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 Ada (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 Ada. 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.
Ada is located in Mercer County .
To see how the shape of West 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 Mercer County : Bland (VA) , Giles (VA) , Tazewell (VA) , McDowell , Raleigh , Summers & Wyoming .
Below are the counties that are near Ada. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Ada:
Mercer County (The home county of Ada)
The following are listed by their distance from Ada, with the one closest to Ada listed first.
Edison (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
Edison is located in Mercer County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edison El Centro ‑ Historic(Less than 2 miles to the north)
El Centro is located in Mercer County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for El Centro Bethel ‑ Historic(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
Bethel is located in Mercer County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bethel Blake ‑ Historic(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
Blake is located in Mercer County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blake Johnston Town (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
Johnston Town is located in Mercer County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnston Town Littlesburg (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
Littlesburg is located in Mercer County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Littlesburg Bluefield (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
Princeton (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
East River ‑ Historic(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
East River is located in Mercer County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East River Oak Grove (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
Oak Grove is located in Mercer County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove Flipping (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
Flipping is located in Mercer County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flipping Montcalm (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
Montcalm is located in Mercer County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montcalm Logan County
Rich Creek (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
Rich Creek is located in Logan County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rich Creek McDowell County
The following are listed by their distance from Ada, with the one closest to Ada listed first.
Elkhorn (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
Elkhorn is located in McDowell County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkhorn Anawalt (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
Anawalt is located in McDowell County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anawalt Population from the 2020 Census: 172 people
Kyle (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
Kyle is located in McDowell County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kyle Northfork (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
Keystone (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
Thorpe (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
Thorpe is located in McDowell County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thorpe Kimball (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
Big Four (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
Big Four is located in McDowell County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Four Gary (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
Gary is located in McDowell County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gary Population from the 2020 Census: 759 people
Bishop (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
Bishop is located in McDowell County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bishop Welch (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
Newhall (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
Newhall is located in McDowell County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newhall Monroe County
The following are listed by their distance from Ada, with the one closest to Ada listed first.
Peterstown (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
Ballard (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
Ballard is located in Monroe County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ballard Assurance (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
Assurance is located in Monroe County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Assurance Raleigh County
The following are listed by their distance from Ada, with the one closest to Ada listed first.
Rhodell (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
Rhodell is located in Raleigh County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rhodell Population from the 2020 Census: 159 people
Eastgulf (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
Eastgulf is located in Raleigh County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastgulf Helen (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
Helen is located in Raleigh County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helen Princewick (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
Princewick is located in Raleigh County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Princewick Coal City (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
Coal City is located in Raleigh County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coal City Ury (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
Ury is located in Raleigh County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ury Stotesbury (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
Stotesbury is located in Raleigh County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stotesbury Shady Spring (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
Slab Fork (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
Slab Fork is located in Raleigh County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slab Fork Sophia (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
Sullivan (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
Sullivan is located in Raleigh County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sullivan Pemberton (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
Pemberton is located in Raleigh County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pemberton Summers County
The following are listed by their distance from Ada, with the one closest to Ada listed first.
Mercers Saltworks ‑ Historic(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
Mercers Saltworks is located in Summers County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mercers Saltworks Pipestem (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
True (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
True is located in Summers County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for True Jumping Branch (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
Jumping Branch is located in Summers County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jumping Branch Nimitz (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
Nimitz is located in Summers County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nimitz Packs Ferry (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
Packs Ferry is located in Summers County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Packs Ferry Buck (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
Buck is located in Summers County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buck Forest Hill (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
Bellepoint (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
Bellepoint is located in Summers County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellepoint Brooklin (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
Brooklin is located in Summers County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brooklin Hinton (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
Bargers Springs (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
Bargers Springs is located in Summers County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bargers Springs Wyoming County
The following are listed by their distance from Ada, with the one closest to Ada listed first.
Bud (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
Bud is located in Wyoming County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bud Mullens (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
Woosley (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
Woosley is located in Wyoming County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woosley Mullensville (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
Mullensville is located in Wyoming County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mullensville Pineville (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
Keyrock (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
Keyrock is located in Wyoming County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keyrock Rock View (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
Rock View is located in Wyoming County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock View Bland County (VA)
The following are listed by their distance from Ada, with the one closest to Ada listed first.
Rocky Gap (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
Rocky Gap is located in Bland County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Gap Round Bottom (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
Round Bottom is located in Bland County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Round Bottom Hicksville (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
Hicksville is located in Bland County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hicksville Bastian (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
Bland (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
Mechanicsburg (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
Mechanicsburg is located in Bland County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mechanicsburg Giles County (VA)
The following are listed by their distance from Ada, with the one closest to Ada listed first.
Glen Lyn (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
Glen Lyn is located in Giles County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Lyn Population from the 2020 Census: 97 people
Shumate (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
Shumate is located in Giles County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shumate Lurich (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
Lurich is located in Giles County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lurich Narrows (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
Rich Creek (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
Thessalia (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
Thessalia is located in Giles County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thessalia Bluff City (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
Bluff City is located in Giles County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluff City Pearisburg (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
Poplar Hill (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
Poplar Hill is located in Giles County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poplar Hill Pembroke (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
Eggleston (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
Goodwins Ferry (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
Goodwins Ferry is located in Giles County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodwins Ferry Pulaski County (VA)
The following are listed by their distance from Ada, with the one closest to Ada listed first.
Sassin ‑ Historic(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
Sassin is located in Pulaski County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sassin Hilton Village (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
Hilton Village is located in Pulaski County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilton Village Pulaski (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
Dublin (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
Wurno (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
Wurno is located in Pulaski County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wurno Parrott (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
Parrott is located in Pulaski County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parrott Draper (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
Newbern (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
Tazewell County (VA)
The following are listed by their distance from Ada, with the one closest to Ada listed first.
Bluefield (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
Falls Mills (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
Falls Mills is located in Tazewell County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falls Mills Yards (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
Yards is located in Tazewell County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yards Saint Clair (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
Saint Clair is located in Tazewell County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Clair Pocahontas (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
Pocahontas is located in Tazewell County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pocahontas Population from the 2020 Census: 348 people
Boissevain (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
Boissevain is located in Tazewell County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boissevain Shawver Mill (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
Shawver Mill is located in Tazewell County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shawver Mill Springville (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
Springville is located in Tazewell County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springville Little Town (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
Little Town is located in Tazewell County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Town Abbs Valley (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
Abbs Valley is located in Tazewell County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abbs Valley Wittens Mills (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
Wittens Mills is located in Tazewell County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wittens Mills Five Oaks (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
Five Oaks is located in Tazewell County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Oaks Wythe County (VA)
The following are listed by their distance from Ada, with the one closest to Ada listed first.
Kent (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
Kent is located in Wythe County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kent Wytheville (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
Max Meadows (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
Fort Chiswell (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
Fort Chiswell is located in Wythe County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Chiswell Locust Hill (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
Locust Hill is located in Wythe County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locust Hill Crockett (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
Rural Retreat (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
Siloam (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
Siloam is located in Wythe County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Siloam Rowe Crossroads (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
Rowe Crossroads is located in Wythe County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rowe Crossroads
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Ada, see our County-by-County Page for Ada .
Cemeteries Near Ada ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Ada.
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 Ada - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Ada covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Ada, with the one closest to Ada listed first.
Stowers Cemetery (Less than 2 miles to the west)
Stowers Cemetery (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
Atkins Cemetery (Less than 2 miles to the east)
Calfee Cemetery (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
Bailey Cemetery (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
Hartwell Cemetery (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
Wilson Cemetery (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
Wimmer Cemetery (Less than 2 miles to the east)
Harry Cemetery (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
Neal Cemetery (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
Belcher Cemetery (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
Neal Cemetery (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
Continue List (370 more) ...
Lincoln Park Cemetery (Less than 2 miles to the north)
Monte Vista Park (Less than 2 miles to the north)
Bailey Cemetery (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
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.<2>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Ada had a population of 32 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Ada, with the one closest to Ada listed first.
Bethel ‑ Historic(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
Bethel is located in Mercer County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bethel New Hope (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
New Hope is located in Mercer County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Hope Bluefield (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
Byron (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
Byron is located in Bland County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Byron Rocky Gap (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
Rocky Gap is located in Bland County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Gap Ingleside (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
Ingleside is located in Mercer County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ingleside Princeton (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
Clear Fork (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
Clear Fork is located in Bland County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clear Fork Hicksville (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
Hicksville is located in Bland County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hicksville East River ‑ Historic(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
East River is located in Mercer County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East River Duhring (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
Duhring is located in Mercer County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duhring Flipping (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
Flipping is located in Mercer County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flipping Continue List (17 more) ...
Stowersville (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
Stowersville is located in Bland County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stowersville Freeman (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
Freeman is located in Mercer County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeman Abbs Valley ‑ Historic(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
Abbs Valley is located in Mercer County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abbs Valley
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Ada. See our List of 1890's Communities around Ada .
Newspapers Published in Ada ...
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 25 newspapers that have been published in the area around Ada.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Ada, there are papers which were published within 15 miles [24.1 km]<3> Extended Newspaper List for Ada.
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 Ada:
Websites specific to West Virginia Pages specific to Mercer County Genealogy information for nearby counties
Logan County McDowell County Monroe County Raleigh County Summers County Wyoming County Bland County Giles County Pulaski County Tazewell County Wythe County Cemetery Information and Directories for West Virginia Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Ada. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page .
The official website for State of West Virginia: https://www.wv.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. 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 Ada, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Ada) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.