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 Raysal (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 Raysal. 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 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.
Raysal is located in McDowell 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 McDowell County : Buchanan (VA) , Tazewell (VA) , Mercer , Mingo & Wyoming .
Below are the counties that are near Raysal. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Raysal:
McDowell County (The home county of Raysal)
The following are listed by their distance from Raysal, with the one closest to Raysal listed first.
Bradshaw (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
Yukon (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
Yukon is located in McDowell County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yukon Avondale (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
Avondale is located in McDowell County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avondale Height (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
Height is located in McDowell County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Height Peapatch (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
Peapatch is located in McDowell County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peapatch Jackson Flats (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
Jackson Flats is located in McDowell County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jackson Flats Union City (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
Union City is located in McDowell County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union City War (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
War is located in McDowell County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for War Population from the 2020 Census: 659 people
Paynesville (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
Paynesville is located in McDowell County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paynesville Iaeger (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
Iaeger is located in McDowell County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iaeger Population from the 2020 Census: 232 people
Wilmore (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
Wilmore is located in McDowell County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilmore Roderfield (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
Roderfield is located in McDowell County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roderfield Big Sandy (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
Big Sandy is located in McDowell County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Sandy Logan County
The following are listed by their distance from Raysal, with the one closest to Raysal listed first.
Wylo (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
Wylo is located in Logan County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wylo Mallory (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
Mallory is located in Logan County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mallory Man (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
Mineral City (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
Mineral City is located in Logan County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mineral City Kistler (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
Kistler is located in Logan County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kistler Accoville (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
Accoville is located in Logan County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Accoville Stirrat (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
Stirrat is located in Logan County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stirrat Braeholm (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
Braeholm is located in Logan County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Braeholm Omar (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
Mercer County
The following are listed by their distance from Raysal, with the one closest to Raysal listed first.
Coaldale (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
Coaldale is located in Mercer County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coaldale Bramwell (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
Coopers (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
Coopers is located in Mercer County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coopers Freeman (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
Freeman is located in Mercer County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeman Nemours (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
Yards (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
Yards is located in Mercer County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yards Flipping (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
Flipping is located in Mercer County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flipping Weyanoke (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
Weyanoke is located in Mercer County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weyanoke Montcalm (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
Montcalm is located in Mercer County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montcalm Matoaka (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
Matoaka is located in Mercer County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Matoaka Population from the 2020 Census: 193 people
Mingo County
The following are listed by their distance from Raysal, with the one closest to Raysal listed first.
Gilbert Creek (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
Gilbert Creek is located in Mingo County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilbert Creek Baisden (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
Wharncliffe (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
Gilbert (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
Pie (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
Pie is located in Mingo County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pie Thacker (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
Thacker is located in Mingo County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thacker Musick (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
Musick is located in Mingo County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Musick Blackberry City (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
Blackberry City is located in Mingo County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackberry City Matewan (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
Red Jacket (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
Red Jacket is located in Mingo County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Jacket Sprigg (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
Sprigg is located in Mingo County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sprigg Wyoming County
The following are listed by their distance from Raysal, with the one closest to Raysal listed first.
Stoneville (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
Stoneville is located in Wyoming County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stoneville Woosley (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
Woosley is located in Wyoming County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woosley Baileysville (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
Baileysville is located in Wyoming County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baileysville Fanny (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
Fanny is located in Wyoming County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fanny Cub City (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
Cub City is located in Wyoming County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cub City Sun Hill (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
Sun Hill is located in Wyoming County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sun Hill Uno (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
Uno is located in Wyoming County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Uno Wyoming (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
Wyoming is located in Wyoming County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyoming Clear Fork (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
Clear Fork is located in Wyoming County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clear Fork Mullensville (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
Mullensville is located in Wyoming County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mullensville Pineville (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
Rock View (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
Rock View is located in Wyoming County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock View Turkey (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
Turkey is located in Wyoming County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turkey Pike County (KY)
The following are listed by their distance from Raysal, with the one closest to Raysal listed first.
Paw Paw (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
Paw Paw is located in Pike County (KY) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paw Paw Stopover (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
Stopover is located in Pike County (KY) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stopover Majestic (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
Majestic is located in Pike County (KY) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Majestic Coleman (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
Coleman is located in Pike County (KY) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coleman Phelps (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
Freeburn (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
Freeburn is located in Pike County (KY) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeburn Calloway Branch (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
Calloway Branch is located in Pike County (KY) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calloway Branch Fedscreek (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
Fedscreek is located in Pike County (KY) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fedscreek Mouthcard (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
Mouthcard is located in Pike County (KY) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mouthcard Ransom (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
Ransom is located in Pike County (KY) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ransom Buskirk (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
Buskirk is located in Pike County (KY) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buskirk McCarr (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
Lick Creek (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
Lick Creek is located in Pike County (KY) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lick Creek Buchanan County (VA)
The following are listed by their distance from Raysal, with the one closest to Raysal listed first.
Height (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
Height is located in Buchanan County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Height Peapatch (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
Peapatch is located in Buchanan County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peapatch Jackson Flats (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
Jackson Flats is located in Buchanan County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jackson Flats Paynesville (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
Paynesville is located in Buchanan County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paynesville Bearwallow (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
Bearwallow is located in Buchanan County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bearwallow Matney (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
Matney is located in Buchanan County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Matney Mavisdale (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
Mavisdale is located in Buchanan County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mavisdale Janey (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
Janey is located in Buchanan County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Janey Kelsa (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
Kelsa is located in Buchanan County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelsa Grundy (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
Royal City (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
Royal City is located in Buchanan County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Royal City Rowe (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
Rowe is located in Buchanan County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rowe Vansant (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
Dickenson County (VA)
The following are listed by their distance from Raysal, with the one closest to Raysal listed first.
Haysi (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
Haysi is located in Dickenson County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haysi Population from the 2020 Census: 460 people
Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Haysi <1>
Bucu (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
Bucu is located in Dickenson County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bucu Russell County (VA)
The following are listed by their distance from Raysal, with the one closest to Raysal listed first.
Dye (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
Dye is located in Russell County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dye Russell (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
Russell is located in Russell County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Russell Honaker (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
Smyth County (VA)
The following are listed by their distance from Raysal, with the one closest to Raysal listed first.
Broadford (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
Broadford is located in Smyth County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Broadford Allison Gap (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
Allison Gap is located in Smyth County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allison Gap Cardwell Town (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
Cardwell Town is located in Smyth County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cardwell Town Tazewell County (VA)
The following are listed by their distance from Raysal, with the one closest to Raysal listed first.
Harman (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
Harman is located in Tazewell County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harman Dunford Village (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
Dunford Village is located in Tazewell County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunford Village Sayersville (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
Sayersville is located in Tazewell County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sayersville Bishop (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
Bishop is located in Tazewell County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bishop Shraders (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
Shraders is located in Tazewell County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shraders Red Ash (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
Red Ash is located in Tazewell County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Ash Cedar Bluff (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
Richlands (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
Adria (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
Adria is located in Tazewell County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adria Pounding Mill (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
Raven (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
Raven is located in Tazewell County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raven Maxwell (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
Maxwell is located in Tazewell County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maxwell Abbs Valley (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
Abbs Valley is located in Tazewell County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abbs Valley
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Raysal, see our County-by-County Page for Raysal .
Cemeteries Near Raysal ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Raysal.
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 Raysal - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Raysal covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Raysal, with the one closest to Raysal listed first.
Puckett Cemetery (Less than 2 miles to the south)
Rose Cemetery (Less than 2 miles to the south)
Hagerman Cemetery (Less than 2 miles to the south)
Oak Grove Cemetery (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
Rowe Cemetery (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
Deskins Cemetery (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
Riffe Cemetery (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
Atwell Cemetery (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
Woods Cemetery (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
Mitchell Cemetery (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
Buckeye Cemetery (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
Roe Cemetery (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
Continue List (615 more) ...
Sparks Cemetery (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
Blevins Cemetery (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
Rowe Cemetery (3 miles [4.8 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.<2>
While we didn't find Raysal in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Raysal.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Raysal, with the one closest to Raysal listed first.
Bradshaw (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
Bearwallow (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
Bearwallow is located in Buchanan County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bearwallow Iaeger (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
Iaeger is located in McDowell County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iaeger Population from the 2020 Census: 232 people
Pleasant Hill (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
Pleasant Hill is located in Tazewell County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Hill Shack Mills (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
Shack Mills is located in Buchanan County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shack Mills Harman (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
Harman is located in Tazewell County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harman Sayersville (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
Sayersville is located in Tazewell County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sayersville Shraders (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
Shraders is located in Tazewell County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shraders Hanover (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
Hanover is located in Wyoming County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hanover North Spring (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
North Spring is located in Wyoming County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Spring Gap Store (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
Gap Store is located in Tazewell County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gap Store Lincoln (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
Lincoln is located in Wyoming County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln Continue List (18 more) ...
Doran (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
Richlands (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
Cedar Bluff (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Raysal. See our List of 1890's Communities around Raysal .
Newspapers Published in Raysal ...
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 5 newspapers that have been published in the area around Raysal.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Raysal, there are papers which were published within 12 miles [19.3 km]<3> Extended Newspaper List for Raysal.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These 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 Raysal:
Websites specific to West Virginia Pages specific to McDowell County Genealogy information for nearby counties
Logan County Mercer County Mingo County Wyoming County Pike County Buchanan County Dickenson County Russell County Smyth County Tazewell County Cemetery Information and Directories for West Virginia Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Raysal. 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. 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 Raysal, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. 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- Raysal) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.