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 Rip Rap (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 Rip Rap. 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 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.
Rip Rap is located in Halifax 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 Halifax County: Caswell (NC), Granville (NC), Person (NC), Campbell, Charlotte, Mecklenburg & Pittsylvania.
Below are the counties that are near Rip Rap. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Rip Rap:
- Halifax County (The home county of Rip Rap)
- The following are listed by their distance from Rip Rap, with the one closest to Rip Rap listed first.
- Virgilina
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Aarons Creek
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Aarons Creek is located in Halifax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aarons Creek
- Omega
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Omega is located in Halifax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Omega
- Mayo
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Mayo is located in Halifax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayo
- Cluster Springs
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Cluster Springs is located in Halifax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cluster Springs
- South Boston
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Harmony
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Harmony is located in Halifax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harmony
- Alton
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Midway
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Midway is located in Halifax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midway
- Westside Village
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Westside Village is located in Halifax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westside Village
- Banister Town
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Banister Town is located in Halifax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Banister Town
- Halifax
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Charlotte County
- The following are listed by their distance from Rip Rap, with the one closest to Rip Rap listed first.
- Wylliesburg
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Drakes Branch
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Aspenwall
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Aspenwall is located in Charlotte County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aspenwall
- Fluvanna County
- Scottsburg
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Mecklenburg County
- The following are listed by their distance from Rip Rap, with the one closest to Rip Rap listed first.
- Nelson
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Nelson is located in Mecklenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nelson
- Averett
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Averett is located in Mecklenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Averett
- Henrico
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Henrico is located in Mecklenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henrico
- Shiny Rock
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Shiny Rock is located in Mecklenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shiny Rock
- Clarksville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Mill Village
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Mill Village is located in Mecklenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mill Village
- Jeffress
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Jeffress is located in Mecklenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jeffress
- Orgainville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Orgainville is located in Mecklenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orgainville
- Finchley
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Finchley is located in Mecklenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Finchley
- Skipwith
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Skipwith is located in Mecklenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skipwith
- Boydton
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Chase City
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Pittsylvania County
- The following are listed by their distance from Rip Rap, with the one closest to Rip Rap listed first.
- Henrys Mill
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Henrys Mill is located in Pittsylvania County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henrys Mill
- Laurel Grove
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Laurel Grove is located in Pittsylvania County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurel Grove
- Caswell County (NC)
- The following are listed by their distance from Rip Rap, with the one closest to Rip Rap listed first.
- Semora
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Leasburg
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Milton
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Estelle
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Estelle is located in Caswell County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Estelle
- Durham County (NC)
- The following are listed by their distance from Rip Rap, with the one closest to Rip Rap listed first.
- Hampton
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Hampton is located in Durham County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hampton
- Rougemont
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Bahama
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Granville County (NC)
- The following are listed by their distance from Rip Rap, with the one closest to Rip Rap listed first.
- Wilbourns
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Wilbourns is located in Granville County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilbourns
- Bullock
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Gela
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Gela is located in Granville County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gela
- Stovall
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Stovall is located in Granville County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stovall
- Population from the 2020 Census: 420 people
- Berea
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Berea is located in Granville County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berea
- Townsville
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Oxford
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Oxford is located in Granville County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oxford
- Population from the 2020 Census: 8,905 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oxford <1>
- Providence
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Providence is located in Granville County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Providence
- Clay
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Clay is located in Granville County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clay
- Stem
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Stem is located in Granville County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stem
- Population from the 2020 Census: 474 people
- Tar River
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Tar River is located in Granville County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tar River
- Fairport
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Fairport is located in Granville County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairport
- Orange County (NC)
- The following are listed by their distance from Rip Rap, with the one closest to Rip Rap listed first.
- Berryland
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Berryland is located in Orange County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berryland
- Caldwell
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Caldwell is located in Orange County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caldwell
- Fieldstream
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Fieldstream is located in Orange County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fieldstream
- Person County (NC)
- The following are listed by their distance from Rip Rap, with the one closest to Rip Rap listed first.
