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 Elon (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 Elon. 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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.
Elon is located in Amherst 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 Amherst County: Appomattox, Bedford, Campbell, Lynchburg City, Nelson & Rockbridge.
Below are the counties that are near Elon. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Elon:
- Amherst County (The home county of Elon)
- The following are listed by their distance from Elon, with the one closest to Elon listed first.
- Winesap
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Winesap is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winesap
- Pedlar Mills
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Pedlar Mills is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pedlar Mills
- Coolwell
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Coolwell is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coolwell
- Sweet Briar Station
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Sweet Briar Station is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sweet Briar Station
- Pleasant View
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Pleasant View is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant View
- Madison Heights
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Allwood
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Allwood is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allwood
- Amherst
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Monitor
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Monitor is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monitor
- Sandidges
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Sandidges is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandidges
- Joshua Falls
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Joshua Falls is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joshua Falls
- Forks of Buffalo
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Forks of Buffalo is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forks of Buffalo
- Appomattox County
- The following are listed by their distance from Elon, with the one closest to Elon listed first.
- Mineral ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Mineral is located in Appomattox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mineral
- Beckham
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Beckham is located in Appomattox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beckham
- Spout Spring
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Spout Spring is located in Appomattox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spout Spring
- Bent Creek
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Bent Creek is located in Appomattox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bent Creek
- Appomattox
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Spring Mills
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Spring Mills is located in Appomattox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Mills
- Chap
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Chap is located in Appomattox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chap
- Evergreen
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Evergreen is located in Appomattox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen
- Augusta County
- The following are listed by their distance from Elon, with the one closest to Elon listed first.
- Steeles Tavern
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Spottswood
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Spottswood is located in Augusta County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spottswood
- Bedford City
- Bedford
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Bedford County
- The following are listed by their distance from Elon, with the one closest to Elon listed first.
- Abert
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Abert is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abert
- Boonsboro
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Boonsboro is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boonsboro
- Coleman Falls
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Coleman Falls is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coleman Falls
- Waugh
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Waugh is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waugh
- Forest
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Cifax
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Cifax is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cifax
- Bellevue
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Bellevue is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellevue
- Goode
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Lowry
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Lowry is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lowry
- Peaksville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Peaksville is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peaksville
- Joppa Mill
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Joppa Mill is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joppa Mill
- Huddleston
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Botetourt County
- The following are listed by their distance from Elon, with the one closest to Elon listed first.
- Rocky Point
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Rocky Point is located in Botetourt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Point
- Buchanan
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Lithia
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Lithia is located in Botetourt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lithia
- Salt Petre Cave
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- 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
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Springwood is located in Botetourt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springwood
- Buckingham County
- Toga
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Toga is located in Buckingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toga
- Buena Vista City
- Buena Vista
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Campbell County
- The following are listed by their distance from Elon, with the one closest to Elon listed first.
- Powhatan
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Powhatan is located in Campbell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powhatan
- Mount Athos ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Mount Athos is located in Campbell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Athos
- Timberlake
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Timberlake is located in Campbell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timberlake
- Bedford Springs
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Bedford Springs is located in Campbell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bedford Springs
- Lawyers
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Lawyers is located in Campbell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawyers
- Rustburg
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Yellow Branch
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Yellow Branch is located in Campbell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yellow Branch
- Concord
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Mount Zion
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Mount Zion is located in Campbell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Zion
- Gladys
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Lynch Station
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Lynch Station is located in Campbell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lynch Station
- Altavista
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Lexington City
- Lexington
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Lynchburg City
- The following are listed by their distance from Elon, with the one closest to Elon listed first.
- Lavino Village
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Lavino Village is located in Lynchburg City
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lavino Village
- Lynchburg
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Woodbine Village
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Woodbine Village is located in Lynchburg City
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodbine Village
- Nelson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Elon, with the one closest to Elon listed first.
- Buffalo Springs
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Buffalo Springs is located in Nelson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo Springs
- Gladstone
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Arrington
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Colleen
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Colleen is located in Nelson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colleen
- Massies Mill
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Massies Mill is located in Nelson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Massies Mill
- Jonesboro
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Jonesboro is located in Nelson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jonesboro
- Norwood
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Norwood is located in Nelson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norwood
- Bryant
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Bryant is located in Nelson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bryant
- Tyro
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Shipman
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Shipman is located in Nelson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shipman
- Old Myndus
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Old Myndus is located in Nelson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Myndus
- Warminster
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Warminster is located in Nelson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warminster
- Pittsylvania County
- Hurt
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Hurt is located in Pittsylvania County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hurt
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,211 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hurt <1>
- Rockbridge County
- The following are listed by their distance from Elon, with the one closest to Elon listed first.
- Glasgow
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Buffalo Forge
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Buffalo Forge is located in Rockbridge County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo Forge
- Greenlee
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Greenlee is located in Rockbridge County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenlee
- Fancy Hill
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Fancy Hill is located in Rockbridge County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fancy Hill
- Riverside
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Riverside is located in Rockbridge County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverside
- Natural Bridge
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Red Mills
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Red Mills is located in Rockbridge County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Mills
- Zollman ‑ Historic
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Zollman is located in Rockbridge County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zollman
- East Lexington
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- East Lexington is located in Rockbridge County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Lexington
- Longwood ‑ Historic
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Longwood is located in Rockbridge County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longwood
- Springfield
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Springfield is located in Rockbridge County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springfield
- Marlbrook
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Marlbrook is located in Rockbridge County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marlbrook
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Elon, see our County-by-County Page for Elon.
Cemeteries Near Elon ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Elon.
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 Elon - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Elon covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Elon, with the one closest to Elon listed first.
- Fletcher Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Hudson Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Watts Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Harris Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Hicks Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Scott Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- New Hope Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- McIvor Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Campbell Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- St. Pauls Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Faulconer Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Williams Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Continue List (182 more) ...
- Hicks Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Holy Cross Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Gatewood Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 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.<2>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Elon had a population of 16 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Elon, with the one closest to Elon listed first.
- Salt Creek
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Salt Creek is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salt Creek
- Abert
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Abert is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abert
- Pearch
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Pearch is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pearch
- Pedlar Mills
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Pedlar Mills is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pedlar Mills
- Boonsboro
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Boonsboro is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boonsboro
- Coolwell
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Coolwell is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coolwell
- Coleman Falls
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Coleman Falls is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coleman Falls
- Pleasant View
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Pleasant View is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant View
- Coffee
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Coffee is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coffee
- Waugh
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Waugh is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waugh
- Major
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Major is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Major
- Big Island
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Allwood
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Allwood is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allwood
- Perrowville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Perrowville is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perrowville
- Joshua Falls
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Joshua Falls is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joshua Falls
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Elon. See our List of 1890's Communities around Elon.
Newspapers Published in Elon ...
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 101 newspapers that have been published in the area around Elon.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Elon, there are papers which were published within 9 miles [14.5 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Elon.
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 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 Elon:
- Websites specific to Virginia
- Pages specific to Amherst County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Appomattox County
- Augusta County
- Bedford City
- Bedford County
- Botetourt County
- Buckingham County
- Buena Vista City
- Campbell County
- Lexington City
- Lynchburg City
- Nelson County
- Pittsylvania County
- Rockbridge 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> | 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 Elon, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Elon) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |