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 Kyles Mills (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 Kyles Mills. 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 Kyles Mills ...
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 Kyles Mills: Kyles Mls. (or less commonly used: Kyles Mlls.)
- While the name of this community is Kyles Mills, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Kyles Mills may originally have been Kyle's Mills.
Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Kyles Mills might be written as Kyle Mills.
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 doctors and 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.
Kyles Mills is located in Botetourt 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 Botetourt County: Alleghany, Bedford, Craig, Roanoke & Rockbridge.
Below are the counties that are near Kyles Mills. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Kyles Mills:
- Botetourt County (The home county of Kyles Mills)
- The following are listed by their distance from Kyles Mills, with the one closest to Kyles Mills listed first.
- Botetourt ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Botetourt is located in Botetourt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Botetourt
- Springwood
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Springwood is located in Botetourt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springwood
- Salisbury
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Salisbury is located in Botetourt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salisbury
- Fincastle
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Salt Petre Cave
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- 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
- Lithia
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Lithia is located in Botetourt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lithia
- Buchanan
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Gala
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Gala is located in Botetourt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gala
- Oriskany
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Troutville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Amsterdam
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Amsterdam is located in Botetourt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amsterdam
- Haymakertown
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Haymakertown is located in Botetourt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haymakertown
- Alleghany County
- The following are listed by their distance from Kyles Mills, with the one closest to Kyles Mills listed first.
- Rich Patch
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Rich Patch is located in Alleghany County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rich Patch
- Low Moor
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Iron Gate
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Iron Gate is located in Alleghany County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iron Gate
- Population from the 2020 Census: 352 people
- Selma
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Selma is located in Alleghany County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Selma
- Clifton Forge
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Griffith
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Griffith is located in Alleghany County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Griffith
- Moss Run
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Moss Run is located in Alleghany County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moss Run
- Bath County
- The following are listed by their distance from Kyles Mills, with the one closest to Kyles Mills listed first.
- Carloover
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Carloover is located in Bath County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carloover
- Greenwood ‑ Historic
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Greenwood is located in Bath County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwood
- Healing Springs
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Healing Springs is located in Bath County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Healing Springs
- Bedford City
- Bedford
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Bedford County
- The following are listed by their distance from Kyles Mills, with the one closest to Kyles Mills listed first.
- Villamont
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Villamont is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Villamont
- Montvale
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Coonsville ‑ Historic
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Coonsville is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coonsville
- Peaksville
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Peaksville is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peaksville
- Chamblissburg
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Chamblissburg is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chamblissburg
- Goodview
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Joppa Mill
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Joppa Mill is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joppa Mill
- Clevilas ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Clevilas is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clevilas
- Cifax
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Cifax is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cifax
- Lowry
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Lowry is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lowry
- Waugh
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Waugh is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waugh
- Davis Mill
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Davis Mill is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Davis Mill
- Buena Vista City
- Buena Vista
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Covington City
- Covington
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Craig County
- The following are listed by their distance from Kyles Mills, with the one closest to Kyles Mills listed first.
- New Castle
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Abbott
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Abbott is located in Craig County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abbott
- Franklin County
- The following are listed by their distance from Kyles Mills, with the one closest to Kyles Mills listed first.
- Boones Mill
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Burnt Chimney
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Burnt Chimney is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burnt Chimney
- Hales Ford ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Hales Ford is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hales Ford
- Westlake Corner
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Westlake Corner is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westlake Corner
- Lexington City
- Lexington
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Roanoke City
- The following are listed by their distance from Kyles Mills, with the one closest to Kyles Mills listed first.
- Buena Vista
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Buena Vista is located in Roanoke City
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buena Vista
- Roanoke
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Garden City
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Garden City is located in Roanoke City
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden City
- Roanoke County
- The following are listed by their distance from Kyles Mills, with the one closest to Kyles Mills listed first.
- Hollins
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Mason Cove
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Mason Cove is located in Roanoke County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mason Cove
- Vinton
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Montgomery Village
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Montgomery Village is located in Roanoke County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montgomery Village
- Catawba
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Hanging Rock
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Hanging Rock is located in Roanoke County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hanging Rock
- Moomaw ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Moomaw is located in Roanoke County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moomaw
- Cave Spring
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Cave Spring is located in Roanoke County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cave Spring
- Wabun
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Wabun is located in Roanoke County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wabun
- Riverside
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Riverside is located in Roanoke County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverside
- Rockbridge County
- The following are listed by their distance from Kyles Mills, with the one closest to Kyles Mills listed first.
- Springfield
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Springfield is located in Rockbridge County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springfield
- Natural Bridge
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Red Mills
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Red Mills is located in Rockbridge County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Mills
- Longwood ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Longwood is located in Rockbridge County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longwood
- Greenlee
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Greenlee is located in Rockbridge County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenlee
- Fancy Hill
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Fancy Hill is located in Rockbridge County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fancy Hill
- Glasgow
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Zollman ‑ Historic
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Zollman is located in Rockbridge County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zollman
- Buffalo Forge
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Buffalo Forge is located in Rockbridge County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo Forge
- East Lexington
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- East Lexington is located in Rockbridge County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Lexington
- Kerrs Creek
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Kerrs Creek is located in Rockbridge County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kerrs Creek
- Salem City
- The following are listed by their distance from Kyles Mills, with the one closest to Kyles Mills listed first.
- Sunset Village
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Sunset Village is located in Salem City
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset Village
- Salem
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Greenbrier County (WV)
- The following are listed by their distance from Kyles Mills, with the one closest to Kyles Mills listed first.
- Tuckahoe
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Tuckahoe is located in Greenbrier County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tuckahoe
- White Sulphur Springs
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Kyles Mills, see our County-by-County Page for Kyles Mills.
Cemeteries Near Kyles Mills ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Kyles Mills.
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 Kyles Mills - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Kyles Mills covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Kyles Mills, with the one closest to Kyles Mills listed first.
- Peck Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Linkenhoker Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Houseman Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Godwin Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Godwin Cemetery
- The Godwin Cemetery has also been known as:
- Slicer Cemetery
- Shafer Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Copps Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Piney Grove Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Booze Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Simmons Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Wesley Chapel Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Mays Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Rudisill Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Continue List (305 more) ...
- Thompson Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Greenfield Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Boyer Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 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 Kyles Mills in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Kyles Mills.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Kyles Mills, with the one closest to Kyles Mills listed first.
- Botetourt ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Botetourt is located in Botetourt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Botetourt
- Fincastle
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Springwood
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Springwood is located in Botetourt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springwood
- Salisbury
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Salisbury is located in Botetourt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salisbury
- Lithia
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Lithia is located in Botetourt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lithia
- Salt Petre Cave
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- 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
- Eagle Rock
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Nace
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Nace is located in Botetourt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nace
- Bessemer
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Bessemer is located in Botetourt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bessemer
- Buchanan
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Amsterdam
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Amsterdam is located in Botetourt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amsterdam
- Troutville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- Gala
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Gala is located in Botetourt County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gala
- Craigs Creek ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Craigs Creek is located in Craig County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Craigs Creek
- Daleville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Kyles Mills. See our List of 1890's Communities around Kyles Mills.
Newspapers Published in Kyles Mills ...
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 27 newspapers that have been published in the area around Kyles Mills.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Kyles Mills, there are papers which were published within 15 miles [24.1 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Kyles Mills.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we 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 Kyles Mills:
- Websites specific to Virginia
- Pages specific to Botetourt County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Alleghany County
- Bath County
- Bedford City
- Bedford County
- Buena Vista City
- Covington City
- Craig County
- Franklin County
- Lexington City
- Roanoke City
- Roanoke County
- Rockbridge County
- Salem City
- Greenbrier County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Virginia
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 Kyles Mills, 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Kyles Mills) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |