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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 Spanish Fort (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 Spanish Fort. 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 Spanish Fort ...

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 Spanish Fort: Spanish Ft. (or less commonly used: Spanish Frt.)

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 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.

Spanish Fort 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 Spanish Fort. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Spanish Fort:

  • Baldwin County     (The home county of Spanish Fort)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spanish Fort, with the one closest to Spanish Fort listed first.
    • Park City
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Park City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park City
      • Park City is located in Baldwin County
    • Daphne
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Daphne have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Daphne
      • Daphne is located in Baldwin County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 27,719 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Daphne <2>
    • Bromley
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bromley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bromley
      • Bromley is located in Baldwin County
    • Montrose
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Stapleton
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Loxley
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Loxley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loxley
      • Loxley is located in Baldwin County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,329 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Loxley <2>
    • Fairhope
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Silverhill
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Silverhill have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silverhill
      • Silverhill is located in Baldwin County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,285 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Silverhill <2>
    • Point Clear
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Point Clear have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Point Clear
      • Point Clear is located in Baldwin County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Point Clear <2>
    • Clay City
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clay City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clay City
      • Clay City is located in Baldwin County
    • Robertsdale
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • 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>
    • Bay Minette
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bay Minette have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bay Minette
      • Bay Minette is located in Baldwin County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,509 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bay Minette <2>
  • Mobile County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spanish Fort, with the one closest to Spanish Fort listed first.
    • Mobile
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Chickasaw
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chickasaw have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chickasaw
      • Chickasaw is located in Mobile County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,659 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Chickasaw <2>
    • Prichard
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Eight Mile
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eight Mile have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eight Mile
      • Eight Mile is located in Mobile County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Eight Mile <2>
    • Satsuma
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Satsuma have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Satsuma
      • Satsuma is located in Mobile County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,206 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Satsuma <2>
    • Country Club Village
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Country Club Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Country Club Village
      • Country Club Village is located in Mobile County
    • Creola
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Creola have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Creola
      • Creola is located in Mobile County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,032 people
    • Saraland
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saraland have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saraland
      • Saraland is located in Mobile County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 14,671 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Saraland <2>
    • Tillmans Corner
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tillmans Corner
      • Tillmans Corner is located in Mobile County
    • Bellefontaine
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellefontaine
      • Bellefontaine is located in Mobile County
    • Theodore
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Theodore have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Theodore
      • Theodore is located in Mobile County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Theodore <2>
    • Axis
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Axis
      • Axis is located in Mobile County
  • Escambia County (FL)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spanish Fort, with the one closest to Spanish Fort listed first.
    • Walnut Hill
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Barrineau Park
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barrineau Park
      • Barrineau Park is located in Escambia County (FL)

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

Newspapers Published in Spanish Fort ...

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 146 newspapers that have been published in the area around Spanish Fort.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Spanish Fort, there are papers which were published within 16 miles [25.7 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Spanish Fort.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to 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 Spanish Fort:

Cemeteries Near Spanish Fort ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Spanish Fort.

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 Spanish Fort covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Wilson Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wilson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wilson Cemetery
  • D'Olive Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the D'Olive Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the D'Olive Cemetery
  • Mt. Aid Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Aid Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Aid Cemetery
  • Silbley Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Silbley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Silbley Cemetery
  • Alabama State Veterans Memorial Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Blakeley Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Blakeley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Blakeley Cemetery
  • Malbis Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Malbis Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Malbis Cemetery
  • Bromley Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Saluda Hill Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Saluda Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Saluda Hill Cemetery
  • Christ the King Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Christ the King Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Christ the King Cemetery
  • Wilkins Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wilkins Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wilkins Cemetery
  • Montrose Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Montrose Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Montrose Cemetery
  • Continue List   (184 more) ...
    • Belforest Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Johnson Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Westview Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Westview Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Westview 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.<5>

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

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

  • Daphne
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Daphne have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Daphne
    • Daphne is located in Baldwin County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 27,719 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Daphne <2>
  • Bromley
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bromley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bromley
    • Bromley is located in Baldwin County
  • Montrose
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Mobile
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Plateau
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Plateau have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plateau
    • Plateau is located in Mobile County
  • Cox
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cox have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cox
    • Cox is located in Mobile County
  • Prichard
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Whistler
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Whistler have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whistler
    • Whistler is located in Mobile County
  • Rosinton
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rosinton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosinton
    • Rosinton is located in Baldwin County
  • Spring Hill
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spring Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Hill
    • Spring Hill is located in Mobile County
  • Point Clear
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Point Clear have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Point Clear
    • Point Clear is located in Baldwin County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Point Clear <2>
  • D'Olive
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for D'Olive have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for D'Olive
    • D'Olive is located in Baldwin County
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Creola
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Creola have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Creola
      • Creola is located in Mobile County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,032 people
    • Marlow
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • 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
    • Bay Minette
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bay Minette have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bay Minette
      • Bay Minette is located in Baldwin County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,509 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bay Minette <2>

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

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Spanish Fort. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

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' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Spanish Fort) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Spanish Fort. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 30.6787, Longitude: -87.9135    
<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>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 Spanish Fort, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024