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 northwest 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 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 Dinwiddie 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 Dinwiddie County: Amelia, Brunswick, Chesterfield, Greensville, Nottoway, Prince George & Sussex.
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:
- Dinwiddie 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.
- Sutherland
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Addison
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Addison is located in Dinwiddie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Addison
- Borthwick ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Borthwick is located in Dinwiddie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Borthwick
- Maitland Village
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Maitland Village is located in Dinwiddie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maitland Village
- Laird ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Laird is located in Dinwiddie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laird
- Grant Village
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Grant Village is located in Dinwiddie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grant Village
- Waldemar ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Waldemar is located in Dinwiddie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waldemar
- Hebron
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Hebron is located in Dinwiddie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hebron
- Rowanta
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Rowanta is located in Dinwiddie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rowanta
- McKenney
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Darvills
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Darvills is located in Dinwiddie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Darvills
- Wilsons
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Wilsons is located in Dinwiddie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilsons
- Amelia County
- The following are listed by their distance from Five Forks, with the one closest to Five Forks listed first.
- Ammon
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Ammon is located in Amelia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ammon
- Earls
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Earls is located in Amelia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Earls
- Amelia Court House
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Masons Corner
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Masons Corner is located in Amelia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Masons Corner
- Lodore
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Lodore is located in Amelia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lodore
- Brunswick County
- The following are listed by their distance from Five Forks, with the one closest to Five Forks listed first.
- Callaville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Callaville is located in Brunswick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Callaville
- Jonesboro ‑ Historic
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Jonesboro is located in Brunswick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jonesboro
- Dolphin
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Dolphin is located in Brunswick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dolphin
- Alberta
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Alberta is located in Brunswick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alberta
- Population from the 2020 Census: 265 people
- Edgerton
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Edgerton is located in Brunswick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgerton
- Totaro
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Totaro is located in Brunswick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Totaro
- Lawrenceville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Charles City County
- The following are listed by their distance from Five Forks, with the one closest to Five Forks listed first.
- Kimages
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Kimages is located in Charles City County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kimages
- Westover
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Westover is located in Charles City County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westover
- Chesterfield County
- The following are listed by their distance from Five Forks, with the one closest to Five Forks listed first.
- Matoaca
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Matoaca is located in Chesterfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Matoaca
- Holly ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Holly is located in Chesterfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly
- Bollinger Estates
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Bollinger Estates is located in Chesterfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bollinger Estates
- Ettrick
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Braebrook Village
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Braebrook Village is located in Chesterfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Braebrook Village
- Winterpock
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Winterpock is located in Chesterfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winterpock
- Coalboro ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Coalboro is located in Chesterfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coalboro
- Fendley ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Fendley is located in Chesterfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fendley
- Chesterfield Court House
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Centralia
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Centralia is located in Chesterfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centralia
- Chester
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Screamersville ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Screamersville is located in Chesterfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Screamersville
- Colonial Heights City
- Colonial Heights
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Emporia City
- White City
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- White City is located in Emporia City
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White City
- Greensville County
- The following are listed by their distance from Five Forks, with the one closest to Five Forks listed first.
- Jarratt
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Radium
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Radium is located in Greensville County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Radium
- Henrico County
- The following are listed by their distance from Five Forks, with the one closest to Five Forks listed first.
- Deep Bottom
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Deep Bottom is located in Henrico County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deep Bottom
- Varina Grove
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Varina Grove is located in Henrico County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Varina Grove
- Varina
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Varina is located in Henrico County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Varina
- Oakland
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Oakland is located in Henrico County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakland
- Turner Woods
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Turner Woods is located in Henrico County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turner Woods
- Lorraine
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Lorraine is located in Henrico County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lorraine
- Fort Lee
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Fort Lee is located in Henrico County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Lee
- Montrose
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Montrose is located in Henrico County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montrose
- Glendale
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Glendale is located in Henrico County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glendale
- Heckler Village
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Heckler Village is located in Henrico County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heckler Village
- Hopewell City
- Hopewell
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Lunenburg County
- The following are listed by their distance from Five Forks, with the one closest to Five Forks listed first.
- Dundas
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Dundas is located in Lunenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dundas
- Lochleven
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Lochleven is located in Lunenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lochleven
- Kenbridge
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Nottoway County
- The following are listed by their distance from Five Forks, with the one closest to Five Forks listed first.
- Spainville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Spainville is located in Nottoway County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spainville
- Forkland ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Forkland is located in Nottoway County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forkland
- Blackstone
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Crewe
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Winnie
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Winnie is located in Nottoway County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winnie
- Petersburg City
- Petersburg
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Powhatan County
- The following are listed by their distance from Five Forks, with the one closest to Five Forks listed first.
- Pilkinton
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Pilkinton is located in Powhatan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pilkinton
- Dorset
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Dorset is located in Powhatan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dorset
- Huguenot
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Huguenot is located in Powhatan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huguenot
- Prince George County
- The following are listed by their distance from Five Forks, with the one closest to Five Forks listed first.
- Derby ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Derby is located in Prince George County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Derby
- Talpa ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Talpa is located in Prince George County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Talpa
- Garysville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Garysville is located in Prince George County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garysville
- Newville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Newville is located in Prince George County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newville
- Burrowsville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Burrowsville is located in Prince George County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burrowsville
- Richmond City
- The following are listed by their distance from Five Forks, with the one closest to Five Forks listed first.
- Richmond
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Montrose Heights
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Montrose Heights is located in Richmond City
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montrose Heights
- Richmond County
- The following are listed by their distance from Five Forks, with the one closest to Five Forks listed first.
- Walmsley Village
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Walmsley Village is located in Richmond County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walmsley Village
- Cherry Gardens
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Cherry Gardens is located in Richmond County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Gardens
- Chippenham Village
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Chippenham Village is located in Richmond County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chippenham Village
- Sussex County
- The following are listed by their distance from Five Forks, with the one closest to Five Forks listed first.
- Stony Creek
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Sussex
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Sussex is located in Sussex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sussex
- Henry
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Henry is located in Sussex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henry
- Yale
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Yale is located in Sussex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yale
- Waverly
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Mason
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Mason is located in Sussex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mason
- Grizzard
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Grizzard is located in Sussex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grizzard
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.
- Smith Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Dabney Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Drivers Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Hill Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Wittbuish Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Olive Branch Baptist Church Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Olive Branch Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Rocky Branch Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Mt. Level Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Trinity Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Ocran UMC Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ocran UMC Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Ocran UMC Cemetery is located in Sutherland.
- The Ocran UMC Cemetery has also been known as:
- Ocran Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #51509 <2>
- Olgers Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Continue List (281 more) ...
- Corinth Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Mt. Poole Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Meredith Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
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.
- Sutherland
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Glendoyle ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Glendoyle is located in Dinwiddie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glendoyle
- Burgess
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Burgess is located in Dinwiddie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burgess
- Marmona
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Marmona is located in Dinwiddie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marmona
- Borthwick ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Borthwick is located in Dinwiddie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Borthwick
- Laird ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Laird is located in Dinwiddie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laird
- Namozine
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Namozine is located in Amelia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Namozine
- Waldemar ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Waldemar is located in Dinwiddie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waldemar
- Matoaca
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Matoaca is located in Chesterfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Matoaca
- Hebron
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Hebron is located in Dinwiddie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hebron
- Holly ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Holly is located in Chesterfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly
- Rowanta
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Rowanta is located in Dinwiddie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rowanta
- Continue List (19 more) ...
- Pembroke
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Pembroke is located in Petersburg City
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pembroke
- Darvills
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Darvills is located in Dinwiddie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Darvills
- Ettrick
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
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 111 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]<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 start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These professional and volunteer 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 Dinwiddie County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Amelia County
- Brunswick County
- Charles City County
- Chesterfield County
- Colonial Heights City
- Emporia City
- Greensville County
- Henrico County
- Hopewell City
- Lunenburg County
- Nottoway County
- Petersburg City
- Powhatan County
- Prince George County
- Richmond City
- Richmond County
- Sussex 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 '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- Five Forks) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |