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.
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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors 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.
Five Forks is located in Carroll 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 Carroll County: Floyd, Grayson, Patrick, Pulaski, Surry & Wythe.
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:
- Carroll 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.
- Hillsville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Woodlawn
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Star
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Star is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Star
- Shorts Creek
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Shorts Creek is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shorts Creek
- Oak Grove
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Oak Grove is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
- Sylvatus
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Sylvatus is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sylvatus
- Sheep Town
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Sheep Town is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sheep Town
- Pipers Gap
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Pipers Gap is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pipers Gap
- Fancy Gap
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Drenn
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Drenn is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drenn
- Dugspur
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Gladesboro
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Gladesboro is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gladesboro
- Bland County
- The following are listed by their distance from Five Forks, with the one closest to Five Forks listed first.
- Mechanicsburg
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Mechanicsburg is located in Bland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mechanicsburg
- Bland
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Floyd County
- The following are listed by their distance from Five Forks, with the one closest to Five Forks listed first.
- Indian Valley
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Duncan
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Duncan is located in Floyd County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duncan
- Floyd
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Sowers
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Sowers is located in Floyd County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sowers
- Poff
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Poff is located in Floyd County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poff
- Haycock
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Haycock is located in Floyd County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haycock
- Galax City
- Galax
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Grayson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Five Forks, with the one closest to Five Forks listed first.
- Fries
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Low Gap
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Low Gap is located in Grayson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Low Gap
- Baywood
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Baywood is located in Grayson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baywood
- Independence
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Elk Creek
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Bridle Creek
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Bridle Creek is located in Grayson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bridle Creek
- Flat Ridge
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Flat Ridge is located in Grayson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flat Ridge
- Montgomery County
- The following are listed by their distance from Five Forks, with the one closest to Five Forks listed first.
- Childress
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Childress is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Childress
- Riner
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Patrick County
- The following are listed by their distance from Five Forks, with the one closest to Five Forks listed first.
- Ararat
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Carters Mill
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Carters Mill is located in Patrick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carters Mill
- Meadows of Dan
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Woolwine
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Peters Creek
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Peters Creek is located in Patrick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peters Creek
- Stuart
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Pulaski County
- The following are listed by their distance from Five Forks, with the one closest to Five Forks listed first.
- Draper
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Mack Creek Village
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Mack Creek Village is located in Pulaski County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mack Creek Village
- Pulaski
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Wurno
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Wurno is located in Pulaski County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wurno
- Hilton Village
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Hilton Village is located in Pulaski County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilton Village
- Newbern
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Snowville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Snowville is located in Pulaski County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Snowville
- Dublin
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Sassin ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Sassin is located in Pulaski County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sassin
- Fairlawn
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Fairlawn is located in Pulaski County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairlawn
- Radford City
- The following are listed by their distance from Five Forks, with the one closest to Five Forks listed first.
- New Town
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- New Town is located in Radford City
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Town
- Radford Village
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Radford Village is located in Radford City
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Radford Village
- Simpkins Village
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Simpkins Village is located in Radford City
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Simpkins Village
- Sunset Village
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Sunset Village is located in Radford City
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset Village
- Radford
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Mill Village
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Mill Village is located in Radford City
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mill Village
- Wythe County
- The following are listed by their distance from Five Forks, with the one closest to Five Forks listed first.
- Austinville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Ivanhoe
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Siloam
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Siloam is located in Wythe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Siloam
- Fort Chiswell
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Fort Chiswell is located in Wythe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Chiswell
- Locust Hill
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Locust Hill is located in Wythe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locust Hill
- Max Meadows
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Kent
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Kent is located in Wythe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kent
- Wytheville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Rowe Crossroads
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Rowe Crossroads is located in Wythe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rowe Crossroads
- Speedwell
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Speedwell is located in Wythe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Speedwell
- Crockett
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Rural Retreat
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Alleghany County (NC)
- The following are listed by their distance from Five Forks, with the one closest to Five Forks listed first.
- Edmonds
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Edmonds is located in Alleghany County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edmonds
- Ennice
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Hooker
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Hooker is located in Alleghany County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hooker
- Glade Valley
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Sparta
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Sparta is located in Alleghany County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sparta
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,723 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sparta <1>
- Roaring Gap
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Amelia
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Amelia is located in Alleghany County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amelia
- Piney Creek
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Surry County (NC)
- The following are listed by their distance from Five Forks, with the one closest to Five Forks listed first.
- Low Gap
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Round Peak
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Round Peak is located in Surry County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Round Peak
- Red Brush
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Red Brush is located in Surry County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Brush
- Toast
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Toast is located in Surry County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toast
- Flat Rock
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Flat Rock is located in Surry County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flat Rock
- Mount Airy
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Devotion
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Devotion is located in Surry County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Devotion
- Sheltontown
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Sheltontown is located in Surry County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sheltontown
- White Plains
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- White Plains is located in Surry County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Plains
- Holly Springs
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Holly Springs is located in Surry County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly Springs
- Mount Herman
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Mount Herman is located in Surry County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Herman
- Albion
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Albion is located in Surry County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albion
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.
- Shiloh Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Mitchell Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Williams Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Woodlawn Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Beasley Hill Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Mabe Family Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Coulson Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- James Robinson Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Pine Grove Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Old Burnett Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Liberty Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Gardner Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Continue List (587 more) ...
- Wilkinson Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Carter - Wilkerson Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- North Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 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.<3>
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.
- Woodlawn
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Hillsville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Shorts Creek
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Shorts Creek is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shorts Creek
- Star
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Star is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Star
- Wolf Glade
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Wolf Glade is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolf Glade
- Sylvatus
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Sylvatus is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sylvatus
- Pipers Gap
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Pipers Gap is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pipers Gap
- Fosters Falls
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Fosters Falls is located in Wythe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fosters Falls
- Fancy Gap
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Austinville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Grayson
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Grayson is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grayson
- Barren Springs
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Bertha
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Bertha is located in Wythe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bertha
- Drenn
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Drenn is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drenn
- Kayoulah
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Kayoulah is located in Pulaski County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kayoulah
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 29 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 20 miles [32.2 km]<4>. 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 like to 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 Five Forks:
- Websites specific to Virginia
- Pages specific to Carroll County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Bland County
- Floyd County
- Galax City
- Grayson County
- Montgomery County
- Patrick County
- Pulaski County
- Radford City
- Wythe County
- Alleghany County
- Surry 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 Five Forks, 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- Five Forks) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |