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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 Highland 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 Highland 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 Highland 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 Highland Springs: Highland Spgs. (or less commonly used: Highland Spngs. or Highland 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.

Highland Springs is located in Henrico 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 Henrico County: Charles City, Chesterfield, Goochland, Hanover, New Kent & Richmond.

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

  • Henrico County     (The home county of Highland Springs)
  • Caroline County
  • Charles City County
  • Chesterfield County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Highland Springs, with the one closest to Highland Springs listed first.
    • Bensley Village
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bensley Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bensley Village
      • Bensley Village is located in Chesterfield County
    • Bensley
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bensley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bensley
      • Bensley is located in Chesterfield County
    • Bellwood
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bellwood have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellwood
      • Bellwood is located in Chesterfield County
    • Drewrys Bluff
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Beulah Village
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Beulah Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beulah Village
      • Beulah Village is located in Chesterfield County
    • Chesterfield Village
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chesterfield Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chesterfield Village
      • Chesterfield Village is located in Chesterfield County
    • Meadowville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Bon Air
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Centralia
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Bermuda Hundred ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Screamersville ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Chester
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Chesterfield Court House
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chesterfield Court House have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chesterfield Court House
      • Chesterfield Court House is located in Chesterfield County
  • Colonial Heights City
    • Colonial Heights
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Colonial Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colonial Heights
      • Colonial Heights is located in Colonial Heights City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 17,205 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Colonial Heights <2>
  • Dinwiddie County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Highland Springs, with the one closest to Highland Springs listed first.
    • Grant Village
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grant Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grant Village
      • Grant Village is located in Dinwiddie County
    • Addison
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Maitland Village
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maitland Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maitland Village
      • Maitland Village is located in Dinwiddie County
  • Essex County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Highland Springs, with the one closest to Highland Springs listed first.
    • Minor
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Minor have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minor
      • Minor is located in Essex County
    • Millers Tavern
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Goochland County
    • Thorncliff
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
  • Hanover County
  • Hopewell City
  • King and Queen County
  • King William County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Highland Springs, with the one closest to Highland Springs listed first.
    • Enfield
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Enfield. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Enfield
      • Enfield is located in King William County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Enfield
      • From Highland Springs to Enfield
    • Manquin
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Rumford
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Rumford. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rumford
      • Rumford is located in King William County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Rumford
      • From Highland Springs to Rumford
    • Lanesville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Tuck Fork
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Beulahville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Romancoke
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • West Point
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Point have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Point
      • West Point is located in King William County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,310 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for West Point <2>
  • New Kent County
  • Petersburg City
  • Powhatan County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Highland Springs, with the one closest to Highland Springs listed first.
    • Huguenot
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Dorset
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Dorset. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dorset
      • Dorset is located in Powhatan County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Dorset
      • From Highland Springs to Dorset
    • Pilkinton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Prince George County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Highland Springs, with the one closest to Highland Springs listed first.
    • Garysville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Newville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Newville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newville
      • Newville is located in Prince George County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Newville
      • From Highland Springs to Newville
    • Burrowsville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Derby ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Derby have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Derby
      • Derby is located in Prince George County
  • Richmond City
  • Richmond County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Highland Springs, with the one closest to Highland Springs listed first.
    • Cherry Gardens
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Walmsley Village
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Walmsley Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walmsley Village
      • Walmsley Village is located in Richmond County
    • Chippenham Village
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chippenham Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chippenham Village
      • Chippenham Village is located in Richmond County
  • Surry County
    • Claremont
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Claremont have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Claremont
      • Claremont is located in Surry County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 335 people

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

Cemeteries Near Highland Springs ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Highland 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 Highland Springs covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

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.<6>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Highland Springs had a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Fair Oaks
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Seven Pines
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Seven Pines have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seven Pines
    • Seven Pines is located in Henrico County
  • Fort Lee
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Ellerson
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ellerson have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellerson
    • Ellerson is located in Hanover County
  • Pole Green
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pole Green have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pole Green
    • Pole Green is located in Hanover County
  • Varina Grove
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Brook Hill
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brook Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brook Hill
    • Brook Hill is located in Henrico County
  • Cotman ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cotman have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cotman
    • Cotman is located in Henrico County
  • Glendale
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Elko
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Dispatch ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dispatch have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dispatch
    • Dispatch is located in New Kent County
  • Atlee Station
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Old Church
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Old Church have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Church
      • Old Church is located in Hanover County
    • Studley
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Studley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Studley
      • Studley is located in Hanover County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Studley <2>
    • Dumbarton
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)

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

Newspapers Published in Highland 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 461 newspapers that have been published in the area around Highland Springs.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Highland Springs, there are papers which were published within 5 miles [8 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Highland Springs.

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 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 Highland Springs:

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

The official website for Henrico County: www.co.henrico.va.us/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<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 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.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Highland Springs) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Highland Springs. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.5460, Longitude: -77.3277    
<5>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.
<6>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 Highland Springs, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 31 Mar 2025