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 Centerville (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 Centerville. 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.
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 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.
Centerville is located in Accomack 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 Accomack County: Somerset (MD), Lancaster, Middlesex, Northampton & Northumberland.
Below are the counties that are near Centerville. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Centerville:
- Accomack County (The home county of Centerville)
- The following are listed by their distance from Centerville, with the one closest to Centerville listed first.
- Metompkin
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Metompkin is located in Accomack County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Metompkin
- Parksley
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Whitesville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Whitesville is located in Accomack County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitesville
- Gargatha
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Gargatha is located in Accomack County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gargatha
- Hopeton
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Hopeton is located in Accomack County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopeton
- Accomac
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Accomac is located in Accomack County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Accomac
- Population from the 2020 Census: 482 people
- Greenbush
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Greenbush is located in Accomack County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenbush
- Bloxom
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Nelsonia
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Nelsonia is located in Accomack County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nelsonia
- Modest Town
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Tasley
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Mappsville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Northampton County
- The following are listed by their distance from Centerville, with the one closest to Centerville listed first.
- Exmore
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Wardtown
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Wardtown is located in Northampton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wardtown
- Pleasant Cove Village
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Pleasant Cove Village is located in Northampton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Cove Village
- Jamesville
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Jamesville is located in Northampton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamesville
- Nassawadox
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Marionville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Marionville is located in Northampton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marionville
- Sheps End
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Sheps End is located in Northampton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sheps End
- Birdsnest
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Bridgetown
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Bridgetown is located in Northampton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bridgetown
- Machipongo
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Somerset County (MD)
- The following are listed by their distance from Centerville, with the one closest to Centerville listed first.
- Lawsonia
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Lawsonia is located in Somerset County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawsonia
- Rehobeth
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Tulls Corner
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Tulls Corner is located in Somerset County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tulls Corner
- Crisfield
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Daugherty Town
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Daugherty Town is located in Somerset County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Daugherty Town
- Annemessix Towne ‑ Historic
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Annemessix Towne is located in Somerset County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Annemessix Towne
- Kingston
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Kingston is located in Somerset County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingston
- Costen
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Costen is located in Somerset County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Costen
- West Pocomoke
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- West Pocomoke is located in Somerset County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Pocomoke
- Manokin
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Manokin is located in Somerset County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manokin
- Fairmount
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Fairmount is located in Somerset County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairmount
- Upper Fairmount
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Upper Fairmount is located in Somerset County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Upper Fairmount
- Worcester County (MD)
- The following are listed by their distance from Centerville, with the one closest to Centerville listed first.
- Pocomoke City
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Pocomoke City is located in Worcester County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pocomoke City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,095 people
- Former names for Pocomoke City:
- New Town
- Stevens Landing
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pocomoke City <1>
- Stockton
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Girdletree
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Girdletree is located in Worcester County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Girdletree
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Centerville, see our County-by-County Page for Centerville.
Cemeteries Near Centerville ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Centerville.
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 Centerville - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Centerville covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Centerville, with the one closest to Centerville listed first.
- Liberty Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Edge Hill Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Wessells Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Bloxom Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Fairview Lawn Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairview Lawn Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Fairview Lawn Cemetery is located outside and to the southeast of Onancock.
- Mt. Holly Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Fairlawn Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Joynes Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Onancock Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Martin/Hatton
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martin/Hatton
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Martin/Hatton is located outside and to the west of Melfa.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2258639 <2>
- Greenwood Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Major Doughty Gravesite
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (62 more) ...
- McLane Cemetery
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Pungoteague Community Church Cemetery
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- St. James Cemetery
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
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 Centerville in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Centerville.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Centerville, with the one closest to Centerville listed first.
- Pastoria
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Pastoria is located in Accomack County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pastoria
- Metompkin
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Metompkin is located in Accomack County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Metompkin
- Parksley
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Hopeton
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Hopeton is located in Accomack County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopeton
- Gargatha
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Gargatha is located in Accomack County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gargatha
- Lee Mont
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Lee Mont is located in Accomack County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lee Mont
- Bloxom
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Guilford
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Guilford is located in Accomack County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guilford
- Modest Town
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Nelsonia
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Nelsonia is located in Accomack County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nelsonia
- Justisville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Justisville is located in Accomack County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Justisville
- Tasley
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- Daugherty
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Daugherty is located in Accomack County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Daugherty
- Hopkins
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Hopkins is located in Accomack County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopkins
- Onley
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Centerville. See our List of 1890's Communities around Centerville.
Newspapers Published in Centerville ...
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 23 newspapers that have been published in the area around Centerville.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Centerville, there are papers which were published within 21 miles [33.8 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Centerville.
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 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 Centerville:
- Websites specific to Virginia
- Pages specific to Accomack County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Northampton County
- Somerset County
- Worcester County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Virginia
Footnotes ...
| <1> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <2> | 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. |
| <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 Centerville, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Centerville) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |