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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 Rinkerton (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 Rinkerton. 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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

Rinkerton is located in Shenandoah 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 Shenandoah County: Frederick, Page, Rockingham, Warren & Hardy (WV).

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

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

Cemeteries Near Rinkerton ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Rinkerton.

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

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

  • Grace Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Grace Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Grace Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Marys Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Marys Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Marys Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Our Soldiers Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Our Soldiers Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Our Soldiers Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mt. Jackson Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Jackson Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Jackson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mt. Clifton Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Clifton Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Clifton Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Solomons Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Solomons Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Solomons Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Marks Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Marks Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Marks Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Cedar Grove Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cedar Grove Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cedar Grove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Valley Central Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Valley Central Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Valley Central Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bethel Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • 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.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Christ Church Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Christ Church Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Christ Church Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Flat Rock Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Flat Rock Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Flat Rock Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (293 more) ...
    • Mt. Zion Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Zion Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Zion Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Woods Chapel Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Woods Chapel Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Woods Chapel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Palmyra Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Palmyra Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Palmyra Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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.<4>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Rinkerton had a population of 24 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Mount Jackson
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Jackson have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Jackson
    • Mount Jackson is located in Shenandoah County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,144 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mount Jackson <2>
  • Mount Clifton
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Forestville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Forestville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forestville
    • Forestville is located in Shenandoah County
  • Hawkinstown
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hawkinstown have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hawkinstown
    • Hawkinstown is located in Shenandoah County
  • Hamburg
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hamburg have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hamburg
    • Hamburg is located in Shenandoah County
  • Quicksburg
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Quicksburg have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quicksburg
    • Quicksburg is located in Shenandoah County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Quicksburg <2>
  • New Market Station
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Market Station have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Market Station
    • New Market Station is located in Shenandoah County
  • New Market
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Jerome
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Jerome. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jerome
    • Jerome is located in Shenandoah County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Jerome
    • From Rinkerton to Jerome
  • Edinburg
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Hepners
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hepners have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hepners
    • Hepners is located in Shenandoah County
  • Columbia Furnace
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (20 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in Rinkerton ...

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 47 newspapers that have been published in the area around Rinkerton.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Rinkerton, there are papers which were published within 19 miles [30.6 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Rinkerton.

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 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 Rinkerton:

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

The official website for Shenandoah County: www.co.shenandoah.va.us/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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>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 Rinkerton, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<5>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Rinkerton) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Rinkerton. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.7560, Longitude: -78.6696       In this case, the coordinates for Rinkerton have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 31 Mar 2025