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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 Perdido Beach (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 Perdido Beach. 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 Perdido Beach ...

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 Perdido Beach: Perdido Bch.

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.

A Few Details for Perdido Beach ...

While it's still very early in our research, we found that:

  • Perdido Beach was established in 1901.
  • It was incorporated on April 21, 2009.

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 hospitals and 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.

Perdido Beach is located in Baldwin County.

To see how the shape of Alabama's counties have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Baldwin County: Clarke, Escambia, Mobile, Monroe, Washington & Escambia (FL).

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

  • Baldwin County     (The home county of Perdido Beach)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Perdido Beach, with the one closest to Perdido Beach listed first.
    • Orange Beach
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Orange Beach have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orange Beach
      • Orange Beach is located in Baldwin County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,343 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Orange Beach <2>
    • Lillian
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lillian have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lillian
      • Lillian is located in Baldwin County
    • Elberta
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elberta have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elberta
      • Elberta is located in Baldwin County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,753 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elberta <2>
    • Seminole
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Seminole have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seminole
      • Seminole is located in Baldwin County
    • Foley
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foley
      • Foley is located in Baldwin County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 21,446 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Foley <2>
    • Gulf Shores
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gulf Shores have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gulf Shores
      • Gulf Shores is located in Baldwin County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 13,166 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gulf Shores <2>
    • Bon Secour
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bon Secour have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bon Secour
      • Bon Secour is located in Baldwin County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bon Secour <2>
    • Summerdale
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Summerdale have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summerdale
      • Summerdale is located in Baldwin County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,792 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Summerdale <2>
    • Oyster Bay
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oyster Bay
      • Oyster Bay is located in Baldwin County
    • Magnolia Springs
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Robertsdale
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Robertsdale have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robertsdale
      • Robertsdale is located in Baldwin County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,030 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Robertsdale <2>
    • Gasque
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gasque have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gasque
      • Gasque is located in Baldwin County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gasque <2>
  • Escambia County (FL)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Perdido Beach, with the one closest to Perdido Beach listed first.
    • Gulf Beach Heights
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gulf Beach Heights
      • Gulf Beach Heights is located in Escambia County (FL)
    • Gulf Beach ‑ Historic
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gulf Beach
      • Gulf Beach is located in Escambia County (FL)
    • Perdido Key
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Myrtle Grove
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Myrtle Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Myrtle Grove
      • Myrtle Grove is located in Escambia County (FL)
    • Bellview
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bellview have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellview
      • Bellview is located in Escambia County (FL)
    • Warrington
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Warrington have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warrington
      • Warrington is located in Escambia County (FL)
    • West Pensacola
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Pensacola have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Pensacola
      • West Pensacola is located in Escambia County (FL)
    • Sanders Beach
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sanders Beach
      • Sanders Beach is located in Escambia County (FL)
    • Tristan Village
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tristan Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tristan Village
      • Tristan Village is located in Escambia County (FL)
    • Goulding
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goulding
      • Goulding is located in Escambia County (FL)
    • Brent
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brent have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brent
      • Brent is located in Escambia County (FL)
    • Ensley
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
  • Santa Rosa County (FL)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Perdido Beach, with the one closest to Perdido Beach listed first.
    • Gulf Breeze
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Pace
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)

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

Newspapers Published in Perdido Beach ...

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 71 newspapers that have been published in the area around Perdido Beach.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Perdido Beach, there are papers which were published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Perdido Beach.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 Perdido Beach:

Cemeteries Near Perdido Beach ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Perdido Beach.

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

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

  • Josephine Gardens
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Community Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Prince of Peace Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Prince of Peace Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Prince of Peace Cemetery
  • Nix Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Nix Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<5>
    • The Nix Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Nix Family Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Nix Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2208378 <4>
  • Fell Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fell Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fell Cemetery
  • St. Marks Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Marks Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Marks Cemetery
  • Lay Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Gilley Memorial Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Gilley Memorial Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Gilley Memorial Cemetery
  • Milsted Family Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Mitchell Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mitchell Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mitchell Cemetery
  • Pleasant View Baptist Church Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Creek Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Creek Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Creek Cemetery
  • Continue List   (67 more) ...
    • Cook Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Cook Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<5>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cook Cemetery
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2400875 <4>
    • Fishermans Baptist Church Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Chasefield Plantation Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Chasefield Plantation Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Chasefield Plantation Cemetery

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>

While we didn't find Perdido Beach in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Perdido Beach.

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

  • Josephine
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Josephine have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Josephine
    • Josephine is located in Baldwin County
  • Perdido Key
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Swift
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Swift have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swift
    • Swift is located in Baldwin County
  • Millview
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Millview have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millview
    • Millview is located in Escambia County (FL)
  • Bon Secour
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bon Secour have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bon Secour
    • Bon Secour is located in Baldwin County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bon Secour <2>
  • Warrington
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Warrington have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warrington
    • Warrington is located in Escambia County (FL)
  • Magnolia Springs
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
  • Pensacola
    (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pensacola
    • Pensacola is located in Escambia County (FL)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 53,142 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pensacola <2>
  • Goulding
    (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goulding
    • Goulding is located in Escambia County (FL)
  • Brent
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brent have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brent
    • Brent is located in Escambia County (FL)
  • Olive
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Olive have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olive
    • Olive is located in Escambia County (FL)
  • Gasque
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gasque have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gasque
    • Gasque is located in Baldwin County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gasque <2>
  • Continue List   (12 more) ...
    • Muscogee
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Muscogee
      • Muscogee is located in Escambia County (FL)
    • Marlow
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Marlow have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marlow
      • Marlow is located in Baldwin County
    • Ferry Pass
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ferry Pass have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ferry Pass
      • Ferry Pass is located in Escambia County (FL)

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

The official website for Perdido Beach: www.townofperdidobeach.org/

The official website for Baldwin County: www.co.baldwin.al.us/

The official website for State of Alabama: https://www.alabama.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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Perdido Beach) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Perdido Beach. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 30.3454, Longitude: -87.5060    
<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>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.
<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 Perdido Beach, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024