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 Fosters Falls (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 Fosters Falls. 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 Fosters Falls ...
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.
While the name of this community is Fosters Falls, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Fosters Falls may originally have been Foster's Falls.
Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Fosters Falls might be written as Foster Falls.
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 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.
Fosters Falls is located in Wythe 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 Wythe County: Bland, Carroll, Grayson, Pulaski & Smyth.
Below are the counties that are near Fosters Falls. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Fosters Falls:
- Wythe County (The home county of Fosters Falls)
- The following are listed by their distance from Fosters Falls, with the one closest to Fosters Falls listed first.
- Austinville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Fort Chiswell
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Fort Chiswell is located in Wythe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Chiswell
- Locust Hill
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Locust Hill is located in Wythe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locust Hill
- Ivanhoe
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Siloam
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Siloam is located in Wythe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Siloam
- Max Meadows
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Kent
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Kent is located in Wythe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kent
- Wytheville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Rowe Crossroads
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Rowe Crossroads is located in Wythe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rowe Crossroads
- Crockett
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Speedwell
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Speedwell is located in Wythe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Speedwell
- Rural Retreat
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Bland County
- The following are listed by their distance from Fosters Falls, with the one closest to Fosters Falls listed first.
- Mechanicsburg
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Mechanicsburg is located in Bland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mechanicsburg
- Bland
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Bastian
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Hicksville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Hicksville is located in Bland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hicksville
- Round Bottom
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Round Bottom is located in Bland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Round Bottom
- Rocky Gap
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Rocky Gap is located in Bland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Gap
- Carroll County
- The following are listed by their distance from Fosters Falls, with the one closest to Fosters Falls listed first.
- Shorts Creek
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Shorts Creek is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shorts Creek
- Sylvatus
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Sylvatus is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sylvatus
- Sheep Town
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Sheep Town is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sheep Town
- Oak Grove
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Oak Grove is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
- Star
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Star is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Star
- Hillsville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Woodlawn
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Dugspur
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Pipers Gap
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Pipers Gap is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pipers Gap
- Fancy Gap
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Drenn
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Drenn is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drenn
- Gladesboro
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Gladesboro is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gladesboro
- Nester
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Nester is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nester
- Floyd County
- The following are listed by their distance from Fosters Falls, with the one closest to Fosters Falls listed first.
- Indian Valley
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Duncan
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Duncan is located in Floyd County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duncan
- Sowers
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Sowers is located in Floyd County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sowers
- Floyd
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Poff
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Poff is located in Floyd County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poff
- Galax City
- Galax
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Giles County
- The following are listed by their distance from Fosters Falls, with the one closest to Fosters Falls listed first.
- Poplar Hill
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Poplar Hill is located in Giles County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poplar Hill
- Thessalia
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Thessalia is located in Giles County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thessalia
- Shumate
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Shumate is located in Giles County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shumate
- Goodwins Ferry
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Goodwins Ferry is located in Giles County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodwins Ferry
- Eggleston
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Grayson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Fosters Falls, with the one closest to Fosters Falls listed first.
- Fries
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Baywood
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Baywood is located in Grayson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baywood
- Low Gap
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Low Gap is located in Grayson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Low Gap
- Elk Creek
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Independence
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Bridle Creek
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Bridle Creek is located in Grayson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bridle Creek
- Flat Ridge
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- 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 Fosters Falls, with the one closest to Fosters Falls listed first.
- Childress
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Childress is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Childress
- Riner
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Christiansburg
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Pilot
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Rogers
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Rogers is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rogers
- Oak Grove
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Oak Grove is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
- Prices Fork
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Prices Fork is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prices Fork
- Patrick County
- The following are listed by their distance from Fosters Falls, with the one closest to Fosters Falls listed first.
- Meadows of Dan
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Ararat
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Carters Mill
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Carters Mill is located in Patrick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carters Mill
- Pulaski County
- The following are listed by their distance from Fosters Falls, with the one closest to Fosters Falls listed first.
- Draper
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Mack Creek Village
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Mack Creek Village is located in Pulaski County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mack Creek Village
- Pulaski
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Hilton Village
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Hilton Village is located in Pulaski County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilton Village
- Wurno
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Wurno is located in Pulaski County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wurno
- Newbern
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Dublin
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Sassin ‑ Historic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Sassin is located in Pulaski County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sassin
- Snowville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Snowville is located in Pulaski County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Snowville
- Fairlawn
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Fairlawn is located in Pulaski County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairlawn
- Cowan
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Cowan is located in Pulaski County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cowan
- Parrott
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Parrott is located in Pulaski County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parrott
- Radford City
- The following are listed by their distance from Fosters Falls, with the one closest to Fosters Falls listed first.
- New Town
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- New Town is located in Radford City
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Town
- Radford Village
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Radford Village is located in Radford City
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Radford Village
- Radford
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Simpkins Village
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Simpkins Village is located in Radford City
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Simpkins Village
- Sunset Village
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Sunset Village is located in Radford City
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset Village
- Mill Village
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Mill Village is located in Radford City
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mill Village
- Alleghany County (NC)
- The following are listed by their distance from Fosters Falls, with the one closest to Fosters Falls listed first.
- Edmonds
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Edmonds is located in Alleghany County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edmonds
- Ennice
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Hooker
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Hooker is located in Alleghany County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hooker
- Glade Valley
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Amelia
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Amelia is located in Alleghany County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amelia
- Sparta
(30 miles [48.3 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 <2>
- Surry County (NC)
- The following are listed by their distance from Fosters Falls, with the one closest to Fosters Falls listed first.
- Low Gap
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Round Peak
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Round Peak is located in Surry County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Round Peak
- Red Brush
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Red Brush is located in Surry County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Brush
- Mount Airy
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Toast
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Toast is located in Surry County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toast
- Flat Rock
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Flat Rock is located in Surry County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flat Rock
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Fosters Falls, see our County-by-County Page for Fosters Falls.
Cemeteries Near Fosters Falls ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Fosters Falls.
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 Fosters Falls - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Fosters Falls covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Fosters Falls, with the one closest to Fosters Falls listed first.
- Fosters Falls Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Sanders Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Graham Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Bertha Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Shorts Creek - Frazier Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Alexander Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Trigg Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Round Knob Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Allen Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Myers Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Parnell Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Jackson Peak Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Continue List (590 more) ...
- Osbourne Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- King Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Frazier Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
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.<5>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Fosters Falls had a population of 296 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Fosters Falls, with the one closest to Fosters Falls listed first.
- Bertha
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Bertha is located in Wythe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bertha
- Shorts Creek
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Shorts Creek is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shorts Creek
- Barren Springs
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Austinville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Grahams Forge
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Grahams Forge is located in Wythe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grahams Forge
- Kayoulah
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Kayoulah is located in Pulaski County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kayoulah
- Walton Furnace
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Walton Furnace is located in Wythe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walton Furnace
- Sylvatus
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Sylvatus is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sylvatus
- Ivanhoe
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Allisonia
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Allisonia is located in Pulaski County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allisonia
- Max Meadows
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Grayson
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Grayson is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grayson
- Continue List (16 more) ...
- Star
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Star is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Star
- Hillsville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Draper
(10 miles [16.1 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 Fosters Falls. See our List of 1890's Communities around Fosters Falls.
Newspapers Published in Fosters Falls ...
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 33 newspapers that have been published in the area around Fosters Falls.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Fosters Falls, there are papers which were published within 19 miles [30.6 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Fosters Falls.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to 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 Fosters Falls:
- Websites specific to Virginia
- Pages specific to Wythe County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Bland County
- Carroll County
- Floyd County
- Galax City
- Giles County
- Grayson County
- Montgomery County
- Patrick County
- Pulaski County
- Radford City
- Alleghany County
- Surry County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Virginia
Footnotes ...
| <1> | It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties). |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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> | 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 from Point A (ie- Fosters Falls) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <5> | 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 Fosters Falls, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |