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 Grahams Ferry (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 Grahams Ferry. 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.
Name Variations for Grahams Ferry ...
When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.
Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might occur.
While the name of this community is Grahams Ferry, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Grahams Ferry may originally have been Graham's Ferry.
Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Grahams Ferry might be written as Graham Ferry.
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Grahams Ferry. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Grahams Ferry.
If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.
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.
Grahams Ferry is located in Summers 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 Summers County: Giles (VA), Fayette, Greenbrier, Mercer, Monroe & Raleigh.
Below are the counties that are near Grahams Ferry. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Grahams Ferry:
- Summers County (The home county of Grahams Ferry)
- The following are listed by their distance from Grahams Ferry, with the one closest to Grahams Ferry listed first.
- Lowell
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Lowell is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lowell
- Talcott
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Bargers Springs
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Bargers Springs is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bargers Springs
- Riffe
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Riffe is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riffe
- Hilldale
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Hilldale is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilldale
- Buck
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Buck is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buck
- Forest Hill
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Bellepoint
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Bellepoint is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellepoint
- Hinton
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Brooklin
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Brooklin is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brooklin
- Packs Ferry
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Packs Ferry is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Packs Ferry
- New Richmond ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- New Richmond is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Richmond
- Fayette County
- The following are listed by their distance from Grahams Ferry, with the one closest to Grahams Ferry listed first.
- Spring Dale
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Spring Dale is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Dale
- Meadow Bridge
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Meadow Bridge is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Bridge
- Population from the 2020 Census: 344 people
- Bellwood
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Bellwood is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellwood
- Maywood
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Maywood is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maywood
- Quinnimont
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Quinnimont is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quinnimont
- Prince
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- McKendree
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- McKendree is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McKendree
- Alaska ‑ Historic
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Alaska is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alaska
- Sewell Knob ‑ Historic
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Sewell Knob is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sewell Knob
- Sewell Knob has also been known as:
- Swell Knob
- Stonecliff ‑ Historic
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Stonecliff is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stonecliff
- Stonecliff has also been known as:
- Stone Cliff
- Hilton Village
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Hilton Village is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilton Village
- Clifftop
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Greenbrier County
- The following are listed by their distance from Grahams Ferry, with the one closest to Grahams Ferry listed first.
- Alderson
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Frazier
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Frazier is located in Greenbrier County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frazier
- Fort Spring
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Fort Spring is located in Greenbrier County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Spring
- Rockland
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Rockland is located in Greenbrier County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockland
- Ronceverte
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Vale
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Vale is located in Greenbrier County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vale
- Fairlea
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Lewisburg
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Crawley
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Caldwell
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Richlands
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Richlands is located in Greenbrier County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richlands
- Kieffer
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Kieffer is located in Greenbrier County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kieffer
- Logan County
- Rich Creek
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Rich Creek is located in Logan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rich Creek
- Mercer County
- The following are listed by their distance from Grahams Ferry, with the one closest to Grahams Ferry listed first.
- Elgood
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Elgood is located in Mercer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elgood
- Athens
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Willowton
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Willowton is located in Mercer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willowton
- Oakvale
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Oakvale is located in Mercer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakvale
- Population from the 2020 Census: 109 people
- Oak Grove
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Oak Grove is located in Mercer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
- East River ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- East River is located in Mercer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East River
- Princeton
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Lashmeet
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Lashmeet is located in Mercer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lashmeet
- Blake ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Blake is located in Mercer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blake
- Johnston Town
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Johnston Town is located in Mercer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnston Town
- Monroe County
- The following are listed by their distance from Grahams Ferry, with the one closest to Grahams Ferry listed first.
- Creamery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Creamery is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Creamery
- Wayside
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Wayside is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wayside
- Wolfcreek
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Wolfcreek is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolfcreek
- Union
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Union is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union
- Population from the 2020 Census: 539 people
- Assurance
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Assurance is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Assurance
- Wikel
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Wikel is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wikel
- Ballard
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Ballard is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ballard
- Hillsdale
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Hillsdale is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillsdale
- Hollywood
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Hollywood is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollywood
- Peterstown
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Raleigh County
- The following are listed by their distance from Grahams Ferry, with the one closest to Grahams Ferry listed first.
- Abraham
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Abraham is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abraham
- Shady Spring
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Grandview
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Grandview is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grandview
- Royal ‑ Historic
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Royal is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Royal
- Daniels
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Beaver
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Clifftop
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Clifftop is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clifftop
- Terry
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Terry is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Terry
- Piney View
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Piney View is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Piney View
- Stanaford
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Stanaford is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stanaford
- Raleigh
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Raleigh is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raleigh
- Sullivan
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Sullivan is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sullivan
- Craig County (VA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Grahams Ferry, with the one closest to Grahams Ferry listed first.
- Captain
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Captain is located in Craig County (VA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Captain
- Huffman
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Huffman is located in Craig County (VA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huffman
- Simmonsville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Simmonsville is located in Craig County (VA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Simmonsville
- Giles County (VA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Grahams Ferry, with the one closest to Grahams Ferry listed first.
- Rich Creek
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Kire
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Kire is located in Giles County (VA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kire
- Lurich
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Lurich is located in Giles County (VA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lurich
- Glen Lyn
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Glen Lyn is located in Giles County (VA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Lyn
- Population from the 2020 Census: 97 people
- Bluff City
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Bluff City is located in Giles County (VA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluff City
- Narrows
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Pearisburg
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Mountain Lake
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Mountain Lake is located in Giles County (VA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Lake
- Pembroke
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Shumate
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Shumate is located in Giles County (VA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shumate
- Eggleston
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Goodwins Ferry
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Goodwins Ferry is located in Giles County (VA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodwins Ferry
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Grahams Ferry, see our County-by-County Page for Grahams Ferry.
Cemeteries Near Grahams Ferry ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Grahams Ferry.
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 Grahams Ferry - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Grahams Ferry covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Grahams Ferry, with the one closest to Grahams Ferry listed first.
- Oak Grove Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Pence Family Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- New Hope Church Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Wayside UMC Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wayside UMC Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Wayside UMC Cemetery is located less than 2 miles<4> to the northeast of Wayside.
- The Wayside UMC Cemetery has also been known as:
- Wayside Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #80240 <3>
- Huffman Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Fairview Baptist Church Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Upland Memorial Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Greenbrier Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Alderson Fletcher Addition Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Bennett Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Hilltop Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Barton Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (206 more) ...
- Mt. Carman Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Ballard Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Meadows Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 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.<5>
While we didn't find Grahams Ferry in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Grahams Ferry.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Grahams Ferry, with the one closest to Grahams Ferry listed first.
- Lowell
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Lowell is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lowell
- Talcott
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Bargers Springs
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Bargers Springs is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bargers Springs
- Hilldale
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Hilldale is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilldale
- Riffe
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Riffe is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riffe
- Wayside
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Wayside is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wayside
- Buck
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Buck is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buck
- Johnson Crossroads
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Johnson Crossroads is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnson Crossroads
- Wolfcreek
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Wolfcreek is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolfcreek
- Clayton
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Clayton is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clayton
- Wiggins
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Wiggins is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wiggins
- Forest Hill
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Santifee ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Santifee is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Santifee
- Greenville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Alderson
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Grahams Ferry. See our List of 1890's Communities around Grahams Ferry.
Newspapers Published in Grahams Ferry ...
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 33 newspapers that have been published in the area around Grahams Ferry.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Grahams Ferry, there are papers which were published within 18 miles [29 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Grahams Ferry.
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 professional and volunteer 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 Grahams Ferry:
- Websites specific to West Virginia
- Pages specific to Summers County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Fayette County
- Greenbrier County
- Logan County
- Mercer County
- Monroe County
- Raleigh County
- Craig County
- Giles County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for West Virginia
Footnotes ...
| <1> | It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties). |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Grahams Ferry) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <5> | 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 Grahams Ferry, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |