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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 Hopkins Spring (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 Hopkins Spring. 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 Hopkins Spring ...

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.

  • A typical abbreviation for Hopkins Spring: Hopkins Spg. (or less commonly used: Hopkins Spng. or Hopkins Sprng.)
  • While the name of this community is Hopkins Spring, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Hopkins Spring may originally have been Hopkin's Spring.

    Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Hopkins Spring might be written as Hopkin Spring.

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 hospitals and 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.

Hopkins Spring is located in Rockingham 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 Rockingham County: Albemarle, Augusta, Greene, Page, Shenandoah, Hardy (WV) & Pendleton (WV).

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

  • Rockingham County     (The home county of Hopkins Spring)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hopkins Spring, with the one closest to Hopkins Spring listed first.
    • Massanutten
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • McGaheysville
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Montevideo
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Montevideo is located in Rockingham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montevideo
    • Berrytown
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Berrytown is located in Rockingham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berrytown
    • Keezletown
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Elkton
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Elkton is located in Rockingham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,914 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elkton <2>
    • Massanetta Springs
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Massanetta Springs is located in Rockingham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Massanetta Springs
    • Goods Mill
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Goods Mill is located in Rockingham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goods Mill
    • Melrose
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Melrose is located in Rockingham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melrose
    • Cross Keys
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Swift Run
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Swift Run is located in Rockingham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swift Run
    • Lacey Spring
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Lacey Spring is located in Rockingham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lacey Spring
    • Linville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Linville is located in Rockingham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Linville
  • Albemarle County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hopkins Spring, with the one closest to Hopkins Spring listed first.
    • Boonesville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Boonesville is located in Albemarle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boonesville
    • Cedarmere
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Cedarmere is located in Albemarle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedarmere
    • Mountfair
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Mountfair is located in Albemarle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountfair
    • Free Union
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • White Hall
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • White Hall is located in Albemarle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Hall
    • Advance Mills Village
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Advance Mills Village is located in Albemarle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Advance Mills Village
    • Advance Mills
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Advance Mills is located in Albemarle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Advance Mills
      • Advance Mills has also been known as:
      • Fray's Mills
    • Earlysville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Decca ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Decca is located in Albemarle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Decca
    • Crozet
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Foothill Village
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Foothill Village is located in Albemarle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foothill Village
    • Logan Village
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Logan Village is located in Albemarle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Logan Village
    • Yancey Mills
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Yancey Mills is located in Albemarle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yancey Mills
  • Augusta County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hopkins Spring, with the one closest to Hopkins Spring listed first.
    • Grottoes
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Weyers Cave
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Sampson
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Sampson is located in Augusta County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sampson
    • Crimora
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Mount Solon
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Verona
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Dooms
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Dooms is located in Augusta County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dooms
    • Parnassus
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Parnassus is located in Augusta County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parnassus
    • Stokesville ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Stokesville is located in Augusta County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stokesville
    • Brand
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Brand is located in Augusta County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brand
    • Fishersville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Churchville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jolivue
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Jolivue is located in Augusta County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jolivue
  • Charlottesville City
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hopkins Spring, with the one closest to Hopkins Spring listed first.
    • Charlottesville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Locust Grove
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Locust Grove is located in Charlottesville City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locust Grove
    • Belmont
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Belmont is located in Charlottesville City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belmont
  • Greene County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hopkins Spring, with the one closest to Hopkins Spring listed first.
    • Cedarmere ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Cedarmere is located in Greene County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedarmere
    • Kinderhook
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Kinderhook is located in Greene County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kinderhook
    • Amicus
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Amicus is located in Greene County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amicus
    • Stanardsville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Quinque
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Quinque is located in Greene County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quinque
    • Dawsonville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Dawsonville is located in Greene County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dawsonville
  • Harrisonburg City
    • Harrisonburg
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Madison County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hopkins Spring, with the one closest to Hopkins Spring listed first.
    • Hood
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Wolftown
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Ruth
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Ruth is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruth
    • Syria
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Madison
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Aroda
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Aroda is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aroda
    • Peola Mills
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Peola Mills is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peola Mills
    • Radiant
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Radiant is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Radiant
    • Burnt Tree
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Burnt Tree is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burnt Tree
    • Tryme
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Tryme is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tryme
  • Nelson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hopkins Spring, with the one closest to Hopkins Spring listed first.
    • Afton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Durrett Town
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Durrett Town is located in Nelson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Durrett Town
    • Onan
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Onan is located in Nelson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Onan
  • Orange County
  • Page County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hopkins Spring, with the one closest to Hopkins Spring listed first.
    • Shenandoah
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Verbena
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Verbena is located in Page County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Verbena
    • Stanley
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Marksville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Marksville is located in Page County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marksville
    • Leaksville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Leaksville is located in Page County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leaksville
    • Luray
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Kimball
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Kimball is located in Page County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kimball
    • Rileyville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Rappahannock County
    • Slate Mills
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Slate Mills is located in Rappahannock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slate Mills
  • Shenandoah County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hopkins Spring, with the one closest to Hopkins Spring listed first.
    • New Market
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Mount Clifton
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Mount Clifton is located in Shenandoah County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Clifton
    • Mount Jackson
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Rinkerton
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Rinkerton is located in Shenandoah County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rinkerton
    • Basye - Bryce Mountain
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Orkney Springs
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Edinburg
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
  • Staunton City
    • Staunton
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Waynesboro City
    • Waynesboro
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)

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

Cemeteries Near Hopkins Spring ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Hopkins Spring.

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 Hopkins Spring - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Mt. Zion UMC Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Mt. Olivet Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Peaked Mtn. Church Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • New Hope Baptist Church Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Mountain Grove Community Chapel Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Yancey Family Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Upper Room Church Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • East Point Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Whitmore Family Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Dofflemyer Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Armentrout Family Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Bethel Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (402 more) ...
    • Sipe Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Keezletown Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Mt. Olive Brethren Church Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)

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.<4>

While we didn't find Hopkins Spring in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Hopkins Spring.

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

  • McGaheysville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Montevideo
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Montevideo is located in Rockingham County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montevideo
  • Paulington ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Paulington is located in Rockingham County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paulington
  • Almond ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Almond is located in Rockingham County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Almond
  • Keezletown
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Elkton
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Elkton is located in Rockingham County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkton
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,914 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elkton <2>
  • Massanetta Springs
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Massanetta Springs is located in Rockingham County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Massanetta Springs
  • Goods Mill
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Goods Mill is located in Rockingham County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goods Mill
  • Peach Grove ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Peach Grove is located in Rockingham County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peach Grove
  • Cross Keys
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Lynnwood
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Lynnwood is located in Rockingham County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lynnwood
  • Verbena
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Verbena is located in Page County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Verbena
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Shenandoah
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Melrose
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Melrose is located in Rockingham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melrose
    • Oakwood
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Oakwood is located in Rockingham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakwood

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

Newspapers Published in Hopkins Spring ...

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 65 newspapers that have been published in the area around Hopkins Spring.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Hopkins Spring, there are papers which were published within 17 miles [27.4 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Hopkins Spring.

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 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 Hopkins Spring:

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>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 Hopkins Spring, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<5>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 from Point A (ie- Hopkins Spring) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.