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 Burkes Garden (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 Burkes Garden. 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 Burkes Garden ...
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.
Another variation: Burks Garden.
- A typical abbreviation for Burkes Garden: Burkes Gdn. (or less commonly used: Burkes Gardn., Burkes Grden. or Burkes Grdn.)
- While the name of this community is Burkes Garden, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Burkes Garden may originally have been Burke's Garden.
Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Burkes Garden might be written as Burke Garden.
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.
Burkes Garden is located in Tazewell 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 Tazewell County: Bland, Buchanan, Russell, Smyth, McDowell (WV) & Mercer (WV).
Below are the counties that are near Burkes Garden. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Burkes Garden:
- Tazewell County (The home county of Burkes Garden)
- The following are listed by their distance from Burkes Garden, with the one closest to Burkes Garden listed first.
- Little Town
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Little Town is located in Tazewell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Town
- Shawver Mill
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Shawver Mill is located in Tazewell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shawver Mill
- Springville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Springville is located in Tazewell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springville
- Five Oaks
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Five Oaks is located in Tazewell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Oaks
- Saint Clair
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Saint Clair is located in Tazewell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Clair
- Wittens Mills
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Wittens Mills is located in Tazewell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wittens Mills
- Tazewell
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Bluefield
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Abbs Valley
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Abbs Valley is located in Tazewell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abbs Valley
- Thompson Valley
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Thompson Valley is located in Tazewell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thompson Valley
- Boissevain
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Boissevain is located in Tazewell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boissevain
- Adria
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Adria is located in Tazewell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adria
- Asberrys
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Asberrys is located in Tazewell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Asberrys
- Bland County
- The following are listed by their distance from Burkes Garden, with the one closest to Burkes Garden listed first.
- Bastian
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Bland
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Hicksville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Hicksville is located in Bland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hicksville
- Rocky Gap
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Rocky Gap is located in Bland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Gap
- Round Bottom
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Round Bottom is located in Bland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Round Bottom
- Mechanicsburg
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Mechanicsburg is located in Bland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mechanicsburg
- Buchanan County
- The following are listed by their distance from Burkes Garden, with the one closest to Burkes Garden listed first.
- Bearwallow
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Bearwallow is located in Buchanan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bearwallow
- Peapatch
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Peapatch is located in Buchanan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peapatch
- Height
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Height is located in Buchanan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Height
- Carroll County
- Sheep Town
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Sheep Town is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sheep Town
- Giles County
- Shumate
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Shumate is located in Giles County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shumate
- Grayson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Burkes Garden, with the one closest to Burkes Garden listed first.
- Elk Creek
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Flat Ridge
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Flat Ridge is located in Grayson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flat Ridge
- Trout Dale
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Pulaski County
- The following are listed by their distance from Burkes Garden, with the one closest to Burkes Garden listed first.
- Hilton Village
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Hilton Village is located in Pulaski County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilton Village
- Sassin ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Sassin is located in Pulaski County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sassin
- Smyth County
- The following are listed by their distance from Burkes Garden, with the one closest to Burkes Garden listed first.
- Atkins
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Ellendale
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Ellendale is located in Smyth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellendale
- Mount Carmel
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Mount Carmel is located in Smyth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Carmel
- Marion
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Broadford
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Broadford is located in Smyth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Broadford
- Sugar Grove
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Sugar Grove is located in Smyth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Grove
- Adwolf
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Adwolf is located in Smyth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adwolf
- Seven Mile Ford
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Seven Mile Ford is located in Smyth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seven Mile Ford
- Allison Gap
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Allison Gap is located in Smyth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allison Gap
- Cardwell Town
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Cardwell Town is located in Smyth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cardwell Town
- Chilhowie
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Saltville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Washington County
- The following are listed by their distance from Burkes Garden, with the one closest to Burkes Garden listed first.
- Fleet
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Loves Mill
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Loves Mill is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loves Mill
- Wythe County
- The following are listed by their distance from Burkes Garden, with the one closest to Burkes Garden listed first.
- Rural Retreat
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Crockett
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Wytheville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Rowe Crossroads
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Rowe Crossroads is located in Wythe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rowe Crossroads
- Kent
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Kent is located in Wythe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kent
- Speedwell
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Speedwell is located in Wythe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Speedwell
- Max Meadows
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Fort Chiswell
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Fort Chiswell is located in Wythe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Chiswell
- Siloam
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Siloam is located in Wythe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Siloam
- Locust Hill
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Locust Hill is located in Wythe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locust Hill
- Ivanhoe
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Austinville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- McDowell County (WV)
- The following are listed by their distance from Burkes Garden, with the one closest to Burkes Garden listed first.
- Bishop
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Bishop is located in McDowell County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bishop
- Anawalt
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Anawalt is located in McDowell County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anawalt
- Population from the 2020 Census: 172 people
- Newhall
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Newhall is located in McDowell County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newhall
- Elkhorn
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Elkhorn is located in McDowell County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkhorn
- Thorpe
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Thorpe is located in McDowell County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thorpe
- Kyle
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Kyle is located in McDowell County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kyle
- Gary
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Gary is located in McDowell County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gary
- Population from the 2020 Census: 759 people
- Keystone
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Northfork
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- War
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- War is located in McDowell County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for War
- Population from the 2020 Census: 659 people
- Kimball
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Big Four
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Big Four is located in McDowell County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Four
- Yukon
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Yukon is located in McDowell County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yukon
- Mercer County (WV)
- The following are listed by their distance from Burkes Garden, with the one closest to Burkes Garden listed first.
- Yards
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Yards is located in Mercer County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yards
- Bluefield
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Nemours
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Bramwell
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Coopers
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Coopers is located in Mercer County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coopers
- Bethel ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Bethel is located in Mercer County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bethel
- Freeman
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Freeman is located in Mercer County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeman
- Flipping
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Flipping is located in Mercer County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flipping
- Edison
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Edison is located in Mercer County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edison
- Littlesburg
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Littlesburg is located in Mercer County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Littlesburg
- Coaldale
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Coaldale is located in Mercer County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coaldale
- Montcalm
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Montcalm is located in Mercer County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montcalm
- El Centro ‑ Historic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- El Centro is located in Mercer County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for El Centro
- Wyoming County (WV)
- Bud
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Bud is located in Wyoming County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bud
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Burkes Garden, see our County-by-County Page for Burkes Garden.
Cemeteries Near Burkes Garden ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Burkes Garden.
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 Burkes Garden - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Burkes Garden covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Burkes Garden, with the one closest to Burkes Garden listed first.
- Burkes Garden Central Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Thompson Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Brown Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Red Oak Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Sharon Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Crabtree Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Shewey Cemetery
- The Shewey Cemetery is located on private property - be sure to secure permission before visiting.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shewey Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #52125 <3>
- Houndshell Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Thompson Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Thompson Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Crabtree Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- McMullen Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Continue List (542 more) ...
- Harmon Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Bethel Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Wallace Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 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>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Burkes Garden had a population of 117 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Burkes Garden, with the one closest to Burkes Garden listed first.
- Shawver Mill
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Shawver Mill is located in Tazewell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shawver Mill
- Gratton
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Gratton is located in Tazewell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gratton
- Ceres
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Ceres is located in Bland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ceres
- Effna
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Effna is located in Bland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Effna
- Grapefield
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Grapefield is located in Bland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grapefield
- Cove Creek
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Cove Creek is located in Tazewell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cove Creek
- Springville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Springville is located in Tazewell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springville
- Stowersville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Stowersville is located in Bland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stowersville
- Five Oaks
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Five Oaks is located in Tazewell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Oaks
- Bailey
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Bailey is located in Tazewell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bailey
- Saint Clair
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Saint Clair is located in Tazewell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Clair
- Wittens Mills
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Wittens Mills is located in Tazewell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wittens Mills
- Continue List (16 more) ...
- Clear Fork
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Clear Fork is located in Bland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clear Fork
- Thompson Valley
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Thompson Valley is located in Tazewell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thompson Valley
- Asberrys
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Asberrys is located in Tazewell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Asberrys
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Burkes Garden. See our List of 1890's Communities around Burkes Garden.
Newspapers Published in Burkes Garden ...
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 31 newspapers that have been published in the area around Burkes Garden.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Burkes Garden, there are papers which were published within 17 miles [27.4 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Burkes Garden.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to 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 Burkes Garden:
- Websites specific to Virginia
- Pages specific to Tazewell County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Bland County
- Buchanan County
- Carroll County
- Giles County
- Grayson County
- Pulaski County
- Smyth County
- Washington County
- Wythe County
- McDowell County
- Mercer County
- Wyoming 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 Burkes Garden, 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' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Burkes Garden) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |