RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Virginia >> Spotsylvania County >> McHenry >> Genealogy HelperIndex...










Learn About
The Commemorative
Quarter for
Virginia

The Commemorative Quarter for Virginia





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 McHenry (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 McHenry. 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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

McHenry is located in Spotsylvania 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 Spotsylvania County: Caroline, Culpeper, Hanover, Louisa, Orange & Stafford.

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

  • Spotsylvania County     (The home county of McHenry)
  • Caroline County
  • Culpeper County
  • Fauquier County
    • The following are listed by their distance from McHenry, with the one closest to McHenry listed first.
    • Remington
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Remington have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Remington
      • Remington is located in Fauquier County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 661 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Remington <1>
    • Blackwell Town
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Blackwell Town have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackwell Town
      • Blackwell Town is located in Fauquier County
    • Bealeton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Brent Town
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brent Town have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brent Town
      • Brent Town is located in Fauquier County
    • Midland
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
  • Fluvanna County
  • Fredericksburg City
  • Goochland County
    • The following are listed by their distance from McHenry, with the one closest to McHenry listed first.
    • Hadensville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Tabscott
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tabscott have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tabscott
      • Tabscott is located in Goochland County
  • Hanover County
  • King George County
    • The following are listed by their distance from McHenry, with the one closest to McHenry listed first.
    • Fairview Beach
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fairview Beach have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairview Beach
      • Fairview Beach is located in King George County
    • Arnolds Corner
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • King George
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Port Conway
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Ambar
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Edgehill
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Edgehill. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgehill
      • Edgehill is located in King George County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Edgehill
      • From McHenry to Edgehill
    • Weedonville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Weedonville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weedonville
      • Weedonville is located in King George County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Weedonville
      • From McHenry to Weedonville
    • Somerset Beach
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Somerset Beach have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Somerset Beach
      • Somerset Beach is located in King George County
  • Louisa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from McHenry, with the one closest to McHenry listed first.
    • Harris ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Harris have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harris
      • Harris is located in Louisa County
    • Bumpass
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Mineral
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mineral have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mineral
      • Mineral is located in Louisa County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 529 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mineral <1>
    • Pendleton
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Pendleton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pendleton
      • Pendleton is located in Louisa County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Pendleton
      • From McHenry to Pendleton
    • Cuckoo
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Louisa
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Louisa have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Louisa
      • Louisa is located in Louisa County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,764 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Louisa <1>
    • Jackson
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Jackson. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jackson
      • Jackson is located in Louisa County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Jackson
      • From McHenry to Jackson
    • Trevilians
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Vigor
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vigor have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vigor
      • Vigor is located in Louisa County
    • Gays ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gays have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gays
      • Gays is located in Louisa County
    • Green Springs
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Willowbrook
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Meltons
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
  • Madison County
    • The following are listed by their distance from McHenry, with the one closest to McHenry listed first.
    • Madison Mills
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Burnt Tree
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Aroda
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Orange County
  • Stafford County
    • The following are listed by their distance from McHenry, with the one closest to McHenry listed first.
    • Stafford Lakes Village
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stafford Lakes Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stafford Lakes Village
      • Stafford Lakes Village is located in Stafford County
    • Berea
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Berea. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berea
      • Berea is located in Stafford County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Berea
      • From McHenry to Berea
    • Chatham Village
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chatham Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chatham Village
      • Chatham Village is located in Stafford County
    • Falmouth
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Falmouth have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falmouth
      • Falmouth is located in Stafford County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Falmouth <1>
    • Hampstead Village
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hampstead Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hampstead Village
      • Hampstead Village is located in Stafford County
    • Storck
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Grafton Village
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grafton Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grafton Village
      • Grafton Village is located in Stafford County
    • Hartwood
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Little Falls Village
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little Falls Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Falls Village
      • Little Falls Village is located in Stafford County
    • Falmouth Village
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Falmouth Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falmouth Village
      • Falmouth Village is located in Stafford County
    • Northridge
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Hartwood Village
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hartwood Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartwood Village
      • Hartwood Village is located in Stafford County
    • North Potomac
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)

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

Cemeteries Near McHenry ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of McHenry.

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

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

  • Mine Road Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mine Road Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mine Road Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Little Mine Road Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Little Mine Road Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Little Mine Road Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hebron Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hebron Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hebron Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Shady Grove Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Shady Grove Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Shady Grove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Pentecostal Evangelical Church Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Bethel Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • 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.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Goodhope Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Goodhope Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Goodhope Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Travelers Rest Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Travelers Rest Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Travelers Rest Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Goshen Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Goshen Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Goshen Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Olivet Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Olivet Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Olivet Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • True Light Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the True Light Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the True Light Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Zion Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Zion Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Zion Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (170 more) ...
    • Confederate Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Confederate Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Confederate Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Piney Branch Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Branch Fork Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Branch Fork Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Branch Fork Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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 McHenry in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of McHenry.

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

  • Post Oak
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Mount Pleasant
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Pleasant have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Pleasant
    • Mount Pleasant is located in Spotsylvania County
  • Gatewood
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gatewood have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gatewood
    • Gatewood is located in Spotsylvania County
  • Screamerville ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Brockroad
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Stubbs
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stubbs have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stubbs
    • Stubbs is located in Spotsylvania County
  • Glenora
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Lewiston
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Parker
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Parker. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parker
    • Parker is located in Spotsylvania County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Parker
    • From McHenry to Parker
  • Granite Springs
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Granite Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Granite Springs
    • Granite Springs is located in Spotsylvania County
  • Holladay
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Holladay. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holladay
    • Holladay is located in Spotsylvania County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Holladay
    • From McHenry to Holladay
  • Marye
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Mine Run
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mine Run have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mine Run
      • Mine Run is located in Orange County
    • Belmont
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Harris ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Harris have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harris
      • Harris is located in Louisa County

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

Newspapers Published in McHenry ...

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 41 newspapers that have been published in the area around McHenry.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of McHenry, there are papers which were published within 15 miles [24.1 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for McHenry.

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 McHenry:

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

The official website for Spotsylvania County: www.spotsylvania.va.us/

The official website for State of Virginia: https://www.virginia.gov/

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 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.
<3>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.
<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 McHenry, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- McHenry) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in McHenry. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.1755, Longitude: -77.7026    









 

Copyright 2025
All Rights Reserved

Thank you for visiting our website.

In closing, please keep in mind that we can not guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of the information on this website, so use with care. We encourage you to double-check the information that is critical to you.

If you've found an error or have additional information that you would like to share, please don't hesitate to write: Click here to contact us.

This page was last modified/updated: 31 Mar 2025