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 Bells Crossroads (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 Bells Crossroads. 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 Bells Crossroads ...
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 occur.
- A typical abbreviation for Bells Crossroads: Bells Xrds.
- While the name of this community is Bells Crossroads, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Bells Crossroads may originally have been Bell's Crossroads.
Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Bells Crossroads might be written as Bell Crossroads.
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Bells Crossroads. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Bells Crossroads.
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 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.
Bells Crossroads is located in Dale 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 Dale County: Barbour, Coffee, Geneva, Henry, Houston & Pike.
Below are the counties that are near Bells Crossroads. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Bells Crossroads:
- Dale County (The home county of Bells Crossroads)
- The following are listed by their distance from Bells Crossroads, with the one closest to Bells Crossroads listed first.
- Bertha
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Bertha is located in Dale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bertha
- Clopton
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Clopton is located in Dale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clopton
- Skipperville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Skipperville is located in Dale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skipperville
- Mabson
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Mabson is located in Dale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mabson
- Arguta
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Arguta is located in Dale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arguta
- Ewell
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Ewell is located in Dale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ewell
- Phillips Crossroads
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Phillips Crossroads is located in Dale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Phillips Crossroads
- Ozark
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Midland City
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Napier Field
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Napier Field is located in Dale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Napier Field
- Population from the 2020 Census: 344 people
- Newton
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Newton is located in Dale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,451 people
- Grimes
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Grimes is located in Dale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grimes
- Population from the 2020 Census: 556 people
- Pinckard
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Barbour County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bells Crossroads, with the one closest to Bells Crossroads listed first.
- Blue Springs
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Blue Springs is located in Barbour County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Springs
- Population from the 2020 Census: 86 people
- Clio
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Elamville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Elamville is located in Barbour County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elamville
- Louisville
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Louisville is located in Barbour County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Louisville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 457 people
- Bakerhill
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Bakerhill is located in Barbour County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bakerhill
- Population from the 2020 Census: 229 people
- Cotton Hill
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Cotton Hill is located in Barbour County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cotton Hill
- Clayton
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Coffee County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bells Crossroads, with the one closest to Bells Crossroads listed first.
- Java
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Java is located in Coffee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Java
- Roeton
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Roeton is located in Coffee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roeton
- Frisco
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Frisco is located in Coffee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frisco
- Enterprise
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Clintonville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Clintonville is located in Coffee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clintonville
- Mixson
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Mixson is located in Coffee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mixson
- New Brockton
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Geneva County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bells Crossroads, with the one closest to Bells Crossroads listed first.
- Malvern
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Slocomb
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Dundee
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Dundee is located in Geneva County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dundee
- Henry County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bells Crossroads, with the one closest to Bells Crossroads listed first.
- Capps
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Capps is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Capps
- Newville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Newville is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 510 people
- Oakey Grove
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Oakey Grove is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakey Grove
- Graball
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Graball is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graball
- Former names for Graball:
- Hart's Crossroads
- Hudspeth's Crossroads
- Abbeville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Headland
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Shorterville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Shorterville is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shorterville
- Haleburg
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Haleburg is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haleburg
- Population from the 2020 Census: 98 people
- Screamer
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Screamer is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Screamer
- Houston County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bells Crossroads, with the one closest to Bells Crossroads listed first.
- Kinsey
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Kinsey is located in Houston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kinsey
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,293 people
- Tidwell
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Tidwell is located in Houston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tidwell
- Dothan
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Webb
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Parish
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Williams
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Williams is located in Houston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williams
- Cowarts
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Barber
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Barber is located in Houston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barber
- Parker Village
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Parker Village is located in Houston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parker Village
- Taylor
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Taylor is located in Houston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taylor
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,440 people
- Avon
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Avon is located in Houston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avon
- Population from the 2020 Census: 510 people
- Columbia
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Ashford
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Pike County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bells Crossroads, with the one closest to Bells Crossroads listed first.
- Tennille
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Tennille is located in Pike County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tennille
- Brundidge
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Buckhorn
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Buckhorn is located in Pike County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckhorn
- Pronto
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Pronto is located in Pike County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pronto
- Tarentum
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Tarentum is located in Pike County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tarentum
- Banks
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Clay County (GA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Bells Crossroads, with the one closest to Bells Crossroads listed first.
- Oketeyeconne ‑ Historic
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Oketeyeconne is located in Clay County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oketeyeconne
- Fort Gaines
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Early County (GA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Bells Crossroads, with the one closest to Bells Crossroads listed first.
- Rock Hill
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Rock Hill is located in Early County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Hill
- Population from the 2010 Census: 248 people
- Sawhatchee
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Sawhatchee is located in Early County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sawhatchee
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Bells Crossroads, see our County-by-County Page for Bells Crossroads.
Cemeteries Near Bells Crossroads ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Bells Crossroads.
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 Bells Crossroads - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Bells Crossroads covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Bells Crossroads, with the one closest to Bells Crossroads listed first.
- New Hope Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Dykes Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Salem Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Echo Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Omega Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Old Center Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Mt. Carmel Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Old Wiggins Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- St. Johns Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Abbeville Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Beersheba Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Mt. Pisgah Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Continue List (274 more) ...
- Magnolia Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Asbury Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Peniel Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
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 Bells Crossroads in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Bells Crossroads.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Bells Crossroads, with the one closest to Bells Crossroads listed first.
- Bertha
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Bertha is located in Dale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bertha
- Echo
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Echo is located in Dale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Echo
- Asbury
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Asbury is located in Dale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Asbury
- Clopton
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Clopton is located in Dale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clopton
- Skipperville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Skipperville is located in Dale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skipperville
- Arguta
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Arguta is located in Dale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arguta
- Ewell
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Ewell is located in Dale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ewell
- Ozark
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Abbeville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Headland
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Newton
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Newton is located in Dale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,451 people
- Midland City
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Lawrenceville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Lawrenceville is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawrenceville
- Dillard
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Dillard is located in Dale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dillard
- Balkum
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Balkum is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Balkum
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Bells Crossroads. See our List of 1890's Communities around Bells Crossroads.
Newspapers Published in Bells Crossroads ...
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 68 newspapers that have been published in the area around Bells Crossroads.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Bells Crossroads, there are papers which were published within 22 miles [35.4 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Bells Crossroads.
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 professional and volunteer 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 Bells Crossroads:
- Websites specific to Alabama
- Pages specific to Dale County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Barbour County
- Coffee County
- Geneva County
- Henry County
- Houston County
- Pike County
- Clay County
- Early County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Alabama
Footnotes ...
| <1> | It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties). |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 Bells Crossroads, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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- Bells Crossroads) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |