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 Rock (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 Rock. 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 and hospitals 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.
Rock is located in Mercer 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 Mercer County : Bland (VA) , Giles (VA) , Tazewell (VA) , McDowell , Raleigh , Summers & Wyoming .
Below are the counties that are near Rock. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Rock:
Mercer County (The home county of Rock)
The following are listed by their distance from Rock, with the one closest to Rock listed first.
Montcalm (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
Montcalm is also located in Mercer County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montcalm Flipping (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
Flipping is also located in Mercer County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flipping Lashmeet (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
Lashmeet is also located in Mercer County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lashmeet Matoaka (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
Matoaka is also located in Mercer County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Matoaka Population from the 2020 Census: 193 people
Weyanoke (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
Weyanoke is also located in Mercer County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weyanoke Littlesburg (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
Littlesburg is also located in Mercer County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Littlesburg Johnston Town (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
Johnston Town is also located in Mercer County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnston Town Edison (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
Edison is also located in Mercer County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edison El Centro ‑ Historic(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
El Centro was located in Mercer County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for El Centro Bramwell (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
Freeman (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
Freeman is also located in Mercer County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeman Bluefield (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
Coaldale (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
Coaldale is also located in Mercer County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coaldale Logan County
Rich Creek (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
Rich Creek is located in Logan County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rich Creek McDowell County
The following are listed by their distance from Rock, with the one closest to Rock listed first.
Elkhorn (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
Elkhorn is located in McDowell County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkhorn Kyle (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
Kyle is located in McDowell County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kyle Northfork (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
Anawalt (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
Anawalt is located in McDowell County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anawalt Population from the 2020 Census: 172 people
Keystone (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
Thorpe (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
Thorpe is located in McDowell County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thorpe Big Four (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
Big Four is located in McDowell County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Four Kimball (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
Gary (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
Gary is located in McDowell County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gary Population from the 2020 Census: 759 people
Welch (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
Bishop (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
Bishop is located in McDowell County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bishop Newhall (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
Newhall is located in McDowell County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newhall Davy (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
Davy is located in McDowell County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Davy Population from the 2020 Census: 324 people
Monroe County
The following are listed by their distance from Rock, with the one closest to Rock listed first.
Peterstown (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
Ballard (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
Ballard is located in Monroe County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ballard Raleigh County
The following are listed by their distance from Rock, with the one closest to Rock listed first.
Rhodell (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
Rhodell is located in Raleigh County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rhodell Population from the 2020 Census: 159 people
Eastgulf (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
Eastgulf is located in Raleigh County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastgulf Helen (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
Helen is located in Raleigh County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helen Princewick (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
Princewick is located in Raleigh County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Princewick Ury (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
Ury is located in Raleigh County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ury Coal City (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
Coal City is located in Raleigh County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coal City Slab Fork (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
Slab Fork is located in Raleigh County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slab Fork Stotesbury (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
Stotesbury is located in Raleigh County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stotesbury Sophia (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
Sullivan (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
Sullivan is located in Raleigh County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sullivan Pemberton (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
Pemberton is located in Raleigh County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pemberton Shady Spring (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
Crab Orchard (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
Summers County
The following are listed by their distance from Rock, with the one closest to Rock listed first.
Pipestem (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
Mercers Saltworks ‑ Historic(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
Mercers Saltworks was located in Summers County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mercers Saltworks True (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
True is located in Summers County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for True Nimitz (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
Nimitz is located in Summers County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nimitz Jumping Branch (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
Jumping Branch is located in Summers County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jumping Branch Packs Ferry (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
Packs Ferry is located in Summers County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Packs Ferry Bellepoint (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
Bellepoint is located in Summers County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellepoint Brooklin (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
Brooklin is located in Summers County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brooklin Buck (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
Buck is located in Summers County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buck Forest Hill (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
Hinton (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
Bargers Springs (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
Bargers Springs is located in Summers County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bargers Springs Hilldale (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
Hilldale is located in Summers County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilldale Wyoming County
The following are listed by their distance from Rock, with the one closest to Rock listed first.
Bud (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
Bud is located in Wyoming County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bud Mullens (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
Pineville (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
Woosley (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
Woosley is located in Wyoming County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woosley Mullensville (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
Mullensville is located in Wyoming County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mullensville Keyrock (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
Keyrock is located in Wyoming County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keyrock Rock View (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
Rock View is located in Wyoming County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock View Wyoming (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
Wyoming is located in Wyoming County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyoming Fanny (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
Fanny is located in Wyoming County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fanny Stoneville (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
Stoneville is located in Wyoming County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stoneville Turkey (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
Turkey is located in Wyoming County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turkey Baileysville (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
Baileysville is located in Wyoming County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baileysville Bland County (VA)
The following are listed by their distance from Rock, with the one closest to Rock listed first.
Rocky Gap (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
Rocky Gap is located in Bland County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Gap Round Bottom (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
Round Bottom is located in Bland County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Round Bottom Hicksville (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
Hicksville is located in Bland County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hicksville Bastian (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
Bland (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
Mechanicsburg (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
Mechanicsburg is located in Bland County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mechanicsburg Buchanan County (VA)
Bearwallow (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
Bearwallow is located in Buchanan County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bearwallow Giles County (VA)
The following are listed by their distance from Rock, with the one closest to Rock listed first.
Glen Lyn (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
Glen Lyn is located in Giles County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Lyn Population from the 2020 Census: 97 people
Lurich (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
Lurich is located in Giles County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lurich Shumate (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
Shumate is located in Giles County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shumate Rich Creek (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
Narrows (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
Bluff City (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
Bluff City is located in Giles County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluff City Thessalia (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
Thessalia is located in Giles County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thessalia Pearisburg (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
Poplar Hill (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
Poplar Hill is located in Giles County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poplar Hill Pulaski County (VA)
The following are listed by their distance from Rock, with the one closest to Rock listed first.
Sassin ‑ Historic(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
Sassin was located in Pulaski County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sassin Hilton Village (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
Hilton Village is located in Pulaski County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilton Village Tazewell County (VA)
The following are listed by their distance from Rock, with the one closest to Rock listed first.
Falls Mills (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
Falls Mills is located in Tazewell County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falls Mills Pocahontas (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
Pocahontas is located in Tazewell County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pocahontas Population from the 2020 Census: 348 people
Yards (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
Yards is located in Tazewell County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yards Bluefield (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
Boissevain (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
Boissevain is located in Tazewell County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boissevain Saint Clair (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
Saint Clair is located in Tazewell County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Clair Abbs Valley (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
Abbs Valley is located in Tazewell County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abbs Valley Springville (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
Springville is located in Tazewell County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springville Shawver Mill (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
Shawver Mill is located in Tazewell County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shawver Mill Little Town (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
Little Town is located in Tazewell County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Town Wittens Mills (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
Wittens Mills is located in Tazewell County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wittens Mills Bishop (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
Bishop is located in Tazewell County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bishop Five Oaks (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
Five Oaks is located in Tazewell County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Oaks Wythe County (VA)
The following are listed by their distance from Rock, with the one closest to Rock listed first.
Wytheville (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
Kent (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
Kent is located in Wythe County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kent
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Rock, see our County-by-County Page for Rock .
Cemeteries Near Rock ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Rock.
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 Rock - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Rock covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Rock, with the one closest to Rock listed first.
Neal Cemetery (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
Hall Cemetery (Less than 2 miles to the west)
Davidson Cemetery (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
Wright Cemetery (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
St. Peters Lutheran Cemetery (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
Harless Cemetery (Less than 2 miles to the west)
King Cemetery (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
Herndon Cemetery (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
Bailey Cemetery (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
Wall Cemetery (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
Sandlick Cemetery (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
Terry Cemetery (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
Continue List (371 more) ...
Tabor Cemetery (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
Tiller Cemetery (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
Donley Cemetery (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
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 Rock in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Rock.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Rock, with the one closest to Rock listed first.
Duhring (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
Duhring is also located in Mercer County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duhring Flipping (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
Flipping is also located in Mercer County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flipping New Hope (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
New Hope is also located in Mercer County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Hope Lashmeet (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
Lashmeet is also located in Mercer County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lashmeet Bramwell (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
Freeman (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
Freeman is also located in Mercer County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeman Pinoak (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
Pinoak is also located in Mercer County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinoak Coopers (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
Coopers is also located in Mercer County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coopers Abbs Valley ‑ Historic(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
Abbs Valley was located in Mercer County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abbs Valley Bluefield (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
Ada (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
Ada is also located in Mercer County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ada Princeton (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
Continue List (14 more) ...
Coaldale (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
Coaldale is also located in Mercer County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coaldale Pocahontas (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
Pocahontas is located in Tazewell County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pocahontas Population from the 2020 Census: 348 people
Falls Mills (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
Falls Mills is located in Tazewell County (VA) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falls Mills
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Rock. See our List of 1890's Communities around Rock .
Newspapers Published in Rock ...
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 24 newspapers that have been published in the area around Rock.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Rock, there are papers which were published within 15 miles [24.1 km]<3> Extended Newspaper List for Rock.
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 Rock:
Websites specific to West Virginia Pages specific to Mercer County Genealogy information for nearby counties
Logan County McDowell County Monroe County Raleigh County Summers County Wyoming County Bland County Buchanan County Giles County Pulaski County Tazewell County Wythe County Cemetery Information and Directories for West Virginia Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Rock. 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 Rock, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Rock) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.