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 Happy Valley (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 Happy Valley. 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 Happy Valley ...
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 Happy Valley: Happy Vly. (or less commonly used: Happy Vally. or Happy Vlly.)
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Happy Valley. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Happy Valley.
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 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.
Happy Valley is located in Campbell 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 Campbell County: Amherst, Appomattox, Bedford, Charlotte, Halifax & Pittsylvania.
Below are the counties that are near Happy Valley. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Happy Valley:
- Campbell County (The home county of Happy Valley)
- The following are listed by their distance from Happy Valley, with the one closest to Happy Valley listed first.
- Yellow Branch
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Yellow Branch is located in Campbell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yellow Branch
- Rustburg
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Lawyers
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Lawyers is located in Campbell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawyers
- Mount Zion
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Mount Zion is located in Campbell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Zion
- Bedford Springs
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Bedford Springs is located in Campbell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bedford Springs
- Powhatan
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Powhatan is located in Campbell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powhatan
- Timberlake
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Timberlake is located in Campbell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timberlake
- Gladys
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Mount Athos ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Mount Athos is located in Campbell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Athos
- Concord
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Lynch Station
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Lynch Station is located in Campbell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lynch Station
- Altavista
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Amherst County
- The following are listed by their distance from Happy Valley, with the one closest to Happy Valley listed first.
- Madison Heights
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Joshua Falls
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Joshua Falls is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joshua Falls
- Winesap
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Winesap is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winesap
- Coolwell
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Coolwell is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coolwell
- Sweet Briar Station
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Sweet Briar Station is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sweet Briar Station
- Pedlar Mills
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Pedlar Mills is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pedlar Mills
- Walkers Ford
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Walkers Ford is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walkers Ford
- Amherst
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Pleasant View
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Pleasant View is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant View
- Monitor
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Monitor is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monitor
- Allwood
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Allwood is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allwood
- New Glasgow
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- New Glasgow is located in Amherst County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Glasgow
- Appomattox County
- The following are listed by their distance from Happy Valley, with the one closest to Happy Valley listed first.
- Spring Mills
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Spring Mills is located in Appomattox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Mills
- Spout Spring
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Spout Spring is located in Appomattox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spout Spring
- Chap
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Chap is located in Appomattox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chap
- Appomattox
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Beckham
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Beckham is located in Appomattox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beckham
- Mineral ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Mineral is located in Appomattox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mineral
- Evergreen
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Evergreen is located in Appomattox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen
- Pamplin City
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Bent Creek
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Bent Creek is located in Appomattox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bent Creek
- Hurtsville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Hurtsville is located in Appomattox County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hurtsville
- Bedford City
- Bedford
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Bedford County
- The following are listed by their distance from Happy Valley, with the one closest to Happy Valley listed first.
- Forest
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Bellevue
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Bellevue is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellevue
- Boonsboro
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Boonsboro is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boonsboro
- Goode
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Abert
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Abert is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abert
- Lowry
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Lowry is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lowry
- Cifax
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Cifax is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cifax
- Coleman Falls
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Coleman Falls is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coleman Falls
- Huddleston
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Waugh
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Waugh is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waugh
- Davis Mill
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Davis Mill is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Davis Mill
- Joppa Mill
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Joppa Mill is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joppa Mill
- Buckingham County
- Forbes ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Forbes is located in Buckingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forbes
- Charlotte County
- The following are listed by their distance from Happy Valley, with the one closest to Happy Valley listed first.
- Abell ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Abell is located in Charlotte County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abell
- Rough Creek
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Rough Creek is located in Charlotte County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rough Creek
- Aspenwall
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Aspenwall is located in Charlotte County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aspenwall
- Phenix
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Phenix is located in Charlotte County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Phenix
- Population from the 2020 Census: 211 people
- Cullen
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Cullen is located in Charlotte County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cullen
- Franklin County
- North Shore
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- North Shore is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Shore
- Halifax County
- The following are listed by their distance from Happy Valley, with the one closest to Happy Valley listed first.
- Cody
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Cody is located in Halifax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cody
- Rabat
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Rabat is located in Halifax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rabat
- Leda
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Leda is located in Halifax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leda
- Nathalie
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Loftis
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Loftis is located in Halifax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loftis
- Rodden
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Rodden is located in Halifax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rodden
- Sign Rock
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Sign Rock is located in Halifax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sign Rock
- Crystal Hill
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Crystal Hill is located in Halifax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Hill
- Lynchburg City
- The following are listed by their distance from Happy Valley, with the one closest to Happy Valley listed first.
- Lynchburg
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Woodbine Village
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Woodbine Village is located in Lynchburg City
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodbine Village
- Lavino Village
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Lavino Village is located in Lynchburg City
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lavino Village
- Nelson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Happy Valley, with the one closest to Happy Valley listed first.
- Gladstone
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Buffalo Springs
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Buffalo Springs is located in Nelson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo Springs
- Pittsylvania County
- The following are listed by their distance from Happy Valley, with the one closest to Happy Valley listed first.
- Hurt
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- 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>
- Brutus
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Brutus is located in Pittsylvania County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brutus
- Renan
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Renan is located in Pittsylvania County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Renan
- Chalk Level
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Chalk Level is located in Pittsylvania County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chalk Level
- Gretna
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Riceville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Riceville is located in Pittsylvania County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riceville
- Pittsville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Pittsville is located in Pittsylvania County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pittsville
- Markham
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Markham is located in Pittsylvania County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Markham
- Sonans
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Sonans is located in Pittsylvania County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sonans
- Java
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Java is located in Pittsylvania County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Java
- Sheva
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Sheva is located in Pittsylvania County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sheva
- Whittles
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Whittles is located in Pittsylvania County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whittles
- Whittles has also been known as:
- Whittle's Depot
- Whittle's Station
- Prince Edward County
- Darlington Heights
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Darlington Heights is located in Prince Edward County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Darlington Heights
- Rockbridge County
- Glasgow
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Happy Valley, see our County-by-County Page for Happy Valley.
Cemeteries Near Happy Valley ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Happy Valley.
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 Happy Valley - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Happy Valley covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Happy Valley, with the one closest to Happy Valley listed first.
- Silver Grove Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Merryman Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Reynolds Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Perrow Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Dodson Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Gilliam Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Winfall Church of God of Prophecy Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Candler Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Beulah Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Prebble Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Mt. Moriah Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Tweedy Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Continue List (165 more) ...
- Rosser Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Torrence Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Burford Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
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.<2>
While we didn't find Happy Valley in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Happy Valley.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Happy Valley, with the one closest to Happy Valley listed first.
- Yellow Branch
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Yellow Branch is located in Campbell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yellow Branch
- Rustburg
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Winfall
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Winfall is located in Campbell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winfall
- Lawyers
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Lawyers is located in Campbell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawyers
- Mount Zion
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Mount Zion is located in Campbell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Zion
- Gladys
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Bocock
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Bocock is located in Campbell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bocock
- Bedford Springs
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Bedford Springs is located in Campbell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bedford Springs
- Evington
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Evington is located in Campbell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evington
- Perrows
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Perrows is located in Campbell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perrows
- Marysville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Marysville is located in Campbell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marysville
- Mount Athos ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Mount Athos is located in Campbell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Athos
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- Forest
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Lynch Station
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Lynch Station is located in Campbell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lynch Station
- Concord
(11 miles [17.7 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 Happy Valley. See our List of 1890's Communities around Happy Valley.
Newspapers Published in Happy Valley ...
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 98 newspapers that have been published in the area around Happy Valley.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Happy Valley, there are papers which were published within 14 miles [22.5 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Happy Valley.
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 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 Happy Valley:
- Websites specific to Virginia
- Pages specific to Campbell County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Amherst County
- Appomattox County
- Bedford City
- Bedford County
- Buckingham County
- Charlotte County
- Franklin County
- Halifax County
- Lynchburg City
- Nelson County
- Pittsylvania County
- Prince Edward 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> | 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 Happy Valley, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Happy Valley) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |