Our Genealogy Helper
Introduction ...
So far, we found very little information about Laurel. The little that we've found leads us believe that the community is historic.<1>
We've added Laurel to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Laurel, please Contact Us.
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 Laurel (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 Laurel. 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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.
Although our information shows that the community of Laurel is historic, it would have been located within present day Barbour 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 Barbour County: Harrison, Preston, Randolph, Taylor, Tucker & Upshur.
Below are the counties that are near Laurel. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Laurel:
- Barbour County (The home county of Laurel)
- The following are listed by their distance from Laurel, with the one closest to Laurel listed first.
- Junior
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Junior is located in Barbour County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Junior
- Population from the 2020 Census: 483 people
- Wilmoth ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Wilmoth is located in Barbour County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilmoth
- Belington
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Clements ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Clements is located in Barbour County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clements
- Valley Bend
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Audra
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Audra is located in Barbour County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Audra
- Calhoun
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Calhoun is located in Barbour County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calhoun
- Huffman ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Huffman is located in Barbour County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huffman
- Union
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Union is located in Barbour County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union
- Tygart Junction
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Tygart Junction is located in Barbour County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tygart Junction
- Vannoys Mill
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Vannoys Mill is located in Barbour County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vannoys Mill
- Kalamazoo
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Kalamazoo is located in Barbour County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kalamazoo
- Braxton County
- Knawl
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Knawl is located in Braxton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knawl
- Harrison County
- The following are listed by their distance from Laurel, with the one closest to Laurel listed first.
- Craigmoor
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Craigmoor is located in Harrison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Craigmoor
- Lost Creek
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Lost Creek is located in Harrison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lost Creek
- Population from the 2020 Census: 462 people
- McWhorter
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- McWhorter is located in Harrison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McWhorter
- Quiet Dell
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Quiet Dell is located in Harrison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quiet Dell
- Anmoore
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Stonewood
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Stonewood is located in Harrison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stonewood
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,702 people
- Bridgeport
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Nutter Fort
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Nutter Fort is located in Harrison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nutter Fort
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,501 people
- West Milford
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- West Milford is located in Harrison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Milford
- Population from the 2020 Census: 609 people
- Despard
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Despard is located in Harrison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Despard
- Clarksburg
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Adamston
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Adamston is located in Harrison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adamston
- Lewis County
- The following are listed by their distance from Laurel, with the one closest to Laurel listed first.
- Aberdeen
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Aberdeen is located in Lewis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aberdeen
- Berlin
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Berlin is located in Lewis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berlin
- Garton Village
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Garton Village is located in Lewis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garton Village
- Jane Lew
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Alkires Mills
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Alkires Mills is located in Lewis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alkires Mills
- Crawford
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Crawford is located in Lewis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crawford
- Cox Town
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Cox Town is located in Lewis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cox Town
- Smith Village
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Smith Village is located in Lewis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smith Village
- Weston
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Lightburn
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Lightburn is located in Lewis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lightburn
- Duffy
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Duffy is located in Lewis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duffy
- Westfield
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Westfield is located in Lewis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westfield
- Marion County
- Hebron
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Hebron is located in Marion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hebron
- Pocahontas County
- The following are listed by their distance from Laurel, with the one closest to Laurel listed first.
- Wildell
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Wildell is located in Pocahontas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wildell
- Durbin
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Frank
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Frank is located in Pocahontas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frank
- Thornwood
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Thornwood is located in Pocahontas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thornwood
- Preston County
- The following are listed by their distance from Laurel, with the one closest to Laurel listed first.
- Macomber
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Macomber is located in Preston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Macomber
- Independence
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Independence is located in Preston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Independence
- Newburg
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Sell
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Sell is located in Preston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sell
- Randolph County
- The following are listed by their distance from Laurel, with the one closest to Laurel listed first.
- Tigheville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Tigheville is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tigheville
- Weaver
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Weaver is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weaver
- Womelsdorf
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Womelsdorf is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Womelsdorf
- Population from the 2020 Census: 235 people
- Midvale
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Midvale is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midvale
- Elkins
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Leadsville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Leadsville is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leadsville
- Gilman
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Gilman is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilman
- Whyte
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Whyte is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whyte
- Canfield
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Canfield is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canfield
- Cassity
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Cassity is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cassity
- Beverly
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Montrose
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Montrose is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montrose
- Population from the 2020 Census: 151 people
- Taylor County
- The following are listed by their distance from Laurel, with the one closest to Laurel listed first.
- Astor
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Astor is located in Taylor County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Astor
- Sandy ‑ Historic
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Sandy is located in Taylor County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy
- Stone House ‑ Historic
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Stone House is located in Taylor County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stone House
- Brydon
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Brydon is located in Taylor County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brydon
- Flemington
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Flemington is located in Taylor County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flemington
- Population from the 2020 Census: 306 people
- Webster
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Webster is located in Taylor County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Webster
- Yates ‑ Historic
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Yates is located in Taylor County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yates
- Knottsville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Knottsville is located in Taylor County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knottsville
- Grafton
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Pruntytown
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Pruntytown is located in Taylor County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pruntytown
- Thornton
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Thornton is located in Taylor County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thornton
- West Grafton
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- West Grafton is located in Taylor County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Grafton
- Tucker County
- The following are listed by their distance from Laurel, with the one closest to Laurel listed first.
- Pleasant Run
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Pleasant Run is located in Tucker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Run
- Porterwood
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Porterwood is located in Tucker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Porterwood
- Parsons
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Hambleton
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Hambleton is located in Tucker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hambleton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 212 people
- Hendricks
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Hendricks is located in Tucker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hendricks
- Population from the 2020 Census: 254 people
- Elk
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Elk is located in Tucker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elk
- Gladwin
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Gladwin is located in Tucker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gladwin
- Canaan Valley
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Coketon
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Coketon is located in Tucker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coketon
- Pierce
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Pierce is located in Tucker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pierce
- Thomas
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Davis
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Upshur County
- The following are listed by their distance from Laurel, with the one closest to Laurel listed first.
- Gormley
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Gormley is located in Upshur County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gormley
- Swamp Run
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Swamp Run is located in Upshur County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swamp Run
- Sand Run
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Sand Run is located in Upshur County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sand Run
- Excelsior
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Excelsior is located in Upshur County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Excelsior
- Overhill
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Overhill is located in Upshur County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Overhill
- Queens
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Queens is located in Upshur County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Queens
- Reger
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Reger is located in Upshur County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reger
- Tallmansville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Teter
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Teter is located in Upshur County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Teter
- Sellers ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Sellers is located in Upshur County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sellers
- Tenmile
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Tenmile is located in Upshur County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tenmile
- Buckhannon
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Webster County
- The following are listed by their distance from Laurel, with the one closest to Laurel listed first.
- Cleveland
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Hacker Valley
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Laurel, see our County-by-County Page for Laurel.
Cemeteries Near Laurel ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Laurel.
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 Laurel - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Laurel covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Laurel, with the one closest to Laurel listed first.
- Coffman / Harding Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Mountain View Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Durrett Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Lovett Chapel Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Old Rights Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Elliott Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Mt. Nebo Methodist Church Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Mt. Zion Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Maplewood Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Audra Bethel Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Audra Bethel Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Audra Bethel Cemetery is located less than 2 miles<4> to the north of Audra.
- The Audra Bethel Cemetery has also been known as:
- Bethel Cemetery
- Bethel UMC Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2338500 <3>
- Redabaugh Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Holbert Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Continue List (225 more) ...
- McDermott Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Oldaker Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Booth Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
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.
While we didn't find Laurel in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Laurel.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Laurel, with the one closest to Laurel listed first.
- Talbott
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Talbott is located in Barbour County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Talbott
- Kingsville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Kingsville is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingsville
- Middle Fork ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Middle Fork is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middle Fork
- Belington
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Wilmoth ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Wilmoth is located in Barbour County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilmoth
- Swamp Run
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Swamp Run is located in Upshur County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swamp Run
- Sand Run
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Sand Run is located in Upshur County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sand Run
- Elkins
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Leadsville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Leadsville is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leadsville
- Kedron
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Kedron is located in Upshur County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kedron
- Gilman
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Gilman is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilman
- Whyte
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Whyte is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whyte
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Huffman ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Huffman is located in Barbour County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huffman
- Flora ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Flora is located in Barbour County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flora
- Calhoun
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Calhoun is located in Barbour County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calhoun
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Laurel. See our List of 1890's Communities around Laurel.
Newspapers Published in Laurel ...
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 46 newspapers that have been published in the area around Laurel.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Laurel, there are papers which were published within 15 miles [24.1 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Laurel.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we begin 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 Laurel:
- Websites specific to West Virginia
- Pages specific to Barbour County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Braxton County
- Harrison County
- Lewis County
- Marion County
- Pocahontas County
- Preston County
- Randolph County
- Taylor County
- Tucker County
- Upshur County
- Webster County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for West Virginia
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Laurel, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Laurel) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |