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 Five Forks (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 Five Forks. 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 Five Forks ...
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.
For example, a typical abbreviation for Five Forks: Five Frks.
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Five Forks. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Five Forks.
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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.
Five Forks 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 Five Forks. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Five Forks:
- Amherst County (The home county of Five Forks)
- The following are listed by their distance from Five Forks, with the one closest to Five Forks listed first.
- Coolwell
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Coolwell is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coolwell
- Winesap
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Winesap is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winesap
- Sweet Briar Station
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Sweet Briar Station is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sweet Briar Station
- Amherst
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Madison Heights
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Monitor
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Monitor is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monitor
- Joshua Falls
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Joshua Falls is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joshua Falls
- Pedlar Mills
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Pedlar Mills is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pedlar Mills
- Pleasant View
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Pleasant View is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant View
- Walkers Ford
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Walkers Ford is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walkers Ford
- Sandidges
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Sandidges is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandidges
- New Glasgow
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- New Glasgow is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Glasgow
- Allwood
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Allwood is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allwood
- Appomattox County
- The following are listed by their distance from Five Forks, with the one closest to Five Forks listed first.
- Beckham
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Beckham is located in Appomattox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beckham
- Mineral ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Mineral is located in Appomattox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mineral
- Bent Creek
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Bent Creek is located in Appomattox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bent Creek
- Spout Spring
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Spout Spring is located in Appomattox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spout Spring
- Appomattox
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Spring Mills
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Spring Mills is located in Appomattox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Mills
- Evergreen
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Evergreen is located in Appomattox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen
- Chap
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Chap is located in Appomattox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chap
- Hurtsville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Hurtsville is located in Appomattox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hurtsville
- Pamplin City
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Augusta County
- The following are listed by their distance from Five Forks, with the one closest to Five Forks 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
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Bedford County
- The following are listed by their distance from Five Forks, with the one closest to Five Forks listed first.
- Abert
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Abert is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abert
- Boonsboro
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Boonsboro is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boonsboro
- Coleman Falls
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Coleman Falls is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coleman Falls
- Waugh
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Waugh is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waugh
- Forest
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Bellevue
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Bellevue is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellevue
- Cifax
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Cifax is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cifax
- Goode
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Lowry
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Lowry is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lowry
- Peaksville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Peaksville is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peaksville
- Joppa Mill
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Joppa Mill is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joppa Mill
- Botetourt County
- The following are listed by their distance from Five Forks, with the one closest to Five Forks listed first.
- Rocky Point
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Rocky Point is located in Botetourt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Point
- Buchanan
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Buckingham County
- The following are listed by their distance from Five Forks, with the one closest to Five Forks listed first.
- Toga
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Toga is located in Buckingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toga
- Forbes ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Forbes is located in Buckingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forbes
- Manteo
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Manteo is located in Buckingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manteo
- Mount Vinco
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Mount Vinco is located in Buckingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Vinco
- Alcoma
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Alcoma is located in Buckingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alcoma
- Andersonville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Glenmore
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Glenmore is located in Buckingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenmore
- Buena Vista City
- Buena Vista
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Campbell County
- The following are listed by their distance from Five Forks, with the one closest to Five Forks listed first.
- Mount Athos ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Mount Athos is located in Campbell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Athos
- Concord
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Powhatan
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Powhatan is located in Campbell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powhatan
- Timberlake
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Timberlake is located in Campbell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timberlake
- Lawyers
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Lawyers is located in Campbell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawyers
- Rustburg
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Bedford Springs
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Bedford Springs is located in Campbell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bedford Springs
- Yellow Branch
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Yellow Branch is located in Campbell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yellow Branch
- Mount Zion
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Mount Zion is located in Campbell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Zion
- Gladys
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Lynch Station
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Lynch Station is located in Campbell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lynch Station
- Altavista
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Hat Creek
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Hat Creek is located in Campbell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hat Creek
- Lexington City
- Lexington
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Lynchburg City
- The following are listed by their distance from Five Forks, with the one closest to Five Forks listed first.
- Lavino Village
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- 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
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- 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 Five Forks, with the one closest to Five Forks listed first.
- Gladstone
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Buffalo Springs
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Buffalo Springs is located in Nelson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo Springs
- Arrington
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Colleen
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Colleen is located in Nelson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colleen
- Norwood
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Norwood is located in Nelson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norwood
- Massies Mill
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Massies Mill is located in Nelson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Massies Mill
- Jonesboro
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Jonesboro is located in Nelson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jonesboro
- Shipman
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Shipman is located in Nelson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shipman
- Tyro
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Bryant
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Bryant is located in Nelson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bryant
- Old Myndus
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Old Myndus is located in Nelson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Myndus
- Warminster
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Warminster is located in Nelson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warminster
- Rockfish
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Rockfish is located in Nelson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockfish
- Pittsylvania County
- Hurt
(30 miles [48.3 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 Five Forks, with the one closest to Five Forks listed first.
- Glasgow
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Buffalo Forge
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Buffalo Forge is located in Rockbridge County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo Forge
- Greenlee
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Greenlee is located in Rockbridge County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenlee
- Riverside
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Riverside is located in Rockbridge County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverside
- Fancy Hill
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Fancy Hill is located in Rockbridge County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fancy Hill
- Marlbrook
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Marlbrook is located in Rockbridge County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marlbrook
- Zollman ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Zollman is located in Rockbridge County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zollman
- Natural Bridge
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- East Lexington
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- East Lexington is located in Rockbridge County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Lexington
- Red Mills
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Red Mills is located in Rockbridge County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Mills
- Fairfield
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Fairfield is located in Rockbridge County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairfield
- Longwood ‑ Historic
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Longwood is located in Rockbridge County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longwood
- Springfield
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Springfield is located in Rockbridge County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springfield
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Five Forks, see our County-by-County Page for Five Forks.
Cemeteries Near Five Forks ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Five Forks.
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 Five Forks - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Five Forks covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Five Forks, with the one closest to Five Forks listed first.
- Hicks Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- McIvor Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Campbell Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Faulconer Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- New Hope Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Lone Pine Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Williams Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- St. Pauls Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Watts Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Hudson Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Fletcher Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Scott Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (180 more) ...
- Rose Chapel Baptist Church Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Scott Zion Baptist Church Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Morriss Cemetery
(5 miles [8 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.<4>
While we didn't find Five Forks in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Five Forks.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Five Forks, with the one closest to Five Forks listed first.
- Coolwell
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Coolwell is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coolwell
- Elon
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Elon is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elon
- Salt Creek
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Salt Creek is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salt Creek
- Abert
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Abert is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abert
- Joshua Falls
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Joshua Falls is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joshua Falls
- Pedlar Mills
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Pedlar Mills is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pedlar Mills
- Stapleton
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Stapleton is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stapleton
- Pearch
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Pearch is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pearch
- Boonsboro
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Boonsboro is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boonsboro
- Mount Athos ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Mount Athos is located in Campbell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Athos
- Pleasant View
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Pleasant View is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant View
- Bocock
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Bocock is located in Campbell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bocock
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- Walkers Ford
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Walkers Ford is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walkers Ford
- Allwood
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Allwood is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allwood
- New Glasgow
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- New Glasgow is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Glasgow
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Five Forks. See our List of 1890's Communities around Five Forks.
Newspapers Published in Five Forks ...
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 96 newspapers that have been published in the area around Five Forks.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Five Forks, there are papers which were published within 13 miles [20.9 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Five Forks.
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 websites either 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 Five Forks:
- 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> | 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 from Point A (ie- Five Forks) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <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 Five Forks, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |