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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 Sardis (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 Sardis. 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.

Sardis is located in Amherst 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 Amherst County: Appomattox, Bedford, Campbell, Lynchburg City, Nelson & Rockbridge.

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

  • Amherst County     (The home county of Sardis)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sardis, with the one closest to Sardis listed first.
    • Monitor
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Monitor is located in Amherst County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monitor
    • Sandidges
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Sandidges is located in Amherst County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandidges
    • Amherst
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Sweet Briar Station
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Sweet Briar Station is located in Amherst County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sweet Briar Station
    • Coolwell
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Coolwell is located in Amherst County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coolwell
    • Allwood
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Allwood is located in Amherst County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allwood
    • New Glasgow
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • New Glasgow is located in Amherst County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Glasgow
    • Lowesville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Forks of Buffalo
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Forks of Buffalo is located in Amherst County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forks of Buffalo
    • Pleasant View
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Pleasant View is located in Amherst County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant View
    • Pedlar Mills
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Pedlar Mills is located in Amherst County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pedlar Mills
    • Winesap
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Winesap is located in Amherst County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winesap
  • Albemarle County
    • Covesville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Covesville is located in Albemarle County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Covesville
  • Appomattox County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sardis, with the one closest to Sardis listed first.
    • Beckham
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Beckham is located in Appomattox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beckham
    • Mineral ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Mineral is located in Appomattox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mineral
    • Bent Creek
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Bent Creek is located in Appomattox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bent Creek
    • Spout Spring
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Spout Spring is located in Appomattox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spout Spring
    • Appomattox
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Evergreen
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Evergreen is located in Appomattox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen
    • Spring Mills
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Spring Mills is located in Appomattox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Mills
    • Chap
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Chap is located in Appomattox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chap
  • Augusta County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sardis, with the one closest to Sardis listed first.
    • Steeles Tavern
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Spottswood
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Spottswood is located in Augusta County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spottswood
    • Greenville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Sherando
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Sherando is located in Augusta County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sherando
    • Lipscomb
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Lipscomb is located in Augusta County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lipscomb
    • Newport
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Newport is located in Augusta County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newport
    • Stuarts Draft
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Lyndhurst
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Middlebrook
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
  • Bedford City
    • Bedford
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Bedford County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sardis, with the one closest to Sardis listed first.
    • Abert
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Abert is located in Bedford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abert
    • Coleman Falls
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Coleman Falls is located in Bedford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coleman Falls
    • Boonsboro
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Boonsboro is located in Bedford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boonsboro
    • Waugh
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Waugh is located in Bedford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waugh
    • Forest
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Cifax
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Cifax is located in Bedford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cifax
    • Bellevue
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Bellevue is located in Bedford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellevue
    • Goode
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Lowry
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Lowry is located in Bedford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lowry
    • Peaksville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Peaksville is located in Bedford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peaksville
  • Botetourt County
    • Rocky Point
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Rocky Point is located in Botetourt County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Point
  • Buckingham County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sardis, with the one closest to Sardis listed first.
    • Manteo
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Manteo is located in Buckingham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manteo
    • Toga
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Toga is located in Buckingham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toga
    • Alcoma
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Alcoma is located in Buckingham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alcoma
    • Axtell
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Axtell is located in Buckingham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Axtell
    • Glenmore
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Glenmore is located in Buckingham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenmore
    • Mount Vinco
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Mount Vinco is located in Buckingham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Vinco
    • Forbes ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Forbes is located in Buckingham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forbes
    • Buckingham
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Buena Vista City
    • Buena Vista
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Campbell County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sardis, with the one closest to Sardis listed first.
    • Mount Athos ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Mount Athos is located in Campbell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Athos
    • Concord
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Powhatan
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Powhatan is located in Campbell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powhatan
    • Timberlake
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Timberlake is located in Campbell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timberlake
    • Bedford Springs
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Bedford Springs is located in Campbell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bedford Springs
    • Lawyers
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Lawyers is located in Campbell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawyers
    • Rustburg
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Yellow Branch
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Yellow Branch is located in Campbell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yellow Branch
    • Mount Zion
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Mount Zion is located in Campbell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Zion
  • Lexington City
    • Lexington
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Lynchburg City
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sardis, with the one closest to Sardis listed first.
    • Lavino Village
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Lavino Village is located in Lynchburg City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lavino Village
    • Lynchburg
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Woodbine Village
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Woodbine Village is located in Lynchburg City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodbine Village
  • Nelson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sardis, with the one closest to Sardis listed first.
    • Colleen
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Colleen is located in Nelson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colleen
    • Arrington
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Massies Mill
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Massies Mill is located in Nelson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Massies Mill
    • Buffalo Springs
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Buffalo Springs is located in Nelson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo Springs
    • Jonesboro
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Jonesboro is located in Nelson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jonesboro
    • Gladstone
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Bryant
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Bryant is located in Nelson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bryant
    • Tyro
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Norwood
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Norwood is located in Nelson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norwood
    • Shipman
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Shipman is located in Nelson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shipman
    • Old Myndus
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Old Myndus is located in Nelson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Myndus
    • Adial
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Adial is located in Nelson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adial
  • Rockbridge County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sardis, with the one closest to Sardis listed first.
    • Riverside
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Riverside is located in Rockbridge County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverside
    • Marlbrook
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Marlbrook is located in Rockbridge County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marlbrook
    • Buffalo Forge
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Buffalo Forge is located in Rockbridge County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo Forge
    • Glasgow
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • East Lexington
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • East Lexington is located in Rockbridge County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Lexington
    • Fairfield
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Fairfield is located in Rockbridge County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairfield
    • Fancy Hill
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Fancy Hill is located in Rockbridge County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fancy Hill
    • Greenlee
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Greenlee is located in Rockbridge County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenlee
    • Zollman ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Zollman is located in Rockbridge County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zollman
    • Davis
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Davis is located in Rockbridge County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Davis
    • Natural Bridge
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Brownsburg
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Sardis ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Sardis.

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 Sardis - one of the links might be able to help.

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Sardis covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Burford Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Henley Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Harrison Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Hicks Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Mays Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • St. Pauls Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Williams Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Christian Aid Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Amherst Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amherst Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Amherst Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the northeast of Amherst.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #49232 <2>
  • Parr Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Watts Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Faulconer Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (187 more) ...
    • Higginbotham Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Cash Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Loving Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)

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 Sardis in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Sardis.

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

  • Sandidges
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Sandidges is located in Amherst County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandidges
  • Clifford
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Clifford is located in Amherst County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clifford
  • Gidsville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Gidsville is located in Amherst County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gidsville
  • Coolwell
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Coolwell is located in Amherst County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coolwell
  • Allwood
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Allwood is located in Amherst County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allwood
  • New Glasgow
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • New Glasgow is located in Amherst County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Glasgow
  • Lowesville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Forks of Buffalo
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Forks of Buffalo is located in Amherst County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forks of Buffalo
  • Pleasant View
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Pleasant View is located in Amherst County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant View
  • Pedlar Mills
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Pedlar Mills is located in Amherst County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pedlar Mills
  • Elon
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Elon is located in Amherst County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elon
  • Willow
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Willow is located in Amherst County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Salt Creek
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Salt Creek is located in Amherst County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salt Creek
    • Tye River
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Tye River is located in Nelson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tye River
    • Abert
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Abert is located in Bedford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abert

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

Newspapers Published in Sardis ...

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 98 newspapers that have been published in the area around Sardis.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Sardis, there are papers which were published within 16 miles [25.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Sardis.

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 helpful 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 Sardis:

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 Sardis, 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Sardis) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.