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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 Healing Springs (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 Healing Springs. 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 Healing Springs ...

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 have occurred.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Healing Springs: Healing Spgs. (or less commonly used: Healing Spngs. or Healing Sprngs.)

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.

Healing Springs is located in Bath County.

To see how the shape of Virginia's counties have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Bath County: Alleghany, Augusta, Highland, Rockbridge, Greenbrier (WV) & Pocahontas (WV).

Below are the counties that are near Healing Springs. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Healing Springs:

For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Healing Springs, see our County-by-County Page for Healing Springs.

Cemeteries Near Healing Springs ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Healing Springs.

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.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Healing Springs covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Healing Springs, with the one closest to Healing Springs listed first.

  • Warm Springs Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Warm Springs Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Warm Springs Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Smith Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Smith Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Smith Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Walton Memorial Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Walton Memorial Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Walton Memorial Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mountain Grove Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mountain Grove Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mountain Grove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Crown Hill Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Crown Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Crown Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mountain View Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mountain View Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mountain View Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Central Church Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Central Church Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Central Church Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Oakland Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oakland Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oakland Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Alleghany Memorial Park
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Alleghany Memorial Park
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Alleghany Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mt. Carmel Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Carmel Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Carmel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Sunrise Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Sively Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sively Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sively Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (102 more) ...
    • Cedar Hill Cemetery
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cedar Hill Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cedar Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Chestnut Cemetery
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Chestnut Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Chestnut Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Watts Chapel Cemetery
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Watts Chapel Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Watts Chapel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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 Healing Springs had a population of 82 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

These communities are listed based on their distance from Healing Springs, with the one closest to Healing Springs listed first.

  • Hot Springs
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hot Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hot Springs
    • Hot Springs is located in Bath County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hot Springs <3>
  • Callison
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Callison have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Callison
    • Callison is located in Bath County
  • Shanklin ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shanklin have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shanklin
    • Shanklin is located in Bath County
  • Cowardin ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cowardin have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cowardin
    • Cowardin is located in Bath County
  • Warm Springs
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Griffith
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Griffith. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Griffith
    • Griffith is located in Alleghany County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Griffith
    • From Healing Springs to Griffith
  • Bath Alum
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Mountain Grove
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Selma
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Selma have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Selma
    • Selma is located in Alleghany County
  • Clifton Forge
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Longdale
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Longdale have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longdale
    • Longdale is located in Alleghany County
  • Copeland
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Copeland have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Copeland
    • Copeland is located in Bath County
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Crane
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crane have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crane
      • Crane is located in Bath County
    • Low Moor
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Iron Gate
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Iron Gate have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iron Gate
      • Iron Gate is located in Alleghany County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 352 people

We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Healing Springs. See our List of 1890's Communities around Healing Springs.

Newspapers Published in Healing Springs ...

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 Healing Springs.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Healing Springs, there are papers which were published within 21 miles [33.8 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Healing Springs.

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 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 Healing Springs:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Healing Springs. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Bath County: www.bathcountyva.org/

The official website for State of Virginia: https://www.virginia.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<2>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>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.
<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 Healing Springs, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Healing Springs) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Healing Springs. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.9633, Longitude: -79.8599    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 31 Mar 2025