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 Mears Station (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 Mears Station. 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 Mears Station ...
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 Mears Station: Mears Sta. (in Canada, 'Stn.' is the more common abbreviation.)
- While the name of this community is Mears Station, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Mears Station may originally have been Mear's Station.
Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Mears Station might be written as Mear Station.
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 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 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.
Mears Station is located in Accomack 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 Accomack County: Somerset (MD), Lancaster, Middlesex, Northampton & Northumberland.
Below are the counties that are near Mears Station. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Mears Station:
- Accomack County (The home county of Mears Station)
- The following are listed by their distance from Mears Station, with the one closest to Mears Station listed first.
- Groton Town
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Groton Town is located in Accomack County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Groton Town
- Hallwood
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Hallwood is located in Accomack County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hallwood
- Population from the 2020 Census: 199 people
- Mappsville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Nelsonia
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Nelsonia is located in Accomack County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nelsonia
- Bloxom
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Gargatha
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Gargatha is located in Accomack County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gargatha
- Modest Town
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Hopeton
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Hopeton is located in Accomack County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopeton
- Temperanceville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Metompkin
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Metompkin is located in Accomack County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Metompkin
- Parksley
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Whitesville
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Whitesville is located in Accomack County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitesville
- Northampton County
- The following are listed by their distance from Mears Station, with the one closest to Mears Station listed first.
- Exmore
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Wardtown
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Wardtown is located in Northampton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wardtown
- Pleasant Cove Village
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Pleasant Cove Village is located in Northampton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Cove Village
- Jamesville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Jamesville is located in Northampton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamesville
- Nassawadox
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Marionville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Marionville is located in Northampton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marionville
- Somerset County (MD)
- The following are listed by their distance from Mears Station, with the one closest to Mears Station listed first.
- Rehobeth
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Tulls Corner
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Tulls Corner is located in Somerset County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tulls Corner
- Lawsonia
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Lawsonia is located in Somerset County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawsonia
- Annemessix Towne ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Annemessix Towne is located in Somerset County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Annemessix Towne
- Costen
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Costen is located in Somerset County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Costen
- West Pocomoke
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- West Pocomoke is located in Somerset County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Pocomoke
- Crisfield
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Daugherty Town
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Daugherty Town is located in Somerset County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Daugherty Town
- Kingston
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Kingston is located in Somerset County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingston
- Westover
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Fairmount
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Fairmount is located in Somerset County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairmount
- Manokin
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Manokin is located in Somerset County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manokin
- Wicomico County (MD)
- Allen
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Allen is located in Wicomico County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allen
- Worcester County (MD)
- The following are listed by their distance from Mears Station, with the one closest to Mears Station listed first.
- Pocomoke City
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Pocomoke City is located in Worcester County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pocomoke City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,095 people
- Former names for Pocomoke City:
- New Town
- Stevens Landing
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pocomoke City <2>
- Stockton
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Girdletree
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Girdletree is located in Worcester County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Girdletree
- Snow Hill
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Cedartown
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Cedartown is located in Worcester County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedartown
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Mears Station, see our County-by-County Page for Mears Station.
Cemeteries Near Mears Station ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Mears Station.
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 Mears Station - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Mears Station covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Mears Station, with the one closest to Mears Station listed first.
- Bloxom Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Wessells Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Greenwood Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Liberty Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Edge Hill Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- St. James Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Pitts Creek Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Mt. Sinai Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Fairlawn Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Fairview Lawn Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairview Lawn Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Fairview Lawn Cemetery is located outside and to the southeast of Onancock.
- Mt. Holly Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Rehobeth Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Continue List (90 more) ...
- Onancock Cemetery
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Joynes Cemetery
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Rehobeth Cemetery
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
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 Mears Station in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Mears Station.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Mears Station, with the one closest to Mears Station listed first.
- Hallwood
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Hallwood is located in Accomack County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hallwood
- Population from the 2020 Census: 199 people
- Mearsville
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Mearsville is located in Accomack County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mearsville
- Bloxom
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Nelsonia
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Nelsonia is located in Accomack County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nelsonia
- Mappsville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Guilford
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Guilford is located in Accomack County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guilford
- Hopeton
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Hopeton is located in Accomack County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopeton
- Gargatha
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Gargatha is located in Accomack County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gargatha
- Modest Town
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Messongo
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Messongo is located in Accomack County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Messongo
- Temperanceville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Belinda
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Belinda is located in Accomack County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belinda
- Continue List (16 more) ...
- Parksley
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Metompkin
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Metompkin is located in Accomack County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Metompkin
- Horsey
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Horsey is located in Accomack County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horsey
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Mears Station. See our List of 1890's Communities around Mears Station.
Newspapers Published in Mears Station ...
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 22 newspapers that have been published in the area around Mears Station.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Mears Station, there are papers which were published within 17 miles [27.4 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Mears Station.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we begin 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 Mears Station:
- Websites specific to Virginia
- Pages specific to Accomack County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Northampton County
- Somerset County
- Wicomico County
- Worcester 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 Mears Station, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <5> | 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- Mears Station) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |