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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 Williamsburg (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 Williamsburg. 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.

Cemeteries Near Williamsburg ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Williamsburg.

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

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

  • Cedar Grove Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Galt Family Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Galt Family Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Galt Family Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jones Family Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Jones Family Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Jones Family Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bruton Parish Churchyard Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bruton Parish Churchyard Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bruton Parish Churchyard Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hospital Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • 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.
  • Mt. Pleasant Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Pleasant Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Pleasant Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Williamsburg Memorial Park
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Williamsburg Memorial Park
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Williamsburg Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Cheesecake Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Travis Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Travis Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Travis Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mt. Gilead Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Gilead Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Gilead Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Curtis Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Curtis Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Curtis Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Swanns Point Plantation Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Swanns Point Plantation Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Swanns Point Plantation Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (186 more) ...
    • Jackson Post Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Jackson Post Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Jackson Post Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • James City Chapel Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the James City Chapel Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the James City Chapel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Riverview Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 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 Williamsburg in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Williamsburg.

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

  • Ewell
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ewell have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ewell
    • Ewell is located in James City County
  • Oaktree
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Oaktree. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oaktree
    • Oaktree is located in York County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Oaktree
    • From Williamsburg to Oaktree
  • Jamestown
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Homewood
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Homewood. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homewood
    • Homewood is located in Surry County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Homewood
    • From Williamsburg to Homewood
  • Grove
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grove
    • Grove is located in James City County
  • Lightfoot
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lightfoot have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lightfoot
    • Lightfoot is located in James City County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lightfoot <5>
  • Scotland
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Scotland. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scotland
    • Scotland is located in Surry County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Scotland
    • From Williamsburg to Scotland
  • Clay Bank
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Clay Bank. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clay Bank
    • Clay Bank is located in Gloucester County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Clay Bank
    • From Williamsburg to Clay Bank
  • Allmondsville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Allmondsville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allmondsville
    • Allmondsville is located in Gloucester County
  • Lee Hall
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Toano
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Toano have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toano
    • Toano is located in James City County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Toano <5>
  • Alliance
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alliance have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alliance
    • Alliance is located in Surry County
  • Continue List   (18 more) ...
    • Highgate
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Highgate have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highgate
      • Highgate is located in Surry County
    • Sassafras
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sassafras have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sassafras
      • Sassafras is located in Gloucester County
    • Yorktown
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Williamsburg ...

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 60 newspapers that have been published in the area around Williamsburg.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Williamsburg. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Williamsburg and those printed in the larger area surrounding Williamsburg.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 9 miles [14.5 km]<6> of Williamsburg.

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 Williamsburg:

The official website for Williamsburg: www.ci.williamsburg.va.us/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<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>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 Williamsburg, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>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.
<5>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 drawn from Point A (ie- Williamsburg) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Williamsburg. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.2710, Longitude: -76.7058    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 31 Mar 2025