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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 Petersburg (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 Petersburg. 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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

Petersburg is located in Grant 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 Grant County: Garrett (MD), Hardy, Mineral, Pendleton & Tucker.

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

  • Grant County     (The home county of Petersburg)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Petersburg, with the one closest to Petersburg listed first.
    • Seymourville
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Dorcas
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Arthur
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Pansy
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Pansy. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pansy
      • Pansy is located in Grant County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Pansy
      • From Petersburg to Pansy
    • Maysville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Maysville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maysville
      • Maysville is located in Grant County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Maysville
      • From Petersburg to Maysville
    • Seemly ‑ Historic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Seemly have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seemly
      • Seemly is located in Grant County
    • Hopeville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hopeville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopeville
      • Hopeville is located in Grant County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Hopeville
      • From Petersburg to Hopeville
    • Lahmansville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Medley
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Greenland
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Dobbin
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dobbin have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dobbin
      • Dobbin is located in Grant County
    • Bayard
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
  • Hampshire County
  • Hardy County
  • Mineral County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Petersburg, with the one closest to Petersburg listed first.
    • Hartmansville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Schell
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Schell. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Schell
      • Schell is located in Mineral County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Schell
      • From Petersburg to Schell
    • Sulphur City
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sulphur City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sulphur City
      • Sulphur City is located in Mineral County
    • Harrison
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Harrison. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrison
      • Harrison is located in Mineral County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Harrison
      • From Petersburg to Harrison
    • New Creek
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Burlington
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Elk Garden
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elk Garden have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elk Garden
      • Elk Garden is located in Mineral County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 209 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elk Garden <3>
    • Headsville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Headsville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Headsville
      • Headsville is located in Mineral County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Headsville
      • From Petersburg to Headsville
  • Pendleton County
  • Preston County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Petersburg, with the one closest to Petersburg listed first.
    • Horse Shoe Run
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Sell
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Sell. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sell
      • Sell is located in Preston County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Sell
      • From Petersburg to Sell
  • Randolph County
  • Tucker County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Petersburg, with the one closest to Petersburg listed first.
    • Canaan Valley
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Davis
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Coketon
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Coketon. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coketon
      • Coketon is located in Tucker County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Coketon
      • From Petersburg to Coketon
    • Thomas
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Thomas have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thomas
      • Thomas is located in Tucker County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 545 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Thomas <3>
    • Elk
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Elk. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elk
      • Elk is located in Tucker County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Elk
      • From Petersburg to Elk
    • Gladwin
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Pierce
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Hendricks
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hendricks have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hendricks
      • Hendricks is located in Tucker County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 254 people
    • Hambleton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Parsons
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Garrett County (MD)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Petersburg, with the one closest to Petersburg listed first.
    • Wilson
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Wilson. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilson
      • Wilson is located in Garrett County (MD)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Wilson
      • From Petersburg to Wilson
    • Schell
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Schell. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Schell
      • Schell is located in Garrett County (MD)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Schell
      • From Petersburg to Schell
    • Kitzmiller
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kitzmiller have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kitzmiller
      • Kitzmiller is located in Garrett County (MD)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 301 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kitzmiller <3>
    • Red House
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Altamont
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Altamont. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Altamont
      • Altamont is located in Garrett County (MD)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Altamont
      • From Petersburg to Altamont
    • Loch Lynn Heights
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Loch Lynn Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loch Lynn Heights
      • Loch Lynn Heights is located in Garrett County (MD)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 525 people
  • Rockingham County (VA)
  • Shenandoah County (VA)

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

Cemeteries Near Petersburg ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Petersburg.

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

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

  • South Branch Memorial Gardens
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the South Branch Memorial Gardens
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the South Branch Memorial Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mt. Hebron Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Hebron Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Hebron Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Oak Hill Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oak Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oak Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Olivet Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Burlington Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Burlington Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Burlington Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Baldwin Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Baldwin Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Baldwin Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Corbin Snyder Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Bethel Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bethel Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bethel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Perry Moyers Memorial Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Crab Run Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Crab Run Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Crab Run Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • New Dale Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the New Dale Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the New Dale Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Moyers Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Moyers Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Moyers Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (166 more) ...
    • Cedar Hill Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cedar Hill Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cedar Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Green Hill Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Green Hill Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Green Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Hevener Cemetery
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)

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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Petersburg had a population of 325 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service. In 2020, Petersburg had a population of 2,683 people.

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

  • Seymourville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Masonville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Masonville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Masonville
    • Masonville is located in Grant County
  • Arthur
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Pansy
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Pansy. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pansy
    • Pansy is located in Grant County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Pansy
    • From Petersburg to Pansy
  • Jordan Run
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jordan Run have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jordan Run
    • Jordan Run is located in Grant County
  • Hopeville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hopeville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopeville
    • Hopeville is located in Grant County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Hopeville
    • From Petersburg to Hopeville
  • Maysville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Maysville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maysville
    • Maysville is located in Grant County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Maysville
    • From Petersburg to Maysville
  • Seemly ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Seemly have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seemly
    • Seemly is located in Grant County
  • Moorefield
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Lahmansville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Peru
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Peru. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peru
    • Peru is located in Hardy County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Peru
    • From Petersburg to Peru
  • Brushy Run
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Petersburg ...

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 Petersburg.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Petersburg. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Petersburg and those printed in the larger area surrounding Petersburg.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 22 miles [35.4 km]<6> of Petersburg.

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 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 Petersburg:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Petersburg. 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>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.
<2>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.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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>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 Petersburg, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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- Petersburg) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Petersburg. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.9957, Longitude: -79.1243    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 31 Mar 2025