RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Alabama >> Bibb County >> Belle Ellen >> Genealogy HelperIndex...

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 Belle Ellen (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 Belle Ellen. 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 southwest 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 south.

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 south 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.

Belle Ellen is located in Bibb County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Bibb County: Chilton, Hale, Jefferson, Perry, Shelby & Tuscaloosa.

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

  • Bibb County     (The home county of Belle Ellen)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Belle Ellen, with the one closest to Belle Ellen listed first.
    • Nash Town ‑ Historic
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Nash Town is located in Bibb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nash Town
    • Seymour
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Seymour is located in Bibb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seymour
    • Cane Creek ‑ Historic
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Cane Creek is located in Bibb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cane Creek
    • Blocton ‑ Historic
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Blocton is located in Bibb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blocton
    • Corinne ‑ Historic
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Corinne is located in Bibb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corinne
    • Italian Town
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Italian Town is located in Bibb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Italian Town
    • Bucktown ‑ Historic
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Bucktown is located in Bibb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bucktown
    • West Blocton
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Eddings
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Eddings is located in Bibb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eddings
    • Burmah ‑ Historic
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Burmah is located in Bibb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burmah
    • Fikestown ‑ Historic
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Fikestown is located in Bibb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fikestown
    • Woodstock
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Chilton County
  • Hale County
  • Jefferson County
  • Perry County
  • Shelby County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Belle Ellen, with the one closest to Belle Ellen listed first.
    • Aden
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Sawmill Town
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Sawmill Town is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sawmill Town
    • Wilton
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Wilton is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 684 people
      • Former names for Wilton:
      • Birmingham Junction
      • Bismarck
      • Catoosa
      • Woods
      • Woodsborough
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Wilton
      • From Belle Ellen to Wilton
    • Montevallo
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Bamford
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Bamford is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bamford
    • Brantleyville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Maylene
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Tulse
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Tulse is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tulse
    • Alabaster
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Helena
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Siluria
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Falliston
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Falliston is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falliston
  • Tuscaloosa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Belle Ellen, with the one closest to Belle Ellen listed first.
    • Tannehill
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Tannehill is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tannehill
    • Vance
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Vance is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vance
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,807 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Vance <1>
    • Lake View
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Abernant
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Pearson
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Brookwood
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Coaling
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Coaling is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coaling
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,633 people
    • Hagler
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Kellerman
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Duncanville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Duncanville is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duncanville
    • Peterson
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Bull City
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Bull City is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bull City

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

Cemeteries Near Belle Ellen ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Belle Ellen.

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 Belle Ellen - one of the links might be able to help.

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Belle Ellen covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Belle Ellen, with the one closest to Belle Ellen 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.<4>

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

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

  • Blocton ‑ Historic
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Blocton is located in Bibb County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blocton
  • Anita
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Anita is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anita
  • Boothton
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Boothton is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boothton
  • Gurnee
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Gurnee is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gurnee
  • Woodstock
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Green Pond
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Blocton Junction
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Bibbville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Bibbville is located in Bibb County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bibbville
  • Chamblee
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Chamblee is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chamblee
  • Giles
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Giles is located in Bibb County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Giles
  • Tannehill
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Tannehill is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tannehill
  • Scottsville
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Ashby
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Brierfield
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Dogwood
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Dogwood is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dogwood

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

Newspapers Published in Belle Ellen ...

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 26 newspapers that have been published in the area around Belle Ellen.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Belle Ellen, there are papers which were published within 13 miles [20.9 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Belle Ellen.

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 Belle Ellen:

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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Belle Ellen) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<4>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 Belle Ellen, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.