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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 Independence (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 Independence. 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.

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 doctors 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.

Independence is located in Grayson County and is the County Seat.

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 Grayson County: Alleghany (NC), Ashe (NC), Surry (NC), Johnson (TN), Carroll, Smyth, Washington & Wythe.

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

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

Cemeteries Near Independence ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Independence.

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 Independence covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Independence Town Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Cox Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cox Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cox Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Saddle Creek Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Saddle Creek Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Saddle Creek Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • William Cornett Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Oak Grove Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oak Grove Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oak Grove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Coxs Chapel Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Coxs Chapel Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Coxs Chapel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • New Haven Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the New Haven Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the New Haven Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Summerfield UMC Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Gold Hill Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Gold Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Gold Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Elk Creek Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Elk Creek Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Elk Creek Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Shiloh Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Shiloh Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Shiloh Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Benjamin Moore Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (595 more) ...
    • Phipps Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Phipps Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Phipps Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Hale Family Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Potato Creek Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Potato Creek Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Potato Creek Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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 Independence had a population of 190 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service. In 2020, Independence had a population of 887 people.

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

  • Peach Bottom
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Peach Bottom have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peach Bottom
    • Peach Bottom is located in Grayson County
  • Carsonville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Carsonville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carsonville
    • Carsonville is located in Grayson County
  • Bridle Creek
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Amelia
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Elk Creek
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Fox
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fox have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox
    • Fox is located in Grayson County
  • Sparta
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sparta have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sparta
    • Sparta is located in Alleghany County (NC)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,723 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sparta <2>
  • Edwards Crossroads
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Edwards Crossroads have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edwards Crossroads
    • Edwards Crossroads is located in Alleghany County (NC)
  • Fallville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fallville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fallville
    • Fallville is located in Grayson County
  • Piney Creek
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Ennice
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ennice have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ennice
    • Ennice is located in Alleghany County (NC)
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ennice <2>
  • Comers Rock
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Comers Rock have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Comers Rock
    • Comers Rock is located in Grayson County
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Spring Valley
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spring Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Valley
      • Spring Valley is located in Grayson County
    • Mouth-of-Wilson
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Whitehead
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Whitehead have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitehead
      • Whitehead is located in Alleghany County (NC)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Independence ...

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 24 newspapers that have been published in the area around Independence.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Independence. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Independence and those printed in the larger area surrounding Independence.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 19 miles [30.6 km]<6> of Independence.

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 Independence:

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>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 Independence, 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- Independence) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Independence. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.6223, Longitude: -81.1520