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 Hot 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 Hot 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 Hot 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.
For example, a typical abbreviation for Hot Springs: Hot Spgs. (or less commonly used: Hot Spngs. or Hot Sprngs.)
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Hot Springs. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Hot Springs.
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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.
Hot Springs is located in Bath 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 Bath County: Alleghany, Augusta, Highland, Rockbridge, Greenbrier (WV) & Pocahontas (WV).
Below are the counties that are near Hot Springs. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Hot Springs:
- Bath County (The home county of Hot Springs)
- The following are listed by their distance from Hot Springs, with the one closest to Hot Springs listed first.
- Mitchelltown
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Mitchelltown is located in Bath County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mitchelltown
- Healing Springs
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Healing Springs is located in Bath County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Healing Springs
- Warm Springs
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Cowardin ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Cowardin is located in Bath County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cowardin
- Carloover
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Carloover is located in Bath County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carloover
- Bath Alum
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Bath Alum is located in Bath County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bath Alum
- Mountain Grove
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Mountain Grove is located in Bath County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Grove
- Greenwood ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Greenwood is located in Bath County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwood
- Millboro
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Fort Lewis ‑ Historic
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Fort Lewis is located in Bath County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Lewis
- Burnsville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Burnsville is located in Bath County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burnsville
- Yost
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Yost is located in Bath County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yost
- Bolar
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Bolar is located in Bath County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bolar
- Alleghany County
- The following are listed by their distance from Hot Springs, with the one closest to Hot Springs listed first.
- Griffith
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Griffith is located in Alleghany County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Griffith
- Clifton Forge
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Selma
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Selma is located in Alleghany County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Selma
- Iron Gate
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Iron Gate is located in Alleghany County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iron Gate
- Population from the 2020 Census: 352 people
- Low Moor
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Rich Patch
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Rich Patch is located in Alleghany County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rich Patch
- Moss Run
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Moss Run is located in Alleghany County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moss Run
- Augusta County
- The following are listed by their distance from Hot Springs, with the one closest to Hot Springs listed first.
- Marble Valley
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Marble Valley is located in Augusta County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marble Valley
- Craigsville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Deerfield
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Deerfield is located in Augusta County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deerfield
- Newport
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Newport is located in Augusta County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newport
- Pond Gap ‑ Historic
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Pond Gap is located in Augusta County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pond Gap
- Botetourt County
- The following are listed by their distance from Hot Springs, with the one closest to Hot Springs listed first.
- Glen Wilton
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Glen Wilton is located in Botetourt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Wilton
- Haden
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Haden is located in Botetourt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haden
- Gala
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Gala is located in Botetourt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gala
- Strom
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Strom is located in Botetourt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Strom
- Oriskany
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Salisbury
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Salisbury is located in Botetourt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salisbury
- Salt Petre Cave
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Salt Petre Cave is located in Botetourt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salt Petre Cave
- Salt Petre Cave has also been known as:
- Salt Peter Cave
- Saltpetre
- Covington City
- Covington
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Highland County
- The following are listed by their distance from Hot Springs, with the one closest to Hot Springs listed first.
- Buckeye ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Buckeye is located in Highland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckeye
- Clover Creek
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Clover Creek is located in Highland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clover Creek
- Meadowdale
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Meadowdale is located in Highland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowdale
- McDowell
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Lexington City
- Lexington
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Rockbridge County
- The following are listed by their distance from Hot Springs, with the one closest to Hot Springs listed first.
- Goshen
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Kerrs Creek
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Kerrs Creek is located in Rockbridge County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kerrs Creek
- East Lexington
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- East Lexington is located in Rockbridge County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Lexington
- Longwood ‑ Historic
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Longwood is located in Rockbridge County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longwood
- Zollman ‑ Historic
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Zollman is located in Rockbridge County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zollman
- Brownsburg
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Fancy Hill
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Fancy Hill is located in Rockbridge County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fancy Hill
- Red Mills
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Red Mills is located in Rockbridge County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Mills
- Springfield
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Springfield is located in Rockbridge County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springfield
- Natural Bridge
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Fairfield
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Fairfield is located in Rockbridge County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairfield
- Buffalo Forge
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Buffalo Forge is located in Rockbridge County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo Forge
- Riverside
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Riverside is located in Rockbridge County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverside
- Greenbrier County (WV)
- The following are listed by their distance from Hot Springs, with the one closest to Hot Springs listed first.
- Neola
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Neola is located in Greenbrier County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Neola
- Wild Meadow
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Wild Meadow is located in Greenbrier County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wild Meadow
- Anthony
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Anthony is located in Greenbrier County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anthony
- Falling Spring
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Falling Spring is located in Greenbrier County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falling Spring
- Population from the 2020 Census: 200 people
- Oscar
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Oscar is located in Greenbrier County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oscar
- Spring Creek
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Spring Creek is located in Greenbrier County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Creek
- Tuckahoe
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Tuckahoe is located in Greenbrier County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tuckahoe
- White Sulphur Springs
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Brink ‑ Historic
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Brink is located in Greenbrier County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brink
- Frankford
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Frankford is located in Greenbrier County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frankford
- Loveridge
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Loveridge is located in Greenbrier County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loveridge
- Pocahontas County (WV)
- The following are listed by their distance from Hot Springs, with the one closest to Hot Springs listed first.
- Huntersville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Frost
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Frost is located in Pocahontas County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frost
- Buckeye
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Marlinton
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Thorny Creek
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Thorny Creek is located in Pocahontas County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thorny Creek
- Watoga ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Watoga is located in Pocahontas County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Watoga
- Hillsboro
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Edray
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Edray is located in Pocahontas County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edray
- Onoto
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Onoto is located in Pocahontas County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Onoto
- Sitlington
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Sitlington is located in Pocahontas County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sitlington
- Cass
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Green Bank
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Arbovale
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Hot Springs, see our County-by-County Page for Hot Springs.
Cemeteries Near Hot Springs ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Hot 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.
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 Hot Springs - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Hot Springs covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Hot Springs, with the one closest to Hot Springs listed first.
- Warm Springs Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Mountain Grove Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Sively Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Walton Memorial Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Smith Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Chestnut Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Crown Hill Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Mountain View Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Central Church Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Oakland Cemetery
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Mt. Carmel Cemetery
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Sunrise Cemetery
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Continue List (100 more) ...
- The Pines Cemetery
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Bratton Cemetery
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Shinaberry Cemetery
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
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.<3>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Hot Springs had a population of 36 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Hot Springs, with the one closest to Hot Springs listed first.
- Healing Springs
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Healing Springs is located in Bath County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Healing Springs
- Cowardin ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Cowardin is located in Bath County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cowardin
- Warm Springs
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Callison
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Callison is located in Bath County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Callison
- Shanklin ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Shanklin is located in Bath County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shanklin
- Mountain Grove
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Mountain Grove is located in Bath County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Grove
- Bath Alum
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Bath Alum is located in Bath County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bath Alum
- Griffith
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Griffith is located in Alleghany County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Griffith
- Copeland
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Copeland is located in Bath County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Copeland
- Crane
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Crane is located in Bath County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crane
- Longdale
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Longdale is located in Alleghany County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longdale
- Millboro Springs
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Millboro Springs is located in Bath County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millboro Springs
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- Clifton Forge
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Millboro
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Selma
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Selma is located in Alleghany County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Selma
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Hot Springs. See our List of 1890's Communities around Hot Springs.
Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Hot 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 37 newspapers that have been published in the area around Hot Springs.
We have organized these newspapers into two lists:
- A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Hot Springs. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Hot Springs and those printed in the larger area surrounding Hot Springs.
- An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 25 miles [40.2 km]<4> of Hot Springs.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 Hot Springs:
- Websites specific to Virginia
- Pages specific to Bath County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Alleghany County
- Augusta County
- Botetourt County
- Covington City
- Highland County
- Lexington City
- Rockbridge County
- Greenbrier County
- Pocahontas 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> | 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. |
| <3> | 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 Hot Springs, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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- Hot Springs) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |