonds
- Ennice
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Hooker
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Hooker is located in Alleghany County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hooker
- Glade Valley
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Amelia
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Amelia is located in Alleghany County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amelia
- Sparta
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Sparta is located in Alleghany County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sparta
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,723 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sparta <2>
- Piney Creek
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Roaring Gap
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Topia
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Topia is located in Alleghany County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Topia
- Scottville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Laurel Springs
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Ashe County (NC)
- The following are listed by their distance from Bowers Ferry, with the one closest to Bowers Ferry listed first.
- Grassy Creek
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Weavers Ford
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Weavers Ford is located in Ashe County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weavers Ford
- Surry County (NC)
- The following are listed by their distance from Bowers Ferry, with the one closest to Bowers Ferry listed first.
- Low Gap
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Round Peak
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Round Peak is located in Surry County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Round Peak
- Devotion
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Devotion is located in Surry County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Devotion
- Red Brush
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Red Brush is located in Surry County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Brush
- Toast
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Toast is located in Surry County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toast
- Mount Airy
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Flat Rock
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Flat Rock is located in Surry County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flat Rock
- Mountain Park
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Mountain Park is located in Surry County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Park
- Thurmond
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Dobson
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Sheltontown
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Sheltontown is located in Surry County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sheltontown
- White Plains
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- White Plains is located in Surry County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Plains
- Wilkes County (NC)
- The following are listed by their distance from Bowers Ferry, with the one closest to Bowers Ferry listed first.
- Abshers
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Abshers is located in Wilkes County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abshers
- Traphill
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Bowers Ferry, see our County-by-County Page for Bowers Ferry.
Cemeteries Near Bowers Ferry ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Bowers Ferry.
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 Bowers Ferry - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Bowers Ferry covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Bowers Ferry, with the one closest to Bowers Ferry listed first.
- Burnett - Hanks Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Edwards Chapel Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- River Hill Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Newman Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Oak Grove Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Burnett - Oak Grove Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Alley Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Stoneman Hill Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Nuckolls Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Hebron Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Orvin Lineberry Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Joseph Bryant Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Continue List (619 more) ...
- Mt. Hope Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Mt. Olivet Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Smith - Byrd Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
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.<3>
While we didn't find Bowers Ferry in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Bowers Ferry.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Bowers Ferry, with the one closest to Bowers Ferry listed first.
- Grayson
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Grayson is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grayson
- Stevens Creek
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Stevens Creek is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stevens Creek
- Ivanhoe
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Austinville
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Wolf Glade
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Wolf Glade is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolf Glade
- Shorts Creek
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Shorts Creek is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shorts Creek
- Spring Valley
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Spring Valley is located in Grayson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Valley
- Woodlawn
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Walton Furnace
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Walton Furnace is located in Wythe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walton Furnace
- Fosters Falls
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Fosters Falls is located in Wythe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fosters Falls
- Fallville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Fallville is located in Grayson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fallville
- Carsonville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Carsonville is located in Grayson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carsonville
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Cripple Creek
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Cripple Creek is located in Wythe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cripple Creek
- Pipers Gap
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Pipers Gap is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pipers Gap
- Bertha
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Bertha is located in Wythe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bertha
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Bowers Ferry. See our List of 1890's Communities around Bowers Ferry.
Newspapers Published in Bowers Ferry ...
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 35 newspapers that have been published in the area around Bowers Ferry.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Bowers Ferry, there are papers which were published within 15 miles [24.1 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Bowers Ferry.
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 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 Bowers Ferry:
- Websites specific to Virginia
- Pages specific to Carroll County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Bland County
- Floyd County
- Galax City
- Grayson County
- Montgomery County
- Patrick County
- Pulaski County
- Radford City
- Smyth County
- Wythe County
- Alleghany County
- Ashe County
- Surry County
- Wilkes 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> | 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 Bowers Ferry, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | 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- Bowers Ferry) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |