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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 Coaldale (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 Coaldale. 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 doctors and 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.

Coaldale is located in Mercer County.

To see how the shape of West Virginia's counties 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 Coaldale. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Coaldale:

  • Mercer County     (The home county of Coaldale)
  • Logan County
  • McDowell County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Coaldale, with the one closest to Coaldale listed first.
    • Elkhorn
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Kyle
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Kyle. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kyle
      • Kyle is located in McDowell County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Kyle
      • From Coaldale to Kyle
    • Northfork
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Northfork have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Northfork
      • Northfork is located in McDowell County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 322 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Northfork <1>
    • Anawalt
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Anawalt have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anawalt
      • Anawalt is located in McDowell County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 172 people
    • Keystone
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Keystone have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keystone
      • Keystone is located in McDowell County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 213 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Keystone <1>
    • Thorpe
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Kimball
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Big Four
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Gary
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gary have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gary
      • Gary is located in McDowell County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 759 people
    • Welch
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Bishop
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bishop. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bishop
      • Bishop is located in McDowell County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Bishop
      • From Coaldale to Bishop
    • Newhall
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Monroe County
  • Raleigh County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Coaldale, with the one closest to Coaldale listed first.
    • Rhodell
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rhodell have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rhodell
      • Rhodell is located in Raleigh County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 159 people
    • Eastgulf
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Helen
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Princewick
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Coal City
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Coal City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coal City
      • Coal City is located in Raleigh County
    • Slab Fork
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Stotesbury
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Stotesbury. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stotesbury
      • Stotesbury is located in Raleigh County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Stotesbury
      • From Coaldale to Stotesbury
    • Sophia
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sophia have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sophia
      • Sophia is located in Raleigh County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,219 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sophia <1>
    • Sullivan
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Sullivan. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sullivan
      • Sullivan is located in Raleigh County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Sullivan
      • From Coaldale to Sullivan
    • Glen White
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Lester
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lester have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lester
      • Lester is located in Raleigh County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 312 people
    • Pemberton
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Pemberton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pemberton
      • Pemberton is located in Raleigh County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Pemberton
      • From Coaldale to Pemberton
  • Summers County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Coaldale, with the one closest to Coaldale listed first.
    • Pipestem
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Mercers Saltworks ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mercers Saltworks have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mercers Saltworks
      • Mercers Saltworks is located in Summers County
    • True
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for True. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for True
      • True is located in Summers County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to True
      • From Coaldale to True
    • Jumping Branch
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Nimitz
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Packs Ferry
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Packs Ferry have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Packs Ferry
      • Packs Ferry is located in Summers County
  • Wyoming County
  • Bland County (VA)
  • Buchanan County (VA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Coaldale, with the one closest to Coaldale listed first.
    • Bearwallow
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Peapatch
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Peapatch. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peapatch
      • Peapatch is located in Buchanan County (VA)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Peapatch
      • From Coaldale to Peapatch
    • Height
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Height. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Height
      • Height is located in Buchanan County (VA)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Height
      • From Coaldale to Height
    • Jackson Flats
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Paynesville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Paynesville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paynesville
      • Paynesville is located in Buchanan County (VA)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Paynesville
      • From Coaldale to Paynesville
  • Giles County (VA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Coaldale, with the one closest to Coaldale listed first.
    • Glen Lyn
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Glen Lyn. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Lyn
      • Glen Lyn is located in Giles County (VA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 97 people
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Glen Lyn
      • From Coaldale to Glen Lyn
    • Shumate
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Shumate. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shumate
      • Shumate is located in Giles County (VA)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Shumate
      • From Coaldale to Shumate
    • Lurich
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Lurich. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lurich
      • Lurich is located in Giles County (VA)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Lurich
      • From Coaldale to Lurich
    • Narrows
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Narrows have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Narrows
      • Narrows is located in Giles County (VA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,949 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Narrows <1>
    • Rich Creek
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
  • Tazewell County (VA)

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

Cemeteries Near Coaldale ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Coaldale.

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

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

  • Little Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Little Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Little Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bell Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bell Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bell Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Belcher Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Belcher Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Belcher Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hollinsworth Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hollinsworth Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hollinsworth Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mt. Tabor Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Tabor Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Tabor Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Rutherford Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rutherford Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rutherford Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Music Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Music Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Music Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Green Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Green Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Green Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Green Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Green Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Green Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mohawk Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mohawk Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mohawk Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mohawk Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mohawk Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mohawk Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mohawk Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mohawk Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mohawk Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (456 more) ...
    • Mohawk Cemetery
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mohawk Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mohawk Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Coopers Cemetery
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Coopers Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Coopers Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Isaac Bell Cemetery
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Isaac Bell Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Isaac Bell Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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.<4>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Coaldale had a post office and railroad service.

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

  • Maybeury
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maybeury have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maybeury
    • Maybeury is located in McDowell County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Maybeury <1>
  • Coopers
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Bramwell
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Freeman
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Switchback
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Switchback have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Switchback
    • Switchback is located in McDowell County
  • Pocahontas
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Flipping
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Flipping. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flipping
    • Flipping is located in Mercer County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Flipping
    • From Coaldale to Flipping
  • Ennis
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ennis have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ennis
    • Ennis is located in McDowell County
  • Abbs Valley ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Abbs Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abbs Valley
    • Abbs Valley is located in Mercer County
  • Duhring
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Duhring have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duhring
    • Duhring is located in Mercer County
  • Elkhorn
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Kyle
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Kyle. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kyle
    • Kyle is located in McDowell County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Kyle
    • From Coaldale to Kyle
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Powhatan
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Powhatan have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powhatan
      • Powhatan is located in McDowell County
    • Falls Mills
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Algoma
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Algoma have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Algoma
      • Algoma is located in McDowell County

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

Newspapers Published in Coaldale ...

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 Coaldale.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Coaldale, there are papers which were published within 14 miles [22.5 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Coaldale.

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 Coaldale:

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>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.
<3>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.
<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 Coaldale, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 from Point A (ie- Coaldale) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Coaldale. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.3632, Longitude: -81.3349       In this case, the coordinates for Coaldale have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).