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Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

So far, we found very little information about Pond Gap. The little that we've found leads us believe that the community is historic.<1>

We've added Pond Gap to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Pond Gap, please Contact Us.


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 Pond Gap (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 Pond Gap. 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 Pond Gap ...

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.

Another variation: Pondgap.

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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals 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.

Although our information shows that the community of Pond Gap is historic, it would have been located within present day Augusta 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 Augusta County: Albemarle, Bath, Highland, Nelson, Rockbridge, Rockingham & Pendleton (WV).

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

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

Cemeteries Near Pond Gap ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Pond Gap.

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

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

  • Craigsville Memorial Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Craigsville Memorial Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Craigsville Memorial Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Glebe Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Glebe Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Glebe Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mt. Herman Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Herman Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Herman Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Immanuel Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Immanuel Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Immanuel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Oak Hill Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oak Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oak Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mt. Chapel Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Chapel Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Chapel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hunters Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hunters Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hunters Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mt. Mary Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Mary Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Mary Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • New Providence Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the New Providence Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the New Providence Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Greenville Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Greenville Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Greenville Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Little River Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Little River Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Little River Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Allen Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Allen Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Allen Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (163 more) ...

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.

Pond Gap itself is historic and was described in the Rand McNally Atlas as having a population of 17 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Augusta Springs
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Augusta Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Augusta Springs
    • Augusta Springs is located in Augusta County
  • Ferrol
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ferrol have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ferrol
    • Ferrol is located in Augusta County
  • Craigsville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Chapin
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chapin have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chapin
    • Chapin is located in Augusta County
  • North Mountain
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Mountain have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Mountain
    • North Mountain is located in Augusta County
  • Middlebrook
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Marble Valley
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Zack
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Zack have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zack
    • Zack is located in Rockbridge County
  • Swoope
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Swoope have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swoope
    • Swoope is located in Augusta County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Swoope <2>
  • Buffalo Gap
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Buffalo Gap have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo Gap
    • Buffalo Gap is located in Augusta County
  • Bells Valley
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bells Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bells Valley
    • Bells Valley is located in Rockbridge County
  • Arbor Hill
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (18 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in Pond Gap ...

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 34 newspapers that have been published in the area around Pond Gap.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Pond Gap, there are papers which were published within 22 miles [35.4 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Pond Gap.

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 Pond Gap:

The official website for Augusta County: www.co.augusta.va.us/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Pond Gap, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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>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.
<5>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.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Pond Gap) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Pond Gap. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.0980, Longitude: -79.3135       In this case, the coordinates for Pond Gap have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 31 Mar 2025