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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 Browns Store (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 Browns Store. 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 Browns Store ...

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 Browns Store, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Browns Store may originally have been Brown's Store.

Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Browns Store might be written as Brown Store.

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

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 and hospitals 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.

Browns Store 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 Browns Store. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Browns Store:

  • Carroll County     (The home county of Browns Store)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Browns Store, with the one closest to Browns Store listed first.
    • Woodlawn
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Hillsville
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Star
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Star is located in Carroll County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Star
    • Oak Grove
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Oak Grove is located in Carroll County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
    • Pipers Gap
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Pipers Gap is located in Carroll County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pipers Gap
    • Shorts Creek
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Shorts Creek is located in Carroll County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shorts Creek
    • Drenn
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Drenn is located in Carroll County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drenn
    • Fancy Gap
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Sylvatus
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Sylvatus is located in Carroll County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sylvatus
    • Sheep Town
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Sheep Town is located in Carroll County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sheep Town
    • Gladesboro
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Gladesboro is located in Carroll County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gladesboro
    • Lambsburg
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Bland County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Browns Store, with the one closest to Browns Store listed first.
    • Mechanicsburg
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Mechanicsburg is located in Bland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mechanicsburg
    • Bland
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Floyd County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Browns Store, with the one closest to Browns Store listed first.
    • Indian Valley
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Duncan
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Duncan is located in Floyd County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duncan
    • Floyd
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Sowers
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Sowers is located in Floyd County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sowers
    • Haycock
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Haycock is located in Floyd County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haycock
    • Poff
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Poff is located in Floyd County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poff
  • Galax City
    • Galax
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Grayson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Browns Store, with the one closest to Browns Store listed first.
    • Fries
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Low Gap
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Low Gap is located in Grayson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Low Gap
    • Baywood
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Baywood is located in Grayson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baywood
    • Elk Creek
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Independence
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Bridle Creek
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Bridle Creek is located in Grayson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bridle Creek
    • Flat Ridge
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Flat Ridge is located in Grayson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flat Ridge
  • Montgomery County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Browns Store, with the one closest to Browns Store listed first.
    • Childress
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Childress is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Childress
    • Riner
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Patrick County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Browns Store, with the one closest to Browns Store listed first.
    • Ararat
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Carters Mill
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Carters Mill is located in Patrick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carters Mill
    • Meadows of Dan
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Peters Creek
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Peters Creek is located in Patrick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peters Creek
    • Woolwine
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Stuart
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Pulaski County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Browns Store, with the one closest to Browns Store listed first.
    • Draper
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Mack Creek Village
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Mack Creek Village is located in Pulaski County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mack Creek Village
    • Pulaski
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Wurno
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Wurno is located in Pulaski County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wurno
    • Hilton Village
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Hilton Village is located in Pulaski County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilton Village
    • Newbern
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Snowville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Snowville is located in Pulaski County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Snowville
    • Dublin
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Sassin ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Sassin is located in Pulaski County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sassin
  • Radford City
    • The following are listed by their distance from Browns Store, with the one closest to Browns Store listed first.
    • New Town
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • New Town is located in Radford City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Town
    • Radford Village
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Radford Village is located in Radford City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Radford Village
    • Simpkins Village
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Simpkins Village is located in Radford City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Simpkins Village
    • Sunset Village
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Sunset Village is located in Radford City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset Village
    • Radford
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Wythe County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Browns Store, with the one closest to Browns Store listed first.
    • Austinville
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Ivanhoe
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Siloam
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Siloam is located in Wythe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Siloam
    • Fort Chiswell
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Fort Chiswell is located in Wythe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Chiswell
    • Locust Hill
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Locust Hill is located in Wythe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locust Hill
    • Max Meadows
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Kent
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Kent is located in Wythe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kent
    • Wytheville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Rowe Crossroads
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Rowe Crossroads is located in Wythe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rowe Crossroads
    • Speedwell
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Speedwell is located in Wythe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Speedwell
    • Crockett
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Rural Retreat
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
  • Alleghany County (NC)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Browns Store, with the one closest to Browns Store listed first.
    • Edmonds
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Edmonds is located in Alleghany County (NC)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edmonds
    • Ennice
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Hooker
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Hooker is located in Alleghany County (NC)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hooker
    • Glade Valley
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Sparta
      (23 miles [37 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>
    • Amelia
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Amelia is located in Alleghany County (NC)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amelia
    • Roaring Gap
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Piney Creek
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Surry County (NC)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Browns Store, with the one closest to Browns Store listed first.
    • Low Gap
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Round Peak
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Round Peak is located in Surry County (NC)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Round Peak
    • Red Brush
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Red Brush is located in Surry County (NC)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Brush
    • Toast
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Toast is located in Surry County (NC)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toast
    • Flat Rock
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Flat Rock is located in Surry County (NC)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flat Rock
    • Mount Airy
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Devotion
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Devotion is located in Surry County (NC)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Devotion
    • Sheltontown
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Sheltontown is located in Surry County (NC)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sheltontown
    • White Plains
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • White Plains is located in Surry County (NC)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Plains
    • Holly Springs
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Holly Springs is located in Surry County (NC)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly Springs
    • Mount Herman
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Mount Herman is located in Surry County (NC)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Herman
    • Albion
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Albion is located in Surry County (NC)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albion
  • Wilkes County (NC)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Browns Store, with the one closest to Browns Store listed first.
    • Traphill
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Abshers
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Abshers is located in Wilkes County (NC)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abshers

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

Cemeteries Near Browns Store ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Browns Store.

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 Browns Store - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Woodlawn Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Old Burnett Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Liberty Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Mitchell Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Edwards Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Gardner Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Shiloh Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Williams Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Walker Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Mt. Olivet Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Williams - Jenkins Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Old Mt. Lebanon Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (607 more) ...
    • New Mt. Lebanon Cemetery
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Coulson Cemetery
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Mabe Family Cemetery
      (3 miles [4.8 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.<4>

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

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

  • Woodlawn
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Hillsville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Wolf Glade
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Wolf Glade is located in Carroll County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolf Glade
  • Pipers Gap
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Pipers Gap is located in Carroll County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pipers Gap
  • Star
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Star is located in Carroll County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Star
  • Drenn
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Drenn is located in Carroll County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drenn
  • Shorts Creek
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Shorts Creek is located in Carroll County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shorts Creek
  • Fancy Gap
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Sylvatus
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Sylvatus is located in Carroll County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sylvatus
  • Grayson
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Grayson is located in Carroll County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grayson
  • Fosters Falls
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Fosters Falls is located in Wythe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fosters Falls
  • Lambsburg
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Gladesboro
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Gladesboro is located in Carroll County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gladesboro
    • Austinville
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Stevens Creek
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Stevens Creek is located in Carroll County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stevens Creek

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

Newspapers Published in Browns Store ...

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 28 newspapers that have been published in the area around Browns Store.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Browns Store, there are papers which were published within 20 miles [32.2 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Browns Store.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These helpful 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 Browns Store:

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 Browns Store, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<5>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Browns Store) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.