- Allensville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Allensville is located in Person County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allensville
- Ceffo
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Ceffo is located in Person County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ceffo
- Roxboro
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Hicks Village
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Hicks Village is located in Person County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hicks Village
- Concord
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Concord is located in Person County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Concord
- Whitt Town
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Whitt Town is located in Person County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitt Town
- Moriah
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Moriah is located in Person County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moriah
- Mount Tirzah
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Mount Tirzah is located in Person County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Tirzah
- Roseville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Roseville is located in Person County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roseville
- Allens Level
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Allens Level is located in Person County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allens Level
- Cates
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Cates is located in Person County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cates
- Timberlake
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Vance County (NC)
- The following are listed by their distance from Rip Rap, with the one closest to Rip Rap listed first.
- Dabney
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Dabney is located in Vance County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dabney
- Flat Rock
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Flat Rock is located in Vance County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flat Rock
- Drewry
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Drewry is located in Vance County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drewry
- Henderson
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Middleburg
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- South Henderson
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- South Henderson is located in Vance County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Henderson
- Adcock Crossroads
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Adcock Crossroads is located in Vance County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adcock Crossroads
- Bear Pond
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Bear Pond is located in Vance County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Pond
- Gill
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Gill is located in Vance County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gill
- Gillburg
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Gillburg is located in Vance County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gillburg
- Kittrell
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Warren County (NC)
- The following are listed by their distance from Rip Rap, with the one closest to Rip Rap listed first.
- Rose Hill
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Rose Hill is located in Warren County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rose Hill
- Manson
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Soul City
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Soul City is located in Warren County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Soul City
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Rip Rap, see our County-by-County Page for Rip Rap.
Cemeteries Near Rip Rap ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Rip Rap.
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 Rip Rap - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Rip Rap covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Rip Rap, with the one closest to Rip Rap listed first.
- Nelson Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Puryear Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Hayes Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Hite Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Hitesburg Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- North Fork Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Virgilina Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virgilina Cemetery
- The Virgilina Cemetery has also been known as:
- Union Cemetery
- Virgilina - Union Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #52494 <2>
- Clark Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Hebron Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Elliott Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Ragland Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- White Oak Fork Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Continue List (191 more) ...
- Hayes Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Williamson Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Overbey Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
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 Rip Rap in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Rip Rap.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Rip Rap, with the one closest to Rip Rap listed first.
- Red Bank
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Red Bank is located in Halifax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Bank
- Virgilina
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Nelson
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Nelson is located in Mecklenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nelson
- Siddon
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Siddon is located in Mecklenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Siddon
- Averett
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Averett is located in Mecklenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Averett
- Buffalo Junction
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Buffalo Junction is located in Mecklenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo Junction
- Buffalo Springs
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Buffalo Springs is located in Mecklenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo Springs
- Hyco
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Hyco is located in Halifax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hyco
- Omega
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Omega is located in Halifax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Omega
- Mayo
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Mayo is located in Halifax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayo
- Oak Hill
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Oak Hill is located in Granville County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Hill
- Bethel Hill
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Bethel Hill is located in Person County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bethel Hill
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Wolf Trap
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Wolf Trap is located in Halifax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolf Trap
- Clarksville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Dryburg
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Dryburg is located in Halifax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dryburg
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Rip Rap. See our List of 1890's Communities around Rip Rap.
Newspapers Published in Rip Rap ...
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 37 newspapers that have been published in the area around Rip Rap.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Rip Rap, there are papers which were published within 20 miles [32.2 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Rip Rap.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to 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 Rip Rap:
- Websites specific to Virginia
- Pages specific to Halifax County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Charlotte County
- Fluvanna County
- Mecklenburg County
- Pittsylvania County
- Caswell County
- Durham County
- Granville County
- Orange County
- Person County
- Vance County
- Warren County
- 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 Rip Rap, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | 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- Rip Rap) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |