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The Commemorative Quarter for Virginia





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 West Augusta (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 West Augusta. 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 West Augusta ...

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.

For example, a typical abbreviation for West Augusta: W. Augusta

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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

West Augusta is located in Augusta 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 West Augusta. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to West Augusta:

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

Cemeteries Near West Augusta ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of West Augusta.

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

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

  • West Augusta Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Crosby Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Crosby Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Crosby Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Green Hill Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Green Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Green Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Allen Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Allen Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Allen Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Elk Run Church of the Brethren Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Mt. Mary Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Mary Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Mary Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mt. Chapel Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Chapel Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Chapel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hunters Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hunters Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hunters Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Schutterie Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Glebe Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Glebe Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Glebe Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Craigsville Memorial Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Craigsville Memorial Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Craigsville Memorial Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Oak Lawn Memory Gardens
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oak Lawn Memory Gardens
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oak Lawn Memory Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (182 more) ...
    • Thornrose Cemetery
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Fairview Cemetery
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fairview Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fairview Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Hospital Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hospital Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hospital Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that West Augusta had a population of 28 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Buffalo Gap
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Buffalo Gap have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo Gap
    • Buffalo Gap is located in Augusta County
  • Lone Fountain
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lone Fountain have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Fountain
    • Lone Fountain is located in Augusta County
  • Deerfield
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • North Mountain
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Mountain have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Mountain
    • North Mountain is located in Augusta County
  • Stribling Springs
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stribling Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stribling Springs
    • Stribling Springs is located in Augusta County
  • Chapin
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chapin have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chapin
    • Chapin is located in Augusta County
  • Churchville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Swoope
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Swoope have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swoope
    • Swoope is located in Augusta County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Swoope <1>
  • Parnassus
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • McDowell
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Marble Valley
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Augusta Springs
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Augusta Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Augusta Springs
    • Augusta Springs is located in Augusta County
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Pond Gap ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Pond Gap. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pond Gap
      • Pond Gap is located in Augusta County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Pond Gap
      • From West Augusta to Pond Gap
    • Palo Alto
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Palo Alto. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palo Alto
      • Palo Alto is located in Highland County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Palo Alto
      • From West Augusta to Palo Alto
    • Ferrol
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ferrol have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ferrol
      • Ferrol is located in Augusta County

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

Newspapers Published in West Augusta ...

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 88 newspapers that have been published in the area around West Augusta.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of West Augusta, there are papers which were published within 23 miles [37 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for West Augusta.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we 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 West Augusta:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for West Augusta. 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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>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.
<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 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- West Augusta) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in West Augusta. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.2705, Longitude: -79.3077    
<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 West Augusta, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 31 Mar 2025