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 Salem (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 Salem. 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.
Newspapers Published in Salem ...
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 20 newspapers that have been published in the area around Salem.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we like to start 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 Salem:
- Websites specific to Virginia
- Jump to Cyndi's List
- Jump to Family Search
- Jump to Genealogy Trails
- Website for the Library of Virginia
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Virginia
- Cemetery Junction: Cemeteries of Virginia
- Cyndi's List
- Cemeteries of Virginia
- FamilySearch.org: Cemeteries of Virginia
- Find-A-Grave: Home Page
- Interment.net
- Cemeteries of Virginia
Cemeteries Near Salem ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Salem.
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 Salem covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Salem, with the one closest to Salem listed first.
- East Hill Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the East Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the East Hill Cemetery
- Sherwood Burial Park
(Less than 2 miles to the east)- The Sherwood Burial Park has also been known as:
- Sherwood Cemetery
- Sherwood Memorial Park
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sherwood Burial Park
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #728583 <2>
- Church Hill Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Church Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Church Hill Cemetery
- Harris Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Harris Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Harris Cemetery
- Loury Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Loury Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Loury Cemetery
- Cedar Lawn Burial Park
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cedar Lawn Burial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cedar Lawn Burial Park
- Peters Creek Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Peters Creek Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Peters Creek Cemetery
- Cain Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cain Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cain Cemetery
- St. Andrews Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Andrews Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Andrews Cemetery
- Fairview Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)- To give a relative sense of its location, the Fairview Cemetery is located in Roanoke.
- The Fairview Cemetery has also been known as:
- Fairview Cemetery
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fairview Cemetery
- Williams Memorial Park
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Williams Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Williams Memorial Park
- Beamer Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Beamer Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Beamer Cemetery
- Continue List (695 more) ...
- Jonathan Tosh Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Jonathan Tosh Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Jonathan Tosh Cemetery
- Butts Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Butts Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Butts Cemetery
- Duckwiller Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Duckwiller Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Duckwiller Cemetery
- Jonathan Tosh Cemetery
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 Salem in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Salem.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Salem, with the one closest to Salem listed first.
- Cave Spring
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cave Spring
- Cave Spring is located in Roanoke County
- Poages Mill
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Poages Mill have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poages Mill
- Poages Mill is located in Roanoke County
- Roanoke
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roanoke
- Roanoke is located in Roanoke City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 99,058 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Roanoke <4>
- Catawba
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Catawba have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Catawba
- Catawba is located in Roanoke County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Catawba <4>
- Hollins
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hollins have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollins
- Hollins is located in Roanoke County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hollins <4>
- Moomaw ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest) - Vinton
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vinton
- Vinton is located in Roanoke County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 8,128 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Vinton <4>
- Lafayette
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest) - Airpoint
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south) - Cloverdale
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cloverdale
- Cloverdale is located in Botetourt County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cloverdale <4>
- Bradshaw
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west) - Naff
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south) - Continue List (17 more) ...
- Leslie
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast) - Abbott
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abbott
- Abbott is located in Craig County
- Bonsack
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Leslie
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Salem. See our List of 1890's Communities around Salem.
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Salem: www.ci.salem.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> | 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 Salem, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |