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 Spy 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 Spy 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.
Spy Rock is located in Fayette County.
To see how the shape of West Virginia's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Fayette County: Greenbrier, Kanawha, Nicholas, Raleigh & Summers.
Below are the counties that are near Spy Rock. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Spy Rock:
- Fayette County (The home county of Spy Rock)
- The following are listed by their distance from Spy Rock, with the one closest to Spy Rock listed first.
- Lookout
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Keeneys Creek
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Keeneys Creek is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keeneys Creek
- Clifftop
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Grayden
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Grayden is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grayden
- Kaymoor ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Kaymoor is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kaymoor
- Clifty
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Clifty is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clifty
- Hilton Village
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Hilton Village is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilton Village
- Garten
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Garten is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garten
- Sewell ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Sewell is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sewell
- Fayette
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Fayette is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fayette
- Lansing
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- East Sewell ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- East Sewell is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Sewell
- Boone County
- Whitesville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Whitesville is located in Boone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitesville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 416 people
- Former names for Whitesville:
- Jarrods Valley
- Pritchard City
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Whitesville <1>
- Clay County
- The following are listed by their distance from Spy Rock, with the one closest to Spy Rock listed first.
- Hartland
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Hartland is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartland
- Clay
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Elkhurst
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Elkhurst is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkhurst
- Widen
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Widen is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Widen
- Spread
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Spread is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spread
- Bomont
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Bomont is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bomont
- Harrison
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Harrison is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrison
- Wattsville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Wattsville is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wattsville
- Greenbrier County
- The following are listed by their distance from Spy Rock, with the one closest to Spy Rock listed first.
- Charmco
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Hines
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Hines is located in Greenbrier County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hines
- McRoss
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- McRoss is located in Greenbrier County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McRoss
- Rainelle
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Crichton
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Crichton is located in Greenbrier County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crichton
- Orient Hill
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Orient Hill is located in Greenbrier County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orient Hill
- Quinwood
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Quinwood is located in Greenbrier County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quinwood
- Population from the 2020 Census: 260 people
- Brushy Junction ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Brushy Junction is located in Greenbrier County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brushy Junction
- Rupert
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Lile
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Lile is located in Greenbrier County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lile
- Vale
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Vale is located in Greenbrier County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vale
- Crawley
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Kanawha County
- The following are listed by their distance from Spy Rock, with the one closest to Spy Rock listed first.
- Handley
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Handley is located in Kanawha County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Handley
- Population from the 2020 Census: 309 people
- Hugheston
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Hugheston is located in Kanawha County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hugheston
- Carbon
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Carbon is located in Kanawha County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carbon
- Pratt
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Pratt is located in Kanawha County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pratt
- Population from the 2020 Census: 552 people
- Hollygrove
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Hollygrove is located in Kanawha County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollygrove
- Hollygrove has also been known as:
- Hollygrove Station
- Hudnall
- Eskdale
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Eskdale is located in Kanawha County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eskdale
- Acme
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Acme is located in Kanawha County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acme
- Glasgow
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Ronda
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Ronda is located in Kanawha County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ronda
- Cedar Grove
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Cedar Grove is located in Kanawha County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Grove
- Population from the 2020 Census: 897 people
- Dry Branch
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Dry Branch is located in Kanawha County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dry Branch
- East Bank
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- East Bank is located in Kanawha County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Bank
- Population from the 2020 Census: 857 people
- Nicholas County
- The following are listed by their distance from Spy Rock, with the one closest to Spy Rock listed first.
- Runa
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Runa is located in Nicholas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Runa
- Albion ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Albion is located in Nicholas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albion
- Keslers Cross Lanes
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Keslers Cross Lanes is located in Nicholas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keslers Cross Lanes
- Morrison ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Morrison is located in Nicholas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morrison
- Snow Hill
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Snow Hill is located in Nicholas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Snow Hill
- Tipton
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Tipton is located in Nicholas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tipton
- Zela
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Zela is located in Nicholas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zela
- Beech Glen
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Beech Glen is located in Nicholas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beech Glen
- Carl
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Carl is located in Nicholas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carl
- Peaser Junction ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Peaser Junction is located in Nicholas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peaser Junction
- Odell Town
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Odell Town is located in Nicholas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Odell Town
- Odell Town has also been known as:
- Odell
- Summersville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Raleigh County
- The following are listed by their distance from Spy Rock, with the one closest to Spy Rock listed first.
- Royal ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Royal is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Royal
- Terry
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Terry is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Terry
- Grandview
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Grandview is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grandview
- Bradley
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Bradley is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bradley
- Piney View
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Piney View is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Piney View
- Abraham
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Abraham is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abraham
- Stanaford
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Stanaford is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stanaford
- Prosperity
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Prosperity is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prosperity
- Skelton
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Skelton is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skelton
- White Stick
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- White Stick is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Stick
- Clifftop
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Clifftop is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clifftop
- Sprague
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Sprague is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sprague
- Summers County
- The following are listed by their distance from Spy Rock, with the one closest to Spy Rock listed first.
- New Richmond ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- New Richmond is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Richmond
- Sandstone
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Brooklin
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Brooklin is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brooklin
- Hinton
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Jumping Branch
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Jumping Branch is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jumping Branch
- Bellepoint
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Bellepoint is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellepoint
- Nimitz
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Nimitz is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nimitz
- Packs Ferry
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Packs Ferry is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Packs Ferry
- Webster County
- Camden-on-Gauley
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Camden-on-Gauley is located in Webster County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camden-on-Gauley
- Population from the 2020 Census: 143 people
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Spy Rock, see our County-by-County Page for Spy Rock.
Cemeteries Near Spy Rock ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Spy 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 Spy Rock - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Spy Rock covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Spy Rock, with the one closest to Spy Rock listed first.
- Jennette Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Tyree Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Willis Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Legg Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Pierce Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Pleasant View Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Amick Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Rider Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- White Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Restlawn Memory Gardens
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Huse Memorial Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Smailes Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Continue List (285 more) ...
- Mt. Lookout Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Shuck Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Pleasant Hill Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
Nearby Communities in 1895 ...
We've built the following list with information that came from an Atlas published by Rand McNally in 1895. The Atlas had details such as the population of the community (which appears to have come from the 1890 Census) and whether there was a post office and/or railroad service available. We also indicate if the community no longer exists and is now historic.<3>
While we didn't find Spy Rock in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Spy Rock.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Spy Rock, with the one closest to Spy Rock listed first.
- Lookout
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Edmond
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Edmond is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edmond
- Beauty
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Beauty is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beauty
- Nuttalburg ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Nuttalburg is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nuttalburg
- Keeneys Creek
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Keeneys Creek is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keeneys Creek
- Caperton
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Caperton is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caperton
- Clifftop
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Russellville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Russellville is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Russellville
- Sewell ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Sewell is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sewell
- Clifty
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Clifty is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clifty
- Mountain Cove
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Mountain Cove is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Cove
- Lansing
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Continue List (20 more) ...
- Fayette
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Fayette is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fayette
- Gatewood
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Gatewood is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gatewood
- East Sewell ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- East Sewell is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Sewell
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Spy Rock. See our List of 1890's Communities around Spy Rock.
Newspapers Published in Spy 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 17 newspapers that have been published in the area around Spy Rock.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Spy Rock, 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 Spy Rock.
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 Spy Rock:
- Websites specific to West Virginia
- Pages specific to Fayette County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Boone County
- Clay County
- Greenbrier County
- Kanawha County
- Nicholas County
- Raleigh County
- Summers County
- Webster County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for West Virginia
Footnotes ...
| <1> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <2> | The Find-a-Grave website is an excellent research tool with information about a cemetery's location and interments. They also offer a forum for their members which can provide additional help. More information about Find-a-Grave can be found on their website: findagrave.com. |
| <3> | We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Spy Rock, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Spy Rock) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |