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 Blairs (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 Blairs. 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 Blairs ...
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.
While the name of this community is Blairs, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Blairs may originally have been Blair's.
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Blairs. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Blairs.
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 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.
Blairs is located in Covington 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 Covington County: Butler, Coffee, Conecuh, Crenshaw, Escambia, Geneva, Okaloosa (FL) & Walton (FL).
Below are the counties that are near Blairs. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Blairs:
- Covington County (The home county of Blairs)
- The following are listed by their distance from Blairs, with the one closest to Blairs listed first.
- County Line
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- County Line is located in Covington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for County Line
- Opp
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Opp is located in Covington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Opp
- Population from the 2020 Census: 6,313 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Opp <2>
- Beulah
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Beulah is located in Covington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beulah
- Onycha
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Onycha is located in Covington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Onycha
- Population from the 2020 Census: 180 people
- Babbie
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Babbie is located in Covington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Babbie
- Population from the 2020 Census: 599 people
- Horn Hill
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Horn Hill is located in Covington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horn Hill
- Population from the 2020 Census: 227 people
- Sanford
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Sanford is located in Covington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sanford
- Population from the 2020 Census: 259 people
- Antioch
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Antioch is located in Covington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Antioch
- Rose Hill
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Rose Hill is located in Covington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rose Hill
- Libertyville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Libertyville is located in Covington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Libertyville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 110 people
- Heath
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Heath is located in Covington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heath
- Population from the 2020 Census: 252 people
- Andalusia
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Red Oak
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Red Oak is located in Covington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Oak
- Butler County
- Oaky Streak
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Oaky Streak is located in Butler County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oaky Streak
- Coffee County
- The following are listed by their distance from Blairs, with the one closest to Blairs listed first.
- Kinston
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Alberton
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Alberton is located in Coffee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alberton
- Curtis
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Curtis is located in Coffee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Curtis
- Danleys Crossroads
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Danleys Crossroads is located in Coffee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Danleys Crossroads
- Goodman
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Goodman is located in Coffee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodman
- Elba
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Pine Level
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Pine Level is located in Coffee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Level
- Battens Crossroads
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Battens Crossroads is located in Coffee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Battens Crossroads
- Zoar
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Zoar is located in Coffee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zoar
- New Brockton
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Central City
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Central City is located in Coffee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central City
- Clintonville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Clintonville is located in Coffee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clintonville
- Enterprise
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Conecuh County
- Paul
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Paul is located in Conecuh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paul
- Crenshaw County
- The following are listed by their distance from Blairs, with the one closest to Blairs listed first.
- Dozier
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Bullock
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Bullock is located in Crenshaw County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bullock
- Brantley
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Leon
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Leon is located in Crenshaw County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leon
- Peacock ‑ Historic
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Peacock is located in Crenshaw County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peacock
- Merrill Mill
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Merrill Mill is located in Crenshaw County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merrill Mill
- Glenwood
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Dale County
- The following are listed by their distance from Blairs, with the one closest to Blairs listed first.
- Level Plains
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Level Plains is located in Dale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Level Plains
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,952 people
- Holiday Village
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Holiday Village is located in Dale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holiday Village
- Clayhatchee
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Clayhatchee is located in Dale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clayhatchee
- Population from the 2020 Census: 580 people
- Daleville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Fort Rucker
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Geneva County
- The following are listed by their distance from Blairs, with the one closest to Blairs listed first.
- Samson
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Coffee Springs
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Coffee Springs is located in Geneva County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coffee Springs
- Population from the 2020 Census: 220 people
- Chancellor
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Chancellor is located in Geneva County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chancellor
- Costilla ‑ Historic
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Costilla is located in Geneva County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Costilla
- Scranton
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Scranton is located in Geneva County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scranton
- Geneva
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Bellwood
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Bellwood is located in Geneva County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellwood
- Eunola ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Eunola is located in Geneva County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eunola
- Pike County
- The following are listed by their distance from Blairs, with the one closest to Blairs listed first.
- Henderson
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Henderson is located in Pike County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henderson
- Centre Ridge ‑ Historic
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Centre Ridge is located in Pike County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centre Ridge
- Okaloosa County (FL)
- The following are listed by their distance from Blairs, with the one closest to Blairs listed first.
- Svea
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Svea is located in Okaloosa County (FL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Svea
- Laurel Hill
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Walton County (FL)
- Paxton
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Blairs, see our County-by-County Page for Blairs.
Cemeteries Near Blairs ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Blairs.
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 Blairs - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Blairs covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Blairs, with the one closest to Blairs listed first.
- Bethany Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Peaceful Acres Memorial Gardens
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peaceful Acres Memorial Gardens
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Peaceful Acres Memorial Gardens is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the southeast of Opp.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #25315 <3>
- Beulah Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- New Chapel Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Rhoades Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Kinston Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- St. Pauls Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Brooklyn Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Adams Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Old Town Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Alberton Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Harrison Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Continue List (206 more) ...
- Mt. Zion Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Bethel Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Weeks Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
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 Blairs in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Blairs.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Blairs, with the one closest to Blairs listed first.
- Alberton
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Alberton is located in Coffee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alberton
- Opine
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Opine is located in Covington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Opine
- Green Bay
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Green Bay is located in Covington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Bay
- Wiggins
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Wiggins is located in Covington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wiggins
- Curtis
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Curtis is located in Coffee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Curtis
- Damascus
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Damascus is located in Coffee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Damascus
- Elba
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Edwardsville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Edwardsville is located in Coffee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edwardsville
- Rose Hill
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Rose Hill is located in Covington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rose Hill
- Andalusia
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Florala
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Marl
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Marl is located in Geneva County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marl
- Continue List (16 more) ...
- Dozier
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Coffee Springs
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Coffee Springs is located in Geneva County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coffee Springs
- Population from the 2020 Census: 220 people
- Bullock
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Bullock is located in Crenshaw County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bullock
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Blairs. See our List of 1890's Communities around Blairs.
Newspapers Published in Blairs ...
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 51 newspapers that have been published in the area around Blairs.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Blairs, there are papers which were published within 22 miles [35.4 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Blairs.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These websites either 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 Blairs:
- Websites specific to Alabama
- Pages specific to Covington County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Butler County
- Coffee County
- Conecuh County
- Crenshaw County
- Dale County
- Geneva County
- Pike County
- Okaloosa County
- Walton 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> | 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 Blairs, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <5> | 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 from Point A (ie- Blairs) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |