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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals 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.
Five Forks is located in Patrick 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 Patrick County: Stokes (NC), Surry (NC), Carroll, Floyd, Franklin & Henry.
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:
- Patrick 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.
- Peters Creek
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Peters Creek is located in Patrick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peters Creek
- Stuart
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Patrick Springs
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Nettleridge
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Nettleridge is located in Patrick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nettleridge
- Critz
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Stella
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Stella is located in Patrick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stella
- Carters Mill
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Carters Mill is located in Patrick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carters Mill
- Meadows of Dan
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Ararat
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Elamsville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Elamsville is located in Patrick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elamsville
- Woolwine
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Charity
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Charity is located in Patrick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charity
- Carroll County
- The following are listed by their distance from Five Forks, with the one closest to Five Forks listed first.
- Pike City
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Pike City is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pike City
- Nester
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Nester is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nester
- Gladesboro
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Gladesboro is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gladesboro
- Cana
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Fancy Gap
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Dugspur
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Lambsburg
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Drenn
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Drenn is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drenn
- Hillsville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Star
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Star is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Star
- Floyd County
- The following are listed by their distance from Five Forks, with the one closest to Five Forks listed first.
- Haycock
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Haycock is located in Floyd County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haycock
- Floyd
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Pizarro
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Pizarro is located in Floyd County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pizarro
- Poff
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Poff is located in Floyd County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poff
- Duncan
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Duncan is located in Floyd County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duncan
- Indian Valley
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Sowers
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Sowers is located in Floyd County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sowers
- Franklin County
- The following are listed by their distance from Five Forks, with the one closest to Five Forks listed first.
- Henry
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Prilliman
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Prilliman is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prilliman
- Ferrum
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Henry County
- The following are listed by their distance from Five Forks, with the one closest to Five Forks listed first.
- Preston
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Preston is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Preston
- Horse Pasture
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Horse Pasture is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horse Pasture
- Bassett
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Fieldale
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Stanleytown
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Villa Heights
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Villa Heights is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Villa Heights
- Collinsville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Ridgeway
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Reed Creek Village
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Reed Creek Village is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reed Creek Village
- Oak Level
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Oak Level is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Level
- Chatmoss
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Chatmoss is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chatmoss
- Laurel Park
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Laurel Park is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurel Park
- Martinsville City
- Martinsville
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Forsyth County (NC)
- The following are listed by their distance from Five Forks, with the one closest to Five Forks listed first.
- King
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- King is located in Forsyth County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for King
- Population from the 2020 Census: 6,912 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for King <1>
- Bannertown
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Bannertown is located in Forsyth County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bannertown
- Chestnut Trails
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Chestnut Trails is located in Forsyth County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Trails
- Rural Hall
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Heritage Village
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Heritage Village is located in Forsyth County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heritage Village
- The Meadows
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- The Meadows is located in Forsyth County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Meadows
- Tobaccoville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Creek View
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Creek View is located in Forsyth County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Creek View
- Dennis
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Dennis is located in Forsyth County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dennis
- Stonewood Acres
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Stonewood Acres is located in Forsyth County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stonewood Acres
- Brinkley Estates
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Brinkley Estates is located in Forsyth County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brinkley Estates
- Belews Creek
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Belews Creek is located in Forsyth County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belews Creek
- Guilford County (NC)
- Stokesdale
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Rockingham County (NC)
- The following are listed by their distance from Five Forks, with the one closest to Five Forks listed first.
- Mayodan
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Madison
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Stoneville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Matrimony
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Matrimony is located in Rockingham County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Matrimony
- Shiloh
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Shiloh is located in Rockingham County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shiloh
- Ellisboro
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Ellisboro is located in Rockingham County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellisboro
- Providence
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Providence is located in Rockingham County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Providence
- Gold Hill
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Gold Hill is located in Rockingham County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gold Hill
- Fairview
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Fairview is located in Rockingham County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairview
- Eden
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Eden is located in Rockingham County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eden
- Population from the 2020 Census: 14,867 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Eden <1>
- Spray ‑ Historic
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Spray is located in Rockingham County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spray
- Meadow Summit
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Meadow Summit is located in Rockingham County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Summit
- Stokes County (NC)
- The following are listed by their distance from Five Forks, with the one closest to Five Forks listed first.
- Aarons Corner
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Aarons Corner is located in Stokes County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aarons Corner
- Campbell
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Campbell is located in Stokes County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Campbell
- Lawsonville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Lawsonville is located in Stokes County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawsonville
- Snow Hill
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Snow Hill is located in Stokes County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Snow Hill
- Oak Ridge
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Oak Ridge is located in Stokes County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Ridge
- Vade Mecum
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Vade Mecum is located in Stokes County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vade Mecum
- Sandy Ridge
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Danbury
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Amostown
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Amostown is located in Stokes County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amostown
- Upper Sawra Town ‑ Historic
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Upper Sawra Town is located in Stokes County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Upper Sawra Town
- Capella
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Capella is located in Stokes County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Capella
- Flat Rock
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Flat Rock is located in Stokes County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flat Rock
- Surry County (NC)
- The following are listed by their distance from Five Forks, with the one closest to Five Forks listed first.
- Albion
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Albion is located in Surry County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albion
- Mount Herman
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Mount Herman is located in Surry County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Herman
- Westfield
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Holly Springs
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Holly Springs is located in Surry County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly Springs
- Sheltontown
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Sheltontown is located in Surry County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sheltontown
- Flat Rock
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Flat Rock is located in Surry County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flat Rock
- Pilot Mountain
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Flat Shoals ‑ Historic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Flat Shoals is located in Surry County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flat Shoals
- Mount Airy
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Ararat
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Toast
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Toast is located in Surry County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toast
- White Plains
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- White Plains is located in Surry County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Plains
- Yadkin County (NC)
- The following are listed by their distance from Five Forks, with the one closest to Five Forks listed first.
- East Bend
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Richmond Hill
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Richmond Hill is located in Yadkin County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richmond Hill
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.
- Minnies Chapel Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Wayside Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Creaseys Chapel Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Big A Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- High Point Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Stuart Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stuart Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Stuart Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Stuart.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1968882 <2>
- Concord Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Patrick Memorial Gardens
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Beasley Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Ray Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Lankford Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Rodgers Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Continue List (685 more) ...
- Joyce Family Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Rye Cove Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rye Cove Cemetery
- The Rye Cove Cemetery has also been known as:
- Fain Family Cemetery
- Handy Family Cemetery
- Handy - Rye Cemetery
- Light Family Cemetery
- Cockram Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
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.
- Peters Creek
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Peters Creek is located in Patrick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peters Creek
- Palmetto
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Palmetto is located in Patrick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palmetto
- Campbell
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Campbell is located in Stokes County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Campbell
- Stuart
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Dobyns
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Dobyns is located in Patrick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dobyns
- Francisco
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Francisco is located in Stokes County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Francisco
- Patrick Springs
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Nettleridge
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Nettleridge is located in Patrick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nettleridge
- Critz
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Vesta
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Buffalo Ridge
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Buffalo Ridge is located in Patrick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo Ridge
- Westfield
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (16 more) ...
- Sandy Ridge
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Stella
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Stella is located in Patrick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stella
- Carters Mill
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Carters Mill is located in Patrick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carters Mill
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 41 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 21 miles [33.8 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 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 Patrick County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Carroll County
- Floyd County
- Franklin County
- Henry County
- Martinsville City
- Forsyth County
- Guilford County
- Rockingham County
- Stokes County
- Surry County
- Yadkin 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Five Forks) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |