Our Genealogy Helper
Introduction ...
So far, we found very little information about Comptons Bridge. The little that we've found leads us believe that the community is historic.<1>
We've added Comptons Bridge to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Comptons Bridge, please Contact Us.
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 Comptons Bridge (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 Comptons Bridge. 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 Comptons Bridge ...
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.
- A typical abbreviation for Comptons Bridge: Comptons Brg. (or less commonly used: Comptons Brdg. or Comptons Brdge.)
- While the name of this community is Comptons Bridge, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<2>. So Comptons Bridge may originally have been Compton's Bridge.
Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Comptons Bridge might be written as Compton Bridge.
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.
Although our information shows that the community of Comptons Bridge is historic, it would have been located within present day Botetourt 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 Botetourt County: Alleghany, Bedford, Craig, Roanoke & Rockbridge.
Below are the counties that are near Comptons Bridge. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Comptons Bridge:
- Botetourt County (The home county of Comptons Bridge)
- The following are listed by their distance from Comptons Bridge, with the one closest to Comptons Bridge listed first.
- Salisbury
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Salisbury is located in Botetourt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salisbury
- Salt Petre Cave
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Salt Petre Cave is located in Botetourt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salt Petre Cave
- Salt Petre Cave has also been known as:
- Salt Peter Cave
- Saltpetre
- Springwood
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Springwood is located in Botetourt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springwood
- Gala
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Gala is located in Botetourt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gala
- Botetourt ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Botetourt is located in Botetourt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Botetourt
- Buchanan
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Lithia
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Lithia is located in Botetourt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lithia
- Fincastle
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Rocky Point
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Rocky Point is located in Botetourt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Point
- Haden
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Haden is located in Botetourt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haden
- Strom
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Strom is located in Botetourt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Strom
- Glen Wilton
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Glen Wilton is located in Botetourt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Wilton
- Oriskany
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Alleghany County
- The following are listed by their distance from Comptons Bridge, with the one closest to Comptons Bridge listed first.
- Rich Patch
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Rich Patch is located in Alleghany County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rich Patch
- Iron Gate
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Iron Gate is located in Alleghany County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iron Gate
- Population from the 2020 Census: 352 people
- Low Moor
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Clifton Forge
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Selma
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Selma is located in Alleghany County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Selma
- Griffith
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Griffith is located in Alleghany County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Griffith
- Moss Run
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Moss Run is located in Alleghany County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moss Run
- Amherst County
- The following are listed by their distance from Comptons Bridge, with the one closest to Comptons Bridge listed first.
- Pedlar Mills
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Pedlar Mills is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pedlar Mills
- Pleasant View
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Pleasant View is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant View
- Allwood
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Allwood is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allwood
- Forks of Buffalo
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Forks of Buffalo is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forks of Buffalo
- Bath County
- The following are listed by their distance from Comptons Bridge, with the one closest to Comptons Bridge listed first.
- Carloover
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Carloover is located in Bath County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carloover
- Healing Springs
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Healing Springs is located in Bath County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Healing Springs
- Greenwood ‑ Historic
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Greenwood is located in Bath County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwood
- Millboro
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Mitchelltown
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Mitchelltown is located in Bath County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mitchelltown
- Bedford City
- Bedford
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Bedford County
- The following are listed by their distance from Comptons Bridge, with the one closest to Comptons Bridge listed first.
- Villamont
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Villamont is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Villamont
- Montvale
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Peaksville
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Peaksville is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peaksville
- Coonsville ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Coonsville is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coonsville
- Chamblissburg
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Chamblissburg is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chamblissburg
- Cifax
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Cifax is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cifax
- Waugh
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Waugh is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waugh
- Joppa Mill
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Joppa Mill is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joppa Mill
- Lowry
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Lowry is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lowry
- Coleman Falls
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Coleman Falls is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coleman Falls
- Goodview
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Goode
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Bellevue
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Bellevue is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellevue
- Buena Vista City
- Buena Vista
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Covington City
- Covington
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Craig County
- The following are listed by their distance from Comptons Bridge, with the one closest to Comptons Bridge listed first.
- New Castle
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Abbott
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Abbott is located in Craig County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abbott
- Lexington City
- Lexington
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Roanoke City
- The following are listed by their distance from Comptons Bridge, with the one closest to Comptons Bridge listed first.
- Buena Vista
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Buena Vista is located in Roanoke City
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buena Vista
- Roanoke
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Garden City
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Garden City is located in Roanoke City
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden City
- Roanoke County
- The following are listed by their distance from Comptons Bridge, with the one closest to Comptons Bridge listed first.
- Hollins
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Vinton
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Mason Cove
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Mason Cove is located in Roanoke County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mason Cove
- Montgomery Village
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Montgomery Village is located in Roanoke County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montgomery Village
- Catawba
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Hanging Rock
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Hanging Rock is located in Roanoke County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hanging Rock
- Moomaw ‑ Historic
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Moomaw is located in Roanoke County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moomaw
- Cave Spring
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Cave Spring is located in Roanoke County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cave Spring
- Wabun
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Wabun is located in Roanoke County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wabun
- Rockbridge County
- The following are listed by their distance from Comptons Bridge, with the one closest to Comptons Bridge listed first.
- Springfield
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Springfield is located in Rockbridge County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springfield
- Natural Bridge
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Red Mills
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Red Mills is located in Rockbridge County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Mills
- Longwood ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Longwood is located in Rockbridge County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longwood
- Greenlee
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Greenlee is located in Rockbridge County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenlee
- Fancy Hill
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Fancy Hill is located in Rockbridge County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fancy Hill
- Glasgow
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Zollman ‑ Historic
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Zollman is located in Rockbridge County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zollman
- Buffalo Forge
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Buffalo Forge is located in Rockbridge County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo Forge
- East Lexington
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- East Lexington is located in Rockbridge County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Lexington
- Kerrs Creek
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Kerrs Creek is located in Rockbridge County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kerrs Creek
- Riverside
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Riverside is located in Rockbridge County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverside
- Goshen
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Salem City
- The following are listed by their distance from Comptons Bridge, with the one closest to Comptons Bridge listed first.
- Sunset Village
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Sunset Village is located in Salem City
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset Village
- Salem
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Greenbrier County (WV)
- Tuckahoe
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Tuckahoe is located in Greenbrier County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tuckahoe
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Comptons Bridge, see our County-by-County Page for Comptons Bridge.
Cemeteries Near Comptons Bridge ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Comptons Bridge.
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 Comptons Bridge - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Comptons Bridge covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Comptons Bridge, with the one closest to Comptons Bridge listed first.
- Rudisill Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Wesley Chapel Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Piney Grove Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Mays Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Houseman Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Copps Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Shafer Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Linkenhoker Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Galatia Presbyterian Church Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Fairview Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Peck Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Ponton Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Continue List (252 more) ...
- Godwin Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Godwin Cemetery
- The Godwin Cemetery has also been known as:
- Slicer Cemetery
- Robinson Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Mt. Olivet Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
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.
While we didn't find Comptons Bridge in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Comptons Bridge.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Comptons Bridge, with the one closest to Comptons Bridge listed first.
- Salisbury
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Salisbury is located in Botetourt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salisbury
- Salt Petre Cave
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Salt Petre Cave is located in Botetourt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salt Petre Cave
- Salt Petre Cave has also been known as:
- Salt Peter Cave
- Saltpetre
- Springwood
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Springwood is located in Botetourt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springwood
- Eagle Rock
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Bessemer
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Bessemer is located in Botetourt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bessemer
- Botetourt ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Botetourt is located in Botetourt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Botetourt
- Gala
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Gala is located in Botetourt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gala
- Buchanan
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Fincastle
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Lithia
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Lithia is located in Botetourt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lithia
- Dillon
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Dillon is located in Botetourt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dillon
- Haden
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Haden is located in Botetourt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haden
- Continue List (17 more) ...
- Arcadia
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Arcadia is located in Botetourt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arcadia
- Rocky Point
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Rocky Point is located in Botetourt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Point
- Alpine
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Alpine is located in Botetourt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpine
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Comptons Bridge. See our List of 1890's Communities around Comptons Bridge.
Newspapers Published in Comptons Bridge ...
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 45 newspapers that have been published in the area around Comptons Bridge.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Comptons Bridge, there are papers which were published within 19 miles [30.6 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Comptons Bridge.
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 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 Comptons Bridge:
- Websites specific to Virginia
- Pages specific to Botetourt County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Alleghany County
- Amherst County
- Bath County
- Bedford City
- Bedford County
- Buena Vista City
- Covington City
- Craig County
- Lexington City
- Roanoke City
- Roanoke County
- Rockbridge County
- Salem City
- Greenbrier County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Virginia
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Comptons Bridge, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <2> | 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). |
| <3> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Comptons Bridge) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |