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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 Steeles Tavern (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 Steeles Tavern. 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.

Name Variations for Steeles Tavern ...

When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might have occurred.

While the name of this community is Steeles Tavern, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Steeles Tavern may originally have been Steele's Tavern.

Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Steeles Tavern might be written as Steele Tavern.

If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.

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 doctors and 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.

Steeles Tavern is primarily located in Augusta County. A portion of Steeles Tavern extends into Rockbridge 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 Augusta County: Albemarle, Bath, Highland, Nelson, Rockbridge, Rockingham & Pendleton (WV).

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

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

Cemeteries Near Steeles Tavern ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Steeles Tavern.

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

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

  • Mt. Carmel Presbyterian Church Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Stony Hill Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Stony Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Stony Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Haines Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Haines Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Haines Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Fairfield Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fairfield Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fairfield Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Grant Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Grant Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Grant Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Greenville Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Greenville Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Greenville Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • New Providence Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the New Providence Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the New Providence Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Irish Creek Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Irish Creek Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Irish Creek Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Sandy Ridge Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sandy Ridge Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sandy Ridge Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • McDowell Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the McDowell Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the McDowell Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Oak Hill Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oak Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oak Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mt. Herman Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Herman Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Herman Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (159 more) ...

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.<7>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Steeles Tavern had a population of 184 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Vesuvius
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vesuvius have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vesuvius
    • Vesuvius is located in Rockbridge County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Vesuvius <2>
  • Raphine
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Raphine have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raphine
    • Raphine is located in Rockbridge County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Raphine <2>
  • Spottswood
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Lofton
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lofton have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lofton
    • Lofton is located in Augusta County
  • Davis
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Davis. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Davis
    • Davis is located in Rockbridge County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Davis
    • From Steeles Tavern to Davis
  • Fairfield
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Marlbrook
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Irish Creek
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Irish Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irish Creek
    • Irish Creek is located in Rockbridge County
  • Montebello
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Montebello have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montebello
    • Montebello is located in Nelson County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Montebello <2>
  • Greenville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Brownsburg
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Decatur
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Decatur have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Decatur
    • Decatur is located in Rockbridge County
  • Continue List   (19 more) ...
    • Midvale
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Midvale have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midvale
      • Midvale is located in Rockbridge County
    • Middlebrook
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Zack
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Zack have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zack
      • Zack is located in Rockbridge County

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

Newspapers Published in Steeles Tavern ...

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 84 newspapers that have been published in the area around Steeles Tavern.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Steeles Tavern, there are papers which were published within 19 miles [30.6 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Steeles Tavern.

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 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 Steeles Tavern:

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

The official website for Augusta County: www.co.augusta.va.us/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties).
<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>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.
<5>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.
<6>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- Steeles Tavern) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Steeles Tavern. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.9255, Longitude: -79.2026    
<7>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 Steeles Tavern, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 31 Mar 2025