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 Berry (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 Berry. 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 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 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.
Berry is located in Fayette 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 Fayette County: Lamar, Marion, Pickens, Tuscaloosa & Walker.
Below are the counties that are near Berry. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Berry:
- Fayette County (The home county of Berry)
- The following are listed by their distance from Berry, with the one closest to Berry listed first.
- Alta
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Bankston
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Rossland City
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Rossland City is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rossland City
- Fayette
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Old Town
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Old Town is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Town
- Bazemore
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Belk
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Belk is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belk
- Population from the 2020 Census: 206 people
- Glen Allen
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Kirkland
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Ashcraft Corner
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Bluff
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Bluff is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluff
- Gu - Win
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Jefferson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Berry, with the one closest to Berry listed first.
- Toadvine
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Black Creek
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Short Creek
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Oak Grove
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Oak Grove is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
- West Jefferson
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- West Jefferson is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Jefferson
- Population from the 2020 Census: 415 people
- Ezra
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Ezra is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ezra
- Lamar County
- The following are listed by their distance from Berry, with the one closest to Berry listed first.
- Kennedy
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Kennedy is located in Lamar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kennedy
- Population from the 2020 Census: 421 people
- Hightogy
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Millport
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Vernon
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Beaverton
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Marion County
- The following are listed by their distance from Berry, with the one closest to Berry listed first.
- Winfield
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Rock City
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Rock City is located in Marion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock City
- Brilliant
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Guin
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Twin
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Yampertown
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Stinson
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Pickens County
- The following are listed by their distance from Berry, with the one closest to Berry listed first.
- Lubbub
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Gordo
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Bell
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Reform
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Tuscaloosa County
- The following are listed by their distance from Berry, with the one closest to Berry listed first.
- New Lexington
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Samantha
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Lake Front Village
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Lake Front Village is located in Tuscaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Front Village
- Echola
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Echola is located in Tuscaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Echola
- Bull City
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Bull City is located in Tuscaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bull City
- Kellerman
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Wood Village
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Wood Village is located in Tuscaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wood Village
- Buhl
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Buhl is located in Tuscaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buhl
- Coker
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Elrod
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Elrod is located in Tuscaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elrod
- Northport
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Holt
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Holt is located in Tuscaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holt
- Walker County
- The following are listed by their distance from Berry, with the one closest to Berry listed first.
- Patton Junction ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Corona
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Patton
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Coal Valley
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Oakman
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Townley
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Townley is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Townley
- Carbon Hill
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Kansas
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Eldridge
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Parrish
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- America
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Prospect
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Winston County
- The following are listed by their distance from Berry, with the one closest to Berry listed first.
- Farriss
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Lynn
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Natural Bridge
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Berry, see our County-by-County Page for Berry.
Cemeteries Near Berry ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Berry.
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 Berry - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Berry covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Berry, with the one closest to Berry listed first.
- Berry City Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Pleasant Hill Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Tabernacle Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Madison Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Bethabara Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Cedar Creek Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Pendley Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Beaven Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Cleveland Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Jenkins Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Bankston Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Shady Grove Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (559 more) ...
- Adams Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Adams - Pinion Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Alta Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 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.<4>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Berry had railroad service and no post office. In 2020, Berry had a population of 1,086 people.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Berry, with the one closest to Berry listed first.
- Alta
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Bankston
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- New Lexington
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Corona
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Stough
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Stough is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stough
- Patton
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Wiley
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Wiley is located in Tuscaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wiley
- Coal Valley
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Newtonville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Newtonville is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newtonville
- Townley
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Townley is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Townley
- Samantha
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Carbon Hill
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Continue List (17 more) ...
- Kansas
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Covin
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Covin is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Covin
- Moore's Bridge
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Moore's Bridge is located in Tuscaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moore's Bridge
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Berry. See our List of 1890's Communities around Berry.
Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Berry ...
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 34 newspapers that have been published in the area around Berry.
We have organized these newspapers into two lists:
- A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Berry. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Berry and those printed in the larger area surrounding Berry.
- An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 22 miles [35.4 km]<2> of Berry.
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 Berry:
- Websites specific to Alabama
- Pages specific to Fayette County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Jefferson County
- Lamar County
- Marion County
- Pickens County
- Tuscaloosa County
- Walker County
- Winston County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Alabama
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> | 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- Berry) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <3> | 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. |
| <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 Berry, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |