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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 Massies Mill (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 Massies Mill. 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 Massies Mill ...

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 have occurred.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Massies Mill: Massies Ml. (or less commonly used: Massies Mll.)

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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors were in the next county to the east. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the county to the south.

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 south 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.

Massies Mill 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 Massies Mill. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Massies Mill:

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

Cemeteries Near Massies Mill ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Massies Mill.

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

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

  • 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 southeast)
  • Jonesboro Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Bethel Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • 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
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Camden Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 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
    (3 miles [4.8 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
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • 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.
  • Campbell Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 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
    (4 miles [6.4 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.
  • Thompson Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 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
    (4 miles [6.4 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.
  • Continue List   (195 more) ...
    • Steele Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Steele Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Steele Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Fulcher Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fulcher Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fulcher 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.

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 Massies Mill had a population of 180 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Roseland
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • 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>
  • Bryant
    (2 miles [3.2 km] 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 Massies Mill to Bryant
  • Tyro
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Lowesville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Colleen
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Lovingston
    (7 miles [11.3 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>
  • Gidsville
    (8 miles [12.9 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
  • 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>
  • 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
  • Montebello
    (9 miles [14.5 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>
  • Sandidges
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Sandidges. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandidges
    • Sandidges is located in Amherst County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Sandidges
    • From Massies Mill to Sandidges
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • New Glasgow
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Nellysford
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Irish Creek
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Irish Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irish Creek
      • Irish Creek is located in Rockbridge County

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

Newspapers Published in Massies Mill ...

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 14 newspapers that have been published in the area around Massies Mill.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Massies Mill, there are papers which were published within 17 miles [27.4 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Massies Mill.

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 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 Massies Mill:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Massies Mill. 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 Massies Mill, 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Massies Mill) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Massies Mill. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.7774, Longitude: -79.0011    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 31 Mar 2025