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 Brides Hill (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 Brides Hill. 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 Brides Hill ...
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 Brides Hill, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Brides Hill may originally have been Bride's Hill.
Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Brides Hill might be written as Bride Hill.
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 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.
Brides Hill is located in Lawrence 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 Lawrence County: Colbert, Cullman, Franklin, Limestone, Morgan & Winston.
Below are the counties that are near Brides Hill. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Brides Hill:
- Lawrence County (The home county of Brides Hill)
- The following are listed by their distance from Brides Hill, with the one closest to Brides Hill listed first.
- Hillsboro
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Courtland
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- North Courtland
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- North Courtland is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Courtland
- Population from the 2020 Census: 621 people
- Mountain Home
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Mountain Home is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Home
- Chalybeate Springs
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Chalybeate Springs is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chalybeate Springs
- Red Bank
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Red Bank is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Bank
- Town Creek
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Wheeler Dam Village
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Wheeler Dam Village is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheeler Dam Village
- Hatton
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Hatton is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hatton
- Moulton
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Edmond
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Edmond is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edmond
- Muck City
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Muck City is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Muck City
- Colbert County
- The following are listed by their distance from Brides Hill, with the one closest to Brides Hill listed first.
- Leighton
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Campbell Settlement ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Campbell Settlement is located in Colbert County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Campbell Settlement
- Ford City
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Ford City is located in Colbert County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ford City
- Nitrate City
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Nitrate City is located in Colbert County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nitrate City
- Davidsons Cross Roads ‑ Historic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Garner ‑ Historic
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Garner is located in Colbert County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garner
- Spring Valley
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Spring Valley is located in Colbert County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Valley
- Muscle Shoals
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Wilson Dam
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Wilson Dam is located in Colbert County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilson Dam
- Littleville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Littleville is located in Colbert County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Littleville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 992 people
- South Florence
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- South Florence is located in Colbert County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Florence
- White House Springs
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- White House Springs is located in Colbert County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White House Springs
- Franklin County
- The following are listed by their distance from Brides Hill, with the one closest to Brides Hill listed first.
- Russellville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Churntown
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Churntown is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Churntown
- Lauderdale County
- The following are listed by their distance from Brides Hill, with the one closest to Brides Hill listed first.
- Dells Vista Shores
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Dells Vista Shores is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dells Vista Shores
- Rogersville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Rogersville is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rogersville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,293 people
- Former name for Rogersville:
- Rodgersville
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rogersville <2>
- Confluence
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Confluence is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Confluence
- Estep ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Estep is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Estep
- Belleview ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Belleview is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belleview
- Cedar Hill
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Cedar Hill is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Hill
- Elgin
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Elgin is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elgin
- Beach Grove ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Beach Grove is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beach Grove
- Anderson
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Anderson is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anderson
- Population from the 2020 Census: 268 people
- Corum ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Corum is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corum
- Comer
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Comer is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Comer
- Killen
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Limestone County
- The following are listed by their distance from Brides Hill, with the one closest to Brides Hill listed first.
- Ripley
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Ripley is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ripley
- Poplar Creek
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Poplar Creek is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poplar Creek
- Lentzville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Lentzville is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lentzville
- Harris Station
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Harris Station is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harris Station
- Orrville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Orrville is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orrville
- Cairo
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Cairo is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cairo
- Tanner
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Athens
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Country Village
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Country Village is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Country Village
- Belle Mina
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Belle Mina is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belle Mina
- Mooresville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Hay's Mill
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Hay's Mill is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hay's Mill
- Madison County
- The following are listed by their distance from Brides Hill, with the one closest to Brides Hill listed first.
- Madison
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Triana
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Triana is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Triana
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,327 people
- Harvest
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Morgan County
- The following are listed by their distance from Brides Hill, with the one closest to Brides Hill listed first.
- Trinity
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Moulton Heights
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Moulton Heights is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moulton Heights
- Austinville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Austinville is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Austinville
- Decatur
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Decatur is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Decatur
- Population from the 2020 Census: 54,381 people
- Former names for Decatur:
- Albany
- New Decatur
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Decatur <2>
- Simpson
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Simpson is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Simpson
- Russell Village
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Russell Village is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Russell Village
- Flint City
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Flint City is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flint City
- Danville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Burningtree Mountain
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Burningtree Mountain is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burningtree Mountain
- Priceville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Hartselle
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Cedar Plains
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Cedar Plains is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Plains
- Winston County
- The following are listed by their distance from Brides Hill, with the one closest to Brides Hill listed first.
- Grayson
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Grayson is located in Winston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grayson
- Upshaw
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Upshaw is located in Winston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Upshaw
- Ellaville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Ellaville is located in Winston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellaville
- Giles County (TN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Brides Hill, with the one closest to Brides Hill listed first.
- Minor Hill
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Minor Hill is located in Giles County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minor Hill
- Population from the 2020 Census: 533 people
- Stella
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Stella is located in Giles County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stella
- Prospect
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Lawrence County (TN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Brides Hill, with the one closest to Brides Hill listed first.
- Appleton
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Appleton is located in Lawrence County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Appleton
- Rascal Town
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Rascal Town is located in Lawrence County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rascal Town
- Liberty Grove
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Liberty Grove is located in Lawrence County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty Grove
- Estimated population in 2014: 7,825 people
- Saint Joseph
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Loretto
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Brides Hill, see our County-by-County Page for Brides Hill.
Cemeteries Near Brides Hill ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Brides Hill.
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 Brides Hill - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Brides Hill covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Brides Hill, with the one closest to Brides Hill listed first.
- Brides Hill Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Wheeler Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Swoope Cemetery #1
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Sykes Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Owens Family Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Owens Family Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Owens Family Cemetery is located 3 miles [4.8 km]<3> to the southeast of Courtland.
- The Owens Family Cemetery has also been known as:
- Owens Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #25251 <4>
- Annie M. Willingham Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Annie M. Willingham Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Annie M. Willingham Cemetery is located 3 miles [4.8 km]<3> to the southeast of Courtland.
- The Annie M. Willingham Cemetery has also been known as:
- Willingham Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1960015 <4>
- Swoope Cemetery #3
- The Swoope Cemetery #3 is located on private property - be sure to secure permission before visiting.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swoope Cemetery #3
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #26563 <4>
- Swoope Cemetery #4
- The Swoope Cemetery #4 is located on private property - be sure to secure permission before visiting.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swoope Cemetery #4
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2437498 <4>
- Hacklin Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Cottingham Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Smith Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Graves Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Continue List (832 more) ...
- Barclay Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Swoope Cemetery #2
- The Swoope Cemetery #2 is located on private property - be sure to secure permission before visiting.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swoope Cemetery #2
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2381338 <4>
- Foster - Davis Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 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.<5>
While we didn't find Brides Hill in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Brides Hill.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Brides Hill, with the one closest to Brides Hill listed first.
- Hillsboro
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Courtland
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Mountain Home
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Mountain Home is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Home
- Ripley
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Ripley is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ripley
- Town Creek
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Poplar Creek
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Poplar Creek is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poplar Creek
- Rogersville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Rogersville is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rogersville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,293 people
- Former name for Rogersville:
- Rodgersville
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rogersville <2>
- Hatton
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Hatton is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hatton
- Moulton
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Blackburn
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Blackburn is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackburn
- Lentzville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Lentzville is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lentzville
- Edmond
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Edmond is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edmond
- Continue