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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 Shady Spring (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 Shady Spring. 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 Shady Spring ...

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 have occurred.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Shady Spring: Shady Spg. (or less commonly used: Shady Spng. or Shady Sprng.)

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

Shady Spring is located in Raleigh County.

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 Raleigh County: Boone, Fayette, Kanawha, Mercer, Summers & Wyoming.

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

  • Raleigh County     (The home county of Shady Spring)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shady Spring, with the one closest to Shady Spring listed first.
    • Daniels
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Daniels have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Daniels
      • Daniels is located in Raleigh County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Daniels <2>
    • Beaver
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Clifftop
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Tilden
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Raleigh
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Raleigh. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raleigh
      • Raleigh is located in Raleigh County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Raleigh
      • From Shady Spring to Raleigh
    • Sullivan
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Sullivan. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sullivan
      • Sullivan is located in Raleigh County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Sullivan
      • From Shady Spring to Sullivan
    • Beckley
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Coal City
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Coal City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coal City
      • Coal City is located in Raleigh County
    • Pemberton
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Pemberton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pemberton
      • Pemberton is located in Raleigh County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Pemberton
      • From Shady Spring to Pemberton
    • Mabscott
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mabscott have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mabscott
      • Mabscott is located in Raleigh County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,251 people
    • MacArthur
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for MacArthur have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for MacArthur
      • MacArthur is located in Raleigh County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for MacArthur <2>
    • Old Mill Village
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Old Mill Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Mill Village
      • Old Mill Village is located in Raleigh County
    • Crab Orchard
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crab Orchard have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crab Orchard
      • Crab Orchard is located in Raleigh County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Crab Orchard <2>
  • Boone County
  • Fayette County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shady Spring, with the one closest to Shady Spring listed first.
    • Prince
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Quinnimont
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • McKendree
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for McKendree have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McKendree
      • McKendree is located in Fayette County
    • Kilsyth
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Kilsyth. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kilsyth
      • Kilsyth is located in Fayette County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Kilsyth
      • From Shady Spring to Kilsyth
    • Mount Hope
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Hope have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Hope
      • Mount Hope is located in Fayette County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,259 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mount Hope <2>
    • Alaska ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alaska have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alaska
      • Alaska is located in Fayette County
    • Harvey
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Sewell Knob ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Sewell Knob. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sewell Knob
      • Sewell Knob is located in Fayette County
      • Sewell Knob has also been known as:
      • Swell Knob
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Sewell Knob
      • From Shady Spring to Sewell Knob
    • Stonecliff ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Stonecliff. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stonecliff
      • Stonecliff is located in Fayette County
      • Stonecliff has also been known as:
      • Stone Cliff
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Stonecliff
      • From Shady Spring to Stonecliff
    • White Oak Junction
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Newlyn ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Newlyn. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newlyn
      • Newlyn is located in Fayette County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Newlyn
      • From Shady Spring to Newlyn
    • Redstar
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Redstar. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redstar
      • Redstar is located in Fayette County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Redstar
      • From Shady Spring to Redstar
    • Pax
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pax have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pax
      • Pax is located in Fayette County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 150 people
  • Greenbrier County
  • Kanawha County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shady Spring, with the one closest to Shady Spring listed first.
    • Carbon
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Acme
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Logan County
  • McDowell County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shady Spring, with the one closest to Shady Spring listed first.
    • Northfork
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Northfork have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Northfork
      • Northfork is located in McDowell County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 322 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Northfork <2>
    • Elkhorn
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Keystone
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Keystone have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keystone
      • Keystone is located in McDowell County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 213 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Keystone <2>
    • Kyle
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Kyle. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kyle
      • Kyle is located in McDowell County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Kyle
      • From Shady Spring to Kyle
    • Kimball
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Big Four
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Mercer County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shady Spring, with the one closest to Shady Spring listed first.
    • Athens
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Lashmeet
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Matoaka
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Matoaka have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Matoaka
      • Matoaka is located in Mercer County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 193 people
    • Weyanoke
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Oak Grove
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Oak Grove. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
      • Oak Grove is located in Mercer County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Oak Grove
      • From Shady Spring to Oak Grove
    • Princeton
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Elgood
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Johnston Town
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Johnston Town have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnston Town
      • Johnston Town is located in Mercer County
    • Montcalm
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Montcalm have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montcalm
      • Montcalm is located in Mercer County
    • El Centro ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for El Centro have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for El Centro
      • El Centro is located in Mercer County
    • Flipping
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Flipping. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flipping
      • Flipping is located in Mercer County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Flipping
      • From Shady Spring to Flipping
    • Oakvale
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Blake ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Blake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blake
      • Blake is located in Mercer County
  • Monroe County
  • Summers County
  • Wyoming County
  • Giles County (VA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shady Spring, with the one closest to Shady Spring listed first.
    • Glen Lyn
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Glen Lyn. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Lyn
      • Glen Lyn is located in Giles County (VA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 97 people
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Glen Lyn
      • From Shady Spring to Glen Lyn
    • Lurich
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Lurich. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lurich
      • Lurich is located in Giles County (VA)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Lurich
      • From Shady Spring to Lurich
    • Rich Creek
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Narrows
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Narrows have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Narrows
      • Narrows is located in Giles County (VA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,949 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Narrows <2>
    • Shumate
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Shumate. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shumate
      • Shumate is located in Giles County (VA)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Shumate
      • From Shady Spring to Shumate
  • Tazewell County (VA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shady Spring, with the one closest to Shady Spring listed first.
    • Yards
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
    • Pocahontas
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Shady Spring ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Shady Spring.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Shady Spring, with the one closest to Shady Spring 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.<6>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Shady Spring had a population of 13 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Daniels
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Daniels have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Daniels
    • Daniels is located in Raleigh County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Daniels <2>
  • Crow
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crow have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crow
    • Crow is located in Raleigh County
  • Pemberton
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Pemberton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pemberton
    • Pemberton is located in Raleigh County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Pemberton
    • From Shady Spring to Pemberton
  • Jumping Branch
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Flat Top
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Flat Top have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flat Top
    • Flat Top is located in Mercer County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Flat Top <2>
  • Grandview
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Grandview. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grandview
    • Grandview is located in Raleigh County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Grandview
    • From Shady Spring to Grandview
  • Odd
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Odd have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Odd
    • Odd is located in Raleigh County
  • Ellison
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ellison have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellison
    • Ellison is located in Summers County
  • Glade
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Glade have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glade
    • Glade is located in Fayette County
  • Prosperity
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Quinnimont
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Prince
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Dunns
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dunns have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunns
      • Dunns is located in Mercer County
    • Hinton
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Brooks
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brooks have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brooks
      • Brooks is located in Summers County

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

Newspapers Published in Shady Spring ...

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 Shady Spring.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Shady Spring, there are papers which were published within 11 miles [17.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Shady Spring.

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 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 Shady Spring:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Shady Spring. 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>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Shady Spring) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Shady Spring. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.7056, Longitude: -81.0986    
<5>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.
<6>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 Shady Spring, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 31 Mar 2025