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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 Shelfar (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 Shelfar. 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 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.

Shelfar is located in Louisa 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 Louisa County: Fluvanna, Goochland, Hanover, Orange & Spotsylvania.

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

  • Louisa County     (The home county of Shelfar)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shelfar, with the one closest to Shelfar listed first.
    • Gays ‑ Historic
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gays have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gays
      • Gays is located in Louisa County
    • Willowbrook
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jackson
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Jackson. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jackson
      • Jackson is located in Louisa County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Jackson
      • From Shelfar to Jackson
    • Cuckoo
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Vigor
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vigor have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vigor
      • Vigor is located in Louisa County
    • Pendleton
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Pendleton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pendleton
      • Pendleton is located in Louisa County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Pendleton
      • From Shelfar to Pendleton
    • Bumpass
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Mineral
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mineral have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mineral
      • Mineral is located in Louisa County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 529 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mineral <3>
    • Harris ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Harris have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harris
      • Harris is located in Louisa County
    • Bells Crossroads
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Louisa
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Louisa have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Louisa
      • Louisa is located in Louisa County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,764 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Louisa <3>
    • Trevilians
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Albemarle County
  • Amelia County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shelfar, with the one closest to Shelfar listed first.
    • Lodore
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Lodore. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lodore
      • Lodore is located in Amelia County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Lodore
      • From Shelfar to Lodore
    • Masons Corner
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
  • Buckingham County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shelfar, with the one closest to Shelfar listed first.
    • New Canton
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Bridgeport
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bridgeport. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bridgeport
      • Bridgeport is located in Buckingham County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Bridgeport
      • From Shelfar to Bridgeport
    • Arvonia
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Gold Hill
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Caroline County
  • Chesterfield County
  • Cumberland County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shelfar, with the one closest to Shelfar listed first.
    • Lakeside Village
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lakeside Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeside Village
      • Lakeside Village is located in Cumberland County
    • Clinton
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Trenton Mills
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Cumberland
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Trents Mill
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Fluvanna County
  • Goochland County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shelfar, with the one closest to Shelfar listed first.
    • Sandy Hook
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Hadensville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Goochland
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Enon
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Enon. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Enon
      • Enon is located in Goochland County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Enon
      • From Shelfar to Enon
    • Maidens
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Thorncliff
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Thorncliff. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thorncliff
      • Thorncliff is located in Goochland County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Thorncliff
      • From Shelfar to Thorncliff
    • Fife
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Tabscott
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tabscott have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tabscott
      • Tabscott is located in Goochland County
    • Caledonia
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Caledonia. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caledonia
      • Caledonia is located in Goochland County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Caledonia
      • From Shelfar to Caledonia
  • Hanover County
  • Henrico County
  • Orange County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shelfar, with the one closest to Shelfar listed first.
    • Danton
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Danton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Danton
      • Danton is located in Orange County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Danton
      • From Shelfar to Danton
    • Vulcan
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Vulcan. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vulcan
      • Vulcan is located in Orange County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Vulcan
      • From Shelfar to Vulcan
    • Gordonsville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Madison Run
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Powhatan County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shelfar, with the one closest to Shelfar listed first.
    • Beaumont
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Michaux
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Michaux. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Michaux
      • Michaux is located in Powhatan County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Michaux
      • From Shelfar to Michaux
    • Huguenot
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Huguenot. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huguenot
      • Huguenot is located in Powhatan County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Huguenot
      • From Shelfar to Huguenot
    • Belona
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Belona. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belona
      • Belona is located in Powhatan County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Belona
      • From Shelfar to Belona
    • Dorset
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Dorset. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dorset
      • Dorset is located in Powhatan County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Dorset
      • From Shelfar to Dorset
    • Pilkinton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Pilkinton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pilkinton
      • Pilkinton is located in Powhatan County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Pilkinton
      • From Shelfar to Pilkinton
  • Richmond City
  • Richmond County
    • Chippenham Village
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chippenham Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chippenham Village
      • Chippenham Village is located in Richmond County
  • Spotsylvania County

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

Cemeteries Near Shelfar ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Shelfar.

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

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

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.<6>

While we didn't find Shelfar in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Shelfar.

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

  • Orchid
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Orchid have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orchid
    • Orchid is located in Louisa County
  • Gum Spring
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gum Spring have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gum Spring
    • Gum Spring is located in Louisa County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gum Spring <3>
  • Sandy Hook
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Dabneys
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dabneys have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dabneys
    • Dabneys is located in Louisa County
  • Apple Grove
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Apple Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Apple Grove
    • Apple Grove is located in Louisa County
  • Perkinsville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Perkinsville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perkinsville
    • Perkinsville is located in Goochland County
  • Locust Creek
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Locust Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locust Creek
    • Locust Creek is located in Louisa County
  • Jackson
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Jackson. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jackson
    • Jackson is located in Louisa County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Jackson
    • From Shelfar to Jackson
  • Mabelton
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mabelton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mabelton
    • Mabelton is located in Hanover County
  • Hadensville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Enon
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Enon. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Enon
    • Enon is located in Goochland County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Enon
    • From Shelfar to Enon
  • Irwin
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Irwin have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irwin
    • Irwin is located in Goochland County
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...
    • Cedar Point
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cedar Point have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Point
      • Cedar Point is located in Goochland County
    • Oilville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oilville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oilville
      • Oilville is located in Goochland County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oilville <3>
    • Longcreek ‑ Historic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Longcreek have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longcreek
      • Longcreek is located in Louisa County

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

Newspapers Published in Shelfar ...

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 7 newspapers that have been published in the area around Shelfar.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Shelfar, there are papers which were published within 13 miles [20.9 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Shelfar.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 Shelfar:

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

The official website for Louisa County: www.louisacounty.com/

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>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.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>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.
<5>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Shelfar) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Shelfar. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.8108, Longitude: -77.8674       In this case, the coordinates for Shelfar have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>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 Shelfar, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 31 Mar 2025