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 Mountain Laurel (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 Mountain Laurel. 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 Mountain Laurel ...
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.
For example, a typical abbreviation for Mountain Laurel: Mtn. Laurel
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Mountain Laurel. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Mountain Laurel.
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.
Mountain Laurel is located in Albemarle 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 Albemarle County: Augusta, Buckingham, Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa, Nelson, Orange & Rockingham.
Below are the counties that are near Mountain Laurel. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Mountain Laurel:
- Albemarle County (The home county of Mountain Laurel)
- The following are listed by their distance from Mountain Laurel, with the one closest to Mountain Laurel listed first.
- Earlysville
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Advance Mills
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Advance Mills is located in Albemarle County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Advance Mills
- Advance Mills has also been known as:
- Fray's Mills
- Free Union
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Advance Mills Village
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Advance Mills Village is located in Albemarle County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Advance Mills Village
- Logan Village
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Logan Village is located in Albemarle County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Logan Village
- Hollymead
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Hollymead is located in Albemarle County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollymead
- Jefferson Village
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Jefferson Village is located in Albemarle County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jefferson Village
- Gilbert
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Gilbert is located in Albemarle County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilbert
- Commonwealth
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Commonwealth is located in Albemarle County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Commonwealth
- Rio
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Rio is located in Albemarle County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rio
- Monacan Town ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Monacan Town is located in Albemarle County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monacan Town
- Barracks
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Barracks is located in Albemarle County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barracks
- Augusta County
- The following are listed by their distance from Mountain Laurel, with the one closest to Mountain Laurel listed first.
- Crimora
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Grottoes
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Sampson
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Sampson is located in Augusta County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sampson
- Dooms
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Dooms is located in Augusta County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dooms
- Weyers Cave
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Fishersville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Lyndhurst
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Verona
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Sherando
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Sherando is located in Augusta County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sherando
- Brand
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Brand is located in Augusta County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brand
- Lipscomb
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Lipscomb is located in Augusta County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lipscomb
- Stuarts Draft
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Charlottesville City
- The following are listed by their distance from Mountain Laurel, with the one closest to Mountain Laurel listed first.
- Charlottesville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Locust Grove
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Locust Grove is located in Charlottesville City
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locust Grove
- Belmont
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Belmont is located in Charlottesville City
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belmont
- Culpeper County
- Waylands Mill
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Waylands Mill is located in Culpeper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waylands Mill
- Fluvanna County
- The following are listed by their distance from Mountain Laurel, with the one closest to Mountain Laurel listed first.
- Lake Monticello
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Lake Monticello is located in Fluvanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Monticello
- Antioch
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Antioch is located in Fluvanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Antioch
- Nicholas
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Nicholas is located in Fluvanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nicholas
- Kents Store
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Kents Store is located in Fluvanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kents Store
- Fork Union
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Greene County
- The following are listed by their distance from Mountain Laurel, with the one closest to Mountain Laurel listed first.
- Amicus
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Amicus is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amicus
- Quinque
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Quinque is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quinque
- Cedarmere ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Cedarmere is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedarmere
- Stanardsville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Dawsonville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Dawsonville is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dawsonville
- Kinderhook
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Kinderhook is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kinderhook
- Harrisonburg City
- Harrisonburg
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Louisa County
- The following are listed by their distance from Mountain Laurel, with the one closest to Mountain Laurel listed first.
- Meltons
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Meltons is located in Louisa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meltons
- Green Springs
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Green Springs is located in Louisa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Springs
- Medlock
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Medlock is located in Louisa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Medlock
- Trevilians
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Trevilians is located in Louisa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trevilians
- Bells Crossroads
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Bells Crossroads is located in Louisa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bells Crossroads
- Louisa
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Madison County
- The following are listed by their distance from Mountain Laurel, with the one closest to Mountain Laurel listed first.
- Hood
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Wolftown
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Aroda
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Aroda is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aroda
- Radiant
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Radiant is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Radiant
- Ruth
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Ruth is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruth
- Burnt Tree
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Burnt Tree is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burnt Tree
- Madison
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Madison Mills
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Madison Mills is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Madison Mills
- Syria
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Tryme
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Tryme is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tryme
- Peola Mills
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Peola Mills is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peola Mills
- Nelson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Mountain Laurel, with the one closest to Mountain Laurel listed first.
- Afton
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Durrett Town
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Durrett Town is located in Nelson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Durrett Town
- Onan
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Onan is located in Nelson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Onan
- Greenfield
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Greenfield is located in Nelson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenfield
- Lodebar
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Lodebar is located in Nelson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lodebar
- Adial
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Adial is located in Nelson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adial
- Faber
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Nellysford
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Schuyler
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Rockfish
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Rockfish is located in Nelson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockfish
- Orange County
- The following are listed by their distance from Mountain Laurel, with the one closest to Mountain Laurel listed first.
- Barboursville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Gordonsville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Montpelier Station
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Madison Run
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Madison Run is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Madison Run
- Orange
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Grassland
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Grassland is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grassland
- Page County
- The following are listed by their distance from Mountain Laurel, with the one closest to Mountain Laurel listed first.
- Verbena
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Verbena is located in Page County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Verbena
- Shenandoah
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Marksville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Marksville is located in Page County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marksville
- Stanley
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Rappahannock County
- Slate Mills
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Slate Mills is located in Rappahannock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slate Mills
- Rockingham County
- The following are listed by their distance from Mountain Laurel, with the one closest to Mountain Laurel listed first.
- Swift Run
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Swift Run is located in Rockingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swift Run
- Berrytown
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Berrytown is located in Rockingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berrytown
- Elkton
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- McGaheysville
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Montevideo
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Montevideo is located in Rockingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montevideo
- Goods Mill
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Goods Mill is located in Rockingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goods Mill
- Massanutten
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Cross Keys
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Keezletown
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Massanetta Springs
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Massanetta Springs is located in Rockingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Massanetta Springs
- North River
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- North River is located in Rockingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North River
- Melrose
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Melrose is located in Rockingham County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melrose
- Waynesboro City
- Waynesboro
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Mountain Laurel, see our County-by-County Page for Mountain Laurel.
Cemeteries Near Mountain Laurel ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Mountain Laurel.
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 Mountain Laurel - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Mountain Laurel covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Mountain Laurel, with the one closest to Mountain Laurel listed first.
- Chestnut Grove Baptist Church Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Clunie Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Buck Mtn. Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Sinai Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Dunn Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Pine Ridge Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Estes Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Michie-Beddow Family Cemetery
- Mt. Zion Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Free Union Baptist Church Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Ivy Creek Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Garrison Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Continue List (358 more) ...
- Hildebrand Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Holly Memorial Gardens
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Maple Grove Christian Church Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
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.<3>
While we didn't find Mountain Laurel in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Mountain Laurel.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Mountain Laurel, with the one closest to Mountain Laurel listed first.
- Earlysville
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Free Union
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Rivanna
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Rivanna is located in Albemarle County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rivanna
- Advance Mills
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Advance Mills is located in Albemarle County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Advance Mills
- Advance Mills has also been known as:
- Fray's Mills
- Hydraulic
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Hydraulic is located in Albemarle County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hydraulic
- Proffit
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Proffit is located in Albemarle County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Proffit
- Amicus
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Amicus is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amicus
- Rio
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Rio is located in Albemarle County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rio
- Gilbert
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Gilbert is located in Albemarle County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilbert
- Millington
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Millington is located in Albemarle County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millington
- Quinque
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Quinque is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quinque
- Boonesville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Boonesville is located in Albemarle County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boonesville
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Eastham
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Eastham is located in Albemarle County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastham
- Burnley
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Burnley is located in Albemarle County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burnley
- Ruckersville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Mountain Laurel. See our List of 1890's Communities around Mountain Laurel.
Newspapers Published in Mountain Laurel ...
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 64 newspapers that have been published in the area around Mountain Laurel.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Mountain Laurel, there are papers which were published within 9 miles [14.5 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Mountain Laurel.
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 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 Mountain Laurel:
- Websites specific to Virginia
- Pages specific to Albemarle County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Augusta County
- Charlottesville City
- Culpeper County
- Fluvanna County
- Greene County
- Harrisonburg City
- Louisa County
- Madison County
- Nelson County
- Orange County
- Page County
- Rappahannock County
- Rockingham County
- Waynesboro City
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Virginia
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 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. |
| <3> | 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 Mountain Laurel, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | 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 from Point A (ie- Mountain Laurel) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |