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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 Jonesboro (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 Jonesboro. 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 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.

Jonesboro is located in Nelson 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 Nelson County: Albemarle, Appomattox, Augusta & Buckingham.

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

  • Nelson County     (The home county of Jonesboro)
  • Albemarle County
  • Amherst County
  • Appomattox County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Jonesboro, with the one closest to Jonesboro listed first.
    • Bent Creek
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bent Creek. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bent Creek
      • Bent Creek is located in Appomattox County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Bent Creek
      • From Jonesboro to Bent Creek
    • Beckham
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Mineral ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mineral have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mineral
      • Mineral is located in Appomattox County
    • Appomattox
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
    • Spout Spring
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Augusta County
  • Bedford County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Jonesboro, with the one closest to Jonesboro listed first.
    • Abert
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Abert. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abert
      • Abert is located in Bedford County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Abert
      • From Jonesboro to Abert
    • Coleman Falls
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Boonsboro
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Waugh
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Waugh. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waugh
      • Waugh is located in Bedford County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Waugh
      • From Jonesboro to Waugh
  • Buckingham County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Jonesboro, with the one closest to Jonesboro listed first.
    • Manteo
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Manteo. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manteo
      • Manteo is located in Buckingham County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Manteo
      • From Jonesboro to Manteo
    • Axtell
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Glenmore
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Glenmore. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenmore
      • Glenmore is located in Buckingham County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Glenmore
      • From Jonesboro to Glenmore
    • Mount Vinco
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Centenary
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Alcoma
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Toga
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Buckingham
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Forbes ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Forbes have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forbes
      • Forbes is located in Buckingham County
  • Buena Vista City
    • Buena Vista
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Buena Vista have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buena Vista
      • Buena Vista is located in Buena Vista City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,402 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Buena Vista <2>
  • Campbell County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Jonesboro, with the one closest to Jonesboro listed first.
    • Mount Athos ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Athos have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Athos
      • Mount Athos is located in Campbell County
    • Concord
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Fluvanna County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Jonesboro, with the one closest to Jonesboro listed first.
    • Nicholas
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Nicholas. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nicholas
      • Nicholas is located in Fluvanna County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Nicholas
      • From Jonesboro to Nicholas
    • Antioch
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Antioch. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Antioch
      • Antioch is located in Fluvanna County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Antioch
      • From Jonesboro to Antioch
  • Lexington City
  • Lynchburg City
    • The following are listed by their distance from Jonesboro, with the one closest to Jonesboro listed first.
    • Lavino Village
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lavino Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lavino Village
      • Lavino Village is located in Lynchburg City
    • Lynchburg
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Woodbine Village
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Woodbine Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodbine Village
      • Woodbine Village is located in Lynchburg City
  • Rockbridge County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Jonesboro, with the one closest to Jonesboro listed first.
    • Marlbrook
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Davis
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Davis. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Davis
      • Davis is located in Rockbridge County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Davis
      • From Jonesboro to Davis
    • Fairfield
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Riverside
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Riverside. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverside
      • Riverside is located in Rockbridge County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Riverside
      • From Jonesboro to Riverside
    • Brownsburg
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • East Lexington
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Buffalo Forge
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Glasgow
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Zollman ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Zollman. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zollman
      • Zollman is located in Rockbridge County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Zollman
      • From Jonesboro to Zollman
    • Kerrs Creek
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Fancy Hill
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Fancy Hill. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fancy Hill
      • Fancy Hill is located in Rockbridge County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Fancy Hill
      • From Jonesboro to Fancy Hill
    • Greenlee
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Greenlee have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenlee
      • Greenlee is located in Rockbridge County
  • Staunton City
  • Waynesboro City

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

Cemeteries Near Jonesboro ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Jonesboro.

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

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

  • Jonesboro Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Oak Hill Memorial Gardens
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oak Hill Memorial Gardens
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oak Hill Memorial Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • The Oak Hill Memorial Gardens has also been known as:
    • Oak Hill Baptist Church Cemetery
    • Oak Hill Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #51478 <4>
  • Bethlehem UMC Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Bethel Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bethel Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bethel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Level Green Estate Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Camden Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Camden Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Camden Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Harewood Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Harewood Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Harewood Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Henley Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Henley Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Henley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Stevens Cove Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Stevens Cove Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Stevens Cove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Thompson Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Thompson Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Thompson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Harvey Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Harvey Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Harvey Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Giles Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Giles Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Giles Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (204 more) ...
    • Woodland Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Campbell Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Campbell Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Campbell Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Mays Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mays Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mays 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>

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

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

  • Massies Mill
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Bryant
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bryant. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bryant
    • Bryant is located in Nelson County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Bryant
    • From Jonesboro to Bryant
  • Roseland
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Roseland have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roseland
    • Roseland is located in Nelson County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Roseland <2>
  • Tyro
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Colleen
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Lowesville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Lovingston
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lovingston have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lovingston
    • Lovingston is located in Nelson County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lovingston <2>
  • Arrington
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Arrington have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arrington
    • Arrington is located in Nelson County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Arrington <2>
  • Gidsville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gidsville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gidsville
    • Gidsville is located in Amherst County
  • Clifford
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clifford have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clifford
    • Clifford is located in Amherst County
  • Tye River
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tye River have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tye River
    • Tye River is located in Nelson County
  • Nellysford
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (19 more) ...
    • New Glasgow
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Lodebar
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Montebello
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Montebello have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montebello
      • Montebello is located in Nelson County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Montebello <2>

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

Newspapers Published in Jonesboro ...

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 26 newspapers that have been published in the area around Jonesboro.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Jonesboro, there are papers which were published within 20 miles [32.2 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Jonesboro.

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 professional and volunteer 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 Jonesboro:

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

The official website for Nelson County: www.nelsoncounty.com/

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>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 Jonesboro, 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Jonesboro) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Jonesboro. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.7833, Longitude: -78.9783    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 31 Mar 2025