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 Brownsville (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 Brownsville. 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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and 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.
Brownsville is located in Fayette 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 Fayette County: Greenbrier, Kanawha, Nicholas, Raleigh & Summers.
Below are the counties that are near Brownsville. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Brownsville:
- Fayette County (The home county of Brownsville)
- The following are listed by their distance from Brownsville, with the one closest to Brownsville listed first.
- Gauley Bridge
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Romont
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Romont is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Romont
- Cotton Hill
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Cotton Hill is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cotton Hill
- Falls View
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Falls View is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falls View
- Cannelton
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Cannelton is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cannelton
- Beckwith
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Ansted
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Hawks Nest
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Hawks Nest is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hawks Nest
- Kimberly
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Kimberly is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kimberly
- Mount Carbon
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Mount Carbon is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Carbon
- Crescent
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Crescent is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crescent
- Smithers
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Boone County
- The following are listed by their distance from Brownsville, with the one closest to Brownsville listed first.
- Joes Creek
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Joes Creek is located in Boone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joes Creek
- Keith
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Keith is located in Boone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keith
- Orgas
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Orgas is located in Boone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orgas
- Coopertown
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Coopertown is located in Boone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coopertown
- Elk Run Junction
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Elk Run Junction is located in Boone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elk Run Junction
- Janie
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Janie is located in Boone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Janie
- Former name for Janie:
- Mordue
- Sylvester
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Whitesville
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- 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>
- Comfort
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Fosterville
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Fosterville is located in Boone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fosterville
- Kirbyton
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Kirbyton is located in Boone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kirbyton
- Seth
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Braxton County
- Strange Creek
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Strange Creek is located in Braxton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Strange Creek
- Clay County
- The following are listed by their distance from Brownsville, with the one closest to Brownsville listed first.
- Hartland
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Hartland is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartland
- Bomont
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Bomont is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bomont
- Elkhurst
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Elkhurst is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkhurst
- Clay
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Porter
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Porter is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Porter
- Procious
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Procious is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Procious
- Spread
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Spread is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spread
- Valley Fork
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Valley Fork is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Fork
- Gould
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Gould is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gould
- Harrison
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Harrison is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrison
- Widen
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Widen is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Widen
- Dink
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Dink is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dink
- Greenbrier County
- The following are listed by their distance from Brownsville, with the one closest to Brownsville listed first.
- Crichton
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Crichton is located in Greenbrier County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crichton
- Charmco
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Hines
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Hines is located in Greenbrier County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hines
- McRoss
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- McRoss is located in Greenbrier County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McRoss
- Orient Hill
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Orient Hill is located in Greenbrier County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orient Hill
- Rainelle
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Quinwood
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Quinwood is located in Greenbrier County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quinwood
- Population from the 2020 Census: 260 people
- Brushy Junction ‑ Historic
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Brushy Junction is located in Greenbrier County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brushy Junction
- Kanawha County
- The following are listed by their distance from Brownsville, with the one closest to Brownsville listed first.
- Handley
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Handley is located in Kanawha County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Handley
- Population from the 2020 Census: 309 people
- Hugheston
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Hugheston is located in Kanawha County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hugheston
- Hollygrove
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Hollygrove is located in Kanawha County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollygrove
- Hollygrove has also been known as:
- Hollygrove Station
- Hudnall
- Pratt
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Pratt is located in Kanawha County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pratt
- Population from the 2020 Census: 552 people
- Glasgow
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Cedar Grove
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Cedar Grove is located in Kanawha County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Grove
- Population from the 2020 Census: 897 people
- East Bank
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- East Bank is located in Kanawha County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Bank
- Population from the 2020 Census: 857 people
- Ronda
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Ronda is located in Kanawha County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ronda
- Dry Branch
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Dry Branch is located in Kanawha County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dry Branch
- Eskdale
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Eskdale is located in Kanawha County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eskdale
- Cabin Creek
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Cabin Creek is located in Kanawha County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cabin Creek
- Carbon
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Carbon is located in Kanawha County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carbon
- Nicholas County
- The following are listed by their distance from Brownsville, with the one closest to Brownsville listed first.
- Beech Glen
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Beech Glen is located in Nicholas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beech Glen
- Dixie
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Dixie is located in Nicholas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dixie
- Albion ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Albion is located in Nicholas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albion
- Tipton
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Tipton is located in Nicholas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tipton
- Keslers Cross Lanes
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Keslers Cross Lanes is located in Nicholas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keslers Cross Lanes
- Zela
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Zela is located in Nicholas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zela
- Morrison ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Morrison is located in Nicholas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morrison
- Runa
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Runa is located in Nicholas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Runa
- Summersville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Snow Hill
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Snow Hill is located in Nicholas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Snow Hill
- Muddlety
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Muddlety is located in Nicholas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Muddlety
- Donald
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Donald is located in Nicholas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Donald
- Raleigh County
- The following are listed by their distance from Brownsville, with the one closest to Brownsville listed first.
- Dorothy
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Dorothy is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dorothy
- Bradley
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Bradley is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bradley
- Terry
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Terry is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Terry
- Piney View
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Piney View is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Piney View
- Prosperity
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Prosperity is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prosperity
- Royal ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Royal is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Royal
- Sweeneyburg
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Sweeneyburg is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sweeneyburg
- Packsville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Packsville is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Packsville
- Stanaford
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Stanaford is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stanaford
- Grandview
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Grandview is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grandview
- Skelton
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Skelton is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skelton
- Montcoal
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Montcoal is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montcoal
- Roane County
- The following are listed by their distance from Brownsville, with the one closest to Brownsville listed first.
- Pigeon
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Pigeon is located in Roane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pigeon
- Kester ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Kester is located in Roane County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kester
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Brownsville, see our County-by-County Page for Brownsville.
Cemeteries Near Brownsville ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Brownsville.
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 Brownsville - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Brownsville covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Brownsville, with the one closest to Brownsville listed first.
- Rich Creek Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Hill Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Abbott - Huddleston Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Simms Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Blake Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Ramsey Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ramsey Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Ramsey Cemetery is located 2 miles [3.2 km]<2> to the northwest of Dixie.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2221301 <3>
- Mt. Chapel Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Guthrie Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Robson Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Westlake Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Sugar Creek Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Ida Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Continue List (483 more) ...
- Abbot Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- John Nugen Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Restlawn Memory Gardens
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
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 Brownsville in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Brownsville.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Brownsville, with the one closest to Brownsville listed first.
- Gauley Bridge
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Gauley
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Gauley is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gauley
- Belva
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Belva is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belva
- Kanawha Falls
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Kanawha Falls is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kanawha Falls
- Dixie
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Dixie is located in Nicholas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dixie
- Deep Water
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Deep Water is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deep Water
- Cotton Hill
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Cotton Hill is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cotton Hill
- Eagle
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Eagle is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle
- Mount Carbon
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Mount Carbon is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Carbon
- Beckwith
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Hawks Nest
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Hawks Nest is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hawks Nest
- Ansted
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Crescent
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Crescent is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crescent
- Gaymont
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Gaymont is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gaymont
- Pond Gap
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Pond Gap is located in Kanawha County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pond Gap
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Brownsville. See our List of 1890's Communities around Brownsville.
Newspapers Published in Brownsville ...
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 15 newspapers that have been published in the area around Brownsville.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Brownsville, there are papers which were published within 10 miles [16.1 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Brownsville.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to 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 Brownsville:
- Websites specific to West Virginia
- Pages specific to Fayette County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Boone County
- Braxton County
- Clay County
- Greenbrier County
- Kanawha County
- Nicholas County
- Raleigh County
- Roane 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Brownsville) 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 Brownsville, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |