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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 Madison (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 Madison. 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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

Madison is located in Boone County and is the County Seat.

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 Boone County: Kanawha, Lincoln, Logan, Raleigh & Wyoming.

Below are the counties that are near Madison. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Madison:

  • Boone County     (The home county of Madison)
  • Cabell County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Madison, with the one closest to Madison listed first.
    • Culloden
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Culloden have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Culloden
      • Culloden is located in Cabell County
    • Milton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Milton have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milton
      • Milton is located in Cabell County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,523 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Milton <1>
    • Sarah
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Sarah. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sarah
      • Sarah is located in Cabell County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Sarah
      • From Madison to Sarah
  • Fayette County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Madison, with the one closest to Madison listed first.
    • Elkridge
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Elkridge. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkridge
      • Elkridge is located in Fayette County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Elkridge
      • From Madison to Elkridge
    • McDunn
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Powellton
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Powellton have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powellton
      • Powellton is located in Fayette County
    • Crescent
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Crescent. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crescent
      • Crescent is located in Fayette County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Crescent
      • From Madison to Crescent
    • Kimberly
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Montgomery
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Cannelton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Mount Carbon
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Smithers
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Smithers have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smithers
      • Smithers is located in Fayette County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 726 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Smithers <1>
  • Kanawha County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Madison, with the one closest to Madison listed first.
    • Winifrede
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Ruth
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ruth. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruth
      • Ruth is located in Kanawha County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Ruth
      • From Madison to Ruth
    • Loudendale
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Marmet
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Marmet have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marmet
      • Marmet is located in Kanawha County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,351 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Marmet <1>
    • Acme
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Tornado
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tornado have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tornado
      • Tornado is located in Kanawha County
    • Belle
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Belle have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belle
      • Belle is located in Kanawha County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,108 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Belle <1>
    • Chesapeake
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chesapeake have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chesapeake
      • Chesapeake is located in Kanawha County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,393 people
    • Dupont City
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dupont City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dupont City
      • Dupont City is located in Kanawha County
    • Eskdale
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Rock Lake Village
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rock Lake Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Lake Village
      • Rock Lake Village is located in Kanawha County
    • Cabin Creek
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Dry Branch
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Lincoln County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Madison, with the one closest to Madison listed first.
    • Alkol
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Sod
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • East ‑ Historic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East
      • East is located in Lincoln County
    • Priestley
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Yawkey
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Palermo
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Tango
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Tango. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tango
      • Tango is located in Lincoln County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Tango
      • From Madison to Tango
    • Alum Creek
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Harts
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Harts have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harts
      • Harts is located in Lincoln County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Harts <1>
    • Spears ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spears have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spears
      • Spears is located in Lincoln County
    • Garretts Bend
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Sweetland
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Sweetland. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sweetland
      • Sweetland is located in Lincoln County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Sweetland
      • From Madison to Sweetland
    • Kinder ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kinder have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kinder
      • Kinder is located in Lincoln County
  • Logan County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Madison, with the one closest to Madison listed first.
    • Banco
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Chapmanville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Big Creek
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Mitchell Heights
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mitchell Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mitchell Heights
      • Mitchell Heights is located in Logan County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 274 people
    • Peach Creek
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Fort Branch
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Fort Branch. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Branch
      • Fort Branch is located in Logan County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Fort Branch
      • From Madison to Fort Branch
    • West Logan
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Logan have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Logan
      • West Logan is located in Logan County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 358 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for West Logan <1>
    • Logan
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Hedgeview
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Thompson Town
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Thompson Town have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thompson Town
      • Thompson Town is located in Logan County
    • Wilkinson
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Troy Town
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Troy Town have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Troy Town
      • Troy Town is located in Logan County
    • Whirlwind
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Whirlwind. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whirlwind
      • Whirlwind is located in Logan County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Whirlwind
      • From Madison to Whirlwind
  • Mingo County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Madison, with the one closest to Madison listed first.
    • Dingess
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Myrtle
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Pie
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Putnam County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Madison, with the one closest to Madison listed first.
    • Scott Village
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Scott Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scott Village
      • Scott Village is located in Putnam County
    • Teays Village
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Teays Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Teays Village
      • Teays Village is located in Putnam County
    • Teays Valley
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Teays Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Teays Valley
      • Teays Valley is located in Putnam County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Teays Valley <1>
    • Hurricane
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Morgans Landing
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Poca
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Poca have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poca
      • Poca is located in Putnam County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 963 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Poca <1>
    • Raymond City
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Raymond City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raymond City
      • Raymond City is located in Putnam County
    • Bancroft
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bancroft have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bancroft
      • Bancroft is located in Putnam County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 596 people
  • Raleigh County
  • Wayne County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Madison, with the one closest to Madison listed first.
    • Cove Gap
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Nestlow
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Kiahsville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Kiahsville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kiahsville
      • Kiahsville is located in Wayne County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Kiahsville
      • From Madison to Kiahsville
    • Wilsondale
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Doane
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Doane. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doane
      • Doane is located in Wayne County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Doane
      • From Madison to Doane
  • Wyoming County

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

Cemeteries Near Madison ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Madison.

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

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

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.<7>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Madison had a post office and no railroad service. In 2020, Madison had a population of 2,616 people.

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

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Madison ...

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 8 newspapers that have been published in the area around Madison.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Madison. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Madison and those printed in the larger area surrounding Madison.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 9 miles [14.5 km]<6> of Madison.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to start with 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 Madison:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Madison. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for State of West Virginia: https://www.wv.gov/

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>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.
<5>If we found a location and have questions about the accuracy of our information, we will simply say that the marker is 'in the vicinity'. We are not confident about the location and the position of our marker is only a rough guide. If we have too many doubts about the location, we will not include it in our database.
<6>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- Madison) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Madison. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.0632, Longitude: -81.8217    
<7>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 Madison, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 31 Mar 2025