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 Blue Jay (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 Blue Jay. 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.
Blue Jay is located in Raleigh 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 Raleigh County: Boone, Fayette, Kanawha, Mercer, Summers & Wyoming.
Below are the counties that are near Blue Jay. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Blue Jay:
- Raleigh County (The home county of Blue Jay)
- The following are listed by their distance from Blue Jay, with the one closest to Blue Jay listed first.
- Beaver
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Daniels
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Clifftop
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Clifftop is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clifftop
- Raleigh
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Raleigh is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raleigh
- Tilden
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Tilden is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tilden
- Beckley
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Shady Spring
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Sullivan
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Sullivan is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sullivan
- Mabscott
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Mabscott is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mabscott
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,251 people
- Sprague
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Sprague is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sprague
- MacArthur
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Pemberton
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Pemberton is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pemberton
- Boone County
- The following are listed by their distance from Blue Jay, with the one closest to Blue Jay listed first.
- Whitesville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Whitesville is located in Boone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitesville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 416 people
- Former names for Whitesville:
- Jarrods Valley
- Pritchard City
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Whitesville <1>
- Janie
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Janie is located in Boone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Janie
- Former name for Janie:
- Mordue
- Rocklick
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Rocklick is located in Boone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocklick
- Elk Run Junction
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Elk Run Junction is located in Boone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elk Run Junction
- Lindytown ‑ Historic
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Lindytown is located in Boone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lindytown
- Bald Knob
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Bald Knob is located in Boone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bald Knob
- Greenwood
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Greenwood is located in Boone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwood
- Sylvester
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Twilight
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Twilight is located in Boone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twilight
- Bandytown
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Bandytown is located in Boone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bandytown
- Barrett
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Barrett is located in Boone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barrett
- Fayette County
- The following are listed by their distance from Blue Jay, with the one closest to Blue Jay listed first.
- Prince
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Quinnimont
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Quinnimont is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quinnimont
- Kilsyth
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Kilsyth is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kilsyth
- Mount Hope
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- McKendree
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- McKendree is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McKendree
- White Oak Junction
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- White Oak Junction is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Oak Junction
- Harvey
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Harvey is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harvey
- Redstar
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Redstar is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redstar
- Sewell Knob ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Sewell Knob is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sewell Knob
- Sewell Knob has also been known as:
- Swell Knob
- Alaska ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Alaska is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alaska
- Pax
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Pax is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pax
- Population from the 2020 Census: 150 people
- Newlyn ‑ Historic
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Newlyn is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newlyn
- Greenbrier County
- The following are listed by their distance from Blue Jay, with the one closest to Blue Jay listed first.
- Vale
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Vale is located in Greenbrier County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vale
- Rainelle
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Alderson
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- McRoss
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- McRoss is located in Greenbrier County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McRoss
- Charmco
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Hines
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Hines is located in Greenbrier County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hines
- Crawley
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Rupert
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Orient Hill
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Orient Hill is located in Greenbrier County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orient Hill
- Kanawha County
- The following are listed by their distance from Blue Jay, with the one closest to Blue Jay listed first.
- Carbon
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Carbon is located in Kanawha County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carbon
- Acme
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Acme is located in Kanawha County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acme
- Eskdale
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Eskdale is located in Kanawha County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eskdale
- Logan County
- Rich Creek
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- 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 Blue Jay, with the one closest to Blue Jay listed first.
- Keystone
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Kyle
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Kyle is located in McDowell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kyle
- Northfork
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Elkhorn
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Elkhorn is located in McDowell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkhorn
- Kimball
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Big Four
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Big Four is located in McDowell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Four
- Mercer County
- The following are listed by their distance from Blue Jay, with the one closest to Blue Jay listed first.
- Athens
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Lashmeet
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Lashmeet is located in Mercer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lashmeet
- Matoaka
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Matoaka is located in Mercer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Matoaka
- Population from the 2020 Census: 193 people
- Weyanoke
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Weyanoke is located in Mercer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weyanoke
- Oak Grove
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Oak Grove is located in Mercer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
- Princeton
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Elgood
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Elgood is located in Mercer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elgood
- Johnston Town
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Johnston Town is located in Mercer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnston Town
- Coaldale
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Coaldale is located in Mercer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coaldale
- Montcalm
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Montcalm is located in Mercer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montcalm
- El Centro ‑ Historic
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- El Centro is located in Mercer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for El Centro
- Flipping
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Flipping is located in Mercer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flipping
- Monroe County
- The following are listed by their distance from Blue Jay, with the one closest to Blue Jay listed first.
- Creamery
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Creamery is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Creamery
- Wayside
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Wayside is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wayside
- Ballard
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Ballard is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ballard
- Wolfcreek
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Wolfcreek is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolfcreek
- Peterstown
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Assurance
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Assurance is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Assurance
- Wikel
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Wikel is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wikel
- Summers County
- The following are listed by their distance from Blue Jay, with the one closest to Blue Jay listed first.
- Jumping Branch
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Jumping Branch is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jumping Branch
- Nimitz
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Nimitz is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nimitz
- Brooklin
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Brooklin is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brooklin
- New Richmond ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- New Richmond is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Richmond
- Sandstone
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Hinton
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Bellepoint
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Bellepoint is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellepoint
- Packs Ferry
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Packs Ferry is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Packs Ferry
- True
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- True is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for True
- Pipestem
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Buck
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Buck is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buck
- Hilldale
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Hilldale is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilldale
- Wyoming County
- The following are listed by their distance from Blue Jay, with the one closest to Blue Jay listed first.
- Mullens
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Bud
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Bud is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bud
- Keyrock
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Keyrock is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keyrock
- Kopperston
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Kopperston is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kopperston
- Rock View
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Rock View is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock View
- Pineville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Turkey
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Turkey is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turkey
- Mullensville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Mullensville is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mullensville
- Oceana
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Wyoming
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Wyoming is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyoming
- Woosley
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Woosley is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woosley
- Fanny
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Fanny is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fanny
- Giles County (VA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Blue Jay, with the one closest to Blue Jay listed first.
- Glen Lyn
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Glen Lyn is located in Giles County (VA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Lyn
- Population from the 2020 Census: 97 people
- Lurich
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Lurich is located in Giles County (VA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lurich
- Rich Creek
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Blue Jay, see our County-by-County Page for Blue Jay.
Cemeteries Near Blue Jay ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Blue Jay.
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 Blue Jay - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Blue Jay covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Blue Jay, with the one closest to Blue Jay listed first.
- Hall Family Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hall Family Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Hall Family Cemetery is located less than 2 miles<2> to the north of Shady Spring.
- Greenwood Memorial Park
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Wright Hunter Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Russ Lilly Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Wildwood Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- St. Sebastians Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Pemberton Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Crook Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Williams Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Teel Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- W.T. Warden Family Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for W.T. Warden Family Cemetery
- The W.T. Warden Family Cemetery has also been known as:
- Warden Family Cemetery
- Plumley Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Continue List (391 more) ...
- Sunset Memorial Park
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- William Kidwell Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for William Kidwell Cemetery
- The William Kidwell Cemetery has also been known as:
- Kidwell Cemetery
- Calfee Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] 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.<4>
While we didn't find Blue Jay in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Blue Jay.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Blue Jay, with the one closest to Blue Jay listed first.
- Daniels
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Shady Spring
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Crow
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Crow is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crow
- Pemberton
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Pemberton is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pemberton
- Prosperity
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Prosperity is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prosperity
- Grandview
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Grandview is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grandview
- Lester
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Lester is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lester
- Population from the 2020 Census: 312 people
- Glade
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Glade is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glade
- Quinnimont
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Quinnimont is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quinnimont
- Prince
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Odd
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Odd is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Odd
- Flat Top
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Continue List (16 more) ...
- Jumping Branch
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Jumping Branch is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jumping Branch
- Mount Hope
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- McKendree
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- McKendree is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McKendree
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Blue Jay. See our List of 1890's Communities around Blue Jay.
Newspapers Published in Blue Jay ...
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 13 newspapers that have been published in the area around Blue Jay.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Blue Jay, there are papers which were published within 6 miles [9.7 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Blue Jay.
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 Blue Jay:
- Websites specific to West Virginia
- Pages specific to Raleigh County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Boone County
- Fayette County
- Greenbrier County
- Kanawha County
- Logan County
- McDowell County
- Mercer County
- Monroe County
- Summers County
- Wyoming County
- Giles County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for West Virginia
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> | 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- Blue Jay) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | 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 Blue Jay, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |