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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 Meadow Bridge (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 Meadow Bridge. 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 Meadow Bridge ...

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.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Meadow Bridge: Meadow Brg. (or less commonly used: Meadow Brdg. or Meadow Brdge.)

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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most 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.

Meadow Bridge is located in Fayette County.

To see how the shape of West Virginia's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Fayette County: Greenbrier, Kanawha, Nicholas, Raleigh & Summers.

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

  • Fayette County     (The home county of Meadow Bridge)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Meadow Bridge, with the one closest to Meadow Bridge listed first.
    • Spring Dale
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Spring Dale is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Dale
    • Bellwood
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Bellwood is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellwood
    • Maywood
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Maywood is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maywood
    • Hilton Village
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Hilton Village is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilton Village
    • Clifftop
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Alaska ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Alaska is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alaska
    • Quinnimont
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Quinnimont is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quinnimont
    • McKendree
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • McKendree is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McKendree
    • Prince
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • East Sewell ‑ Historic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • East Sewell is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Sewell
    • Sewell ‑ Historic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Sewell is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sewell
    • Sewell Knob ‑ Historic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Sewell Knob is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sewell Knob
      • Sewell Knob has also been known as:
      • Swell Knob
  • Greenbrier County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Meadow Bridge, with the one closest to Meadow Bridge listed first.
    • Vale
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Vale is located in Greenbrier County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vale
    • Rainelle
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • McRoss
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • McRoss is located in Greenbrier County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McRoss
    • Charmco
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Hines
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Hines is located in Greenbrier County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hines
    • Rupert
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Crawley
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Orient Hill
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Orient Hill is located in Greenbrier County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orient Hill
    • Kieffer
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Kieffer is located in Greenbrier County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kieffer
    • Alderson
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Crichton
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Crichton is located in Greenbrier County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crichton
    • Quinwood
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Quinwood is located in Greenbrier County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quinwood
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 260 people
  • Monroe County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Meadow Bridge, with the one closest to Meadow Bridge listed first.
    • Creamery
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Creamery is located in Monroe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Creamery
    • Wolfcreek
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Wolfcreek is located in Monroe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolfcreek
    • Wayside
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Wayside is located in Monroe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wayside
    • Union
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Union is located in Monroe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 539 people
    • Hillsdale
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Hillsdale is located in Monroe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillsdale
    • Wikel
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Wikel is located in Monroe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wikel
    • Assurance
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Assurance is located in Monroe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Assurance
    • Ballard
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Ballard is located in Monroe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ballard
    • Hollywood
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Hollywood is located in Monroe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollywood
  • Nicholas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Meadow Bridge, with the one closest to Meadow Bridge listed first.
    • Peaser Junction ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Peaser Junction is located in Nicholas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peaser Junction
    • Runa
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Runa is located in Nicholas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Runa
    • Snow Hill
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Snow Hill is located in Nicholas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Snow Hill
    • Carl
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Carl is located in Nicholas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carl
    • Odell Town
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Odell Town is located in Nicholas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Odell Town
      • Odell Town has also been known as:
      • Odell
    • Tolbert
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Tolbert is located in Nicholas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tolbert
    • Albion ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Albion is located in Nicholas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albion
    • Morrison ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Morrison is located in Nicholas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morrison
    • Keslers Cross Lanes
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Keslers Cross Lanes is located in Nicholas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keslers Cross Lanes
    • Nettie
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Saxman
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Saxman is located in Nicholas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saxman
    • Summersville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
  • Raleigh County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Meadow Bridge, with the one closest to Meadow Bridge listed first.
    • Abraham
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Abraham is located in Raleigh County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abraham
    • Royal ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Royal is located in Raleigh County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Royal
    • Grandview
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Grandview is located in Raleigh County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grandview
    • Terry
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Terry is located in Raleigh County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Terry
    • Clifftop
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Clifftop is located in Raleigh County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clifftop
    • Piney View
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Piney View is located in Raleigh County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Piney View
    • Daniels
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Stanaford
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Stanaford is located in Raleigh County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stanaford
    • White Stick
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • White Stick is located in Raleigh County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Stick
    • Beaver
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Shady Spring
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Beckley
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
  • Summers County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Meadow Bridge, with the one closest to Meadow Bridge listed first.
    • New Richmond ‑ Historic
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • New Richmond is located in Summers County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Richmond
    • Sandstone
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Brooklin
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Brooklin is located in Summers County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brooklin
    • Hinton
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Bellepoint
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Bellepoint is located in Summers County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellepoint
    • Hilldale
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Hilldale is located in Summers County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilldale
    • Nimitz
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Nimitz is located in Summers County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nimitz
    • Talcott
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Lowell
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Lowell is located in Summers County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lowell
    • Riffe
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Riffe is located in Summers County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riffe
    • Jumping Branch
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Jumping Branch is located in Summers County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jumping Branch
    • Packs Ferry
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Packs Ferry is located in Summers County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Packs Ferry

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

Cemeteries Near Meadow Bridge ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Meadow Bridge.

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 Meadow Bridge - one of the links might be able to help.

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Meadow Bridge covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Patton Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Wickline Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Henson Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • William Thomas Lowry Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • White Family Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Goddard Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Bragg Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Hicks - Swell Mtn. Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hicks - Swell Mtn. Cemetery
    • The Hicks - Swell Mtn. Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Hicks Cemetery
    • Hix Cemetery
  • Richmond Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • New Salem Baptist Church Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Anderson Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Layland Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Layland Cemetery
    • The Layland Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Chestnut Knob Church Cemetery
  • Continue List   (241 more) ...
    • Beechnut Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beechnut Cemetery
      • The Beechnut Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Charles Harrah Cemetery
      • Harrah Cemetery
      • Jim Harrah Cemetery
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2608668 <2>
    • Goodson Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • St. Colmans Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)

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.<3>

While we didn't find Meadow Bridge in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Meadow Bridge.

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

  • Spring Dale
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Spring Dale is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Dale
  • Elton
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Elton is located in Summers County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elton
  • Crickmer
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Crickmer is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crickmer
  • Green Sulphur Springs
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • New Richmond ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • New Richmond is located in Summers County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Richmond
  • Lawn
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Lawn is located in Greenbrier County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawn
  • Sandstone
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Grassy Meadows
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Grassy Meadows is located in Greenbrier County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grassy Meadows
  • Dawson
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Dawson is located in Greenbrier County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dawson
  • Maywood
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Maywood is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maywood
  • Glade
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Glade is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glade
  • Brooks
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Brooks is located in Summers County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brooks
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Dennis
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Dennis is located in Greenbrier County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dennis
    • Ravenseye
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Ravenseye is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ravenseye
    • Clifftop
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)

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

Newspapers Published in Meadow Bridge ...

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 17 newspapers that have been published in the area around Meadow Bridge.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Meadow Bridge, there are papers which were published within 14 miles [22.5 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Meadow Bridge.

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 websites either 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 Meadow Bridge:

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>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.
<3>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 Meadow Bridge, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Meadow Bridge) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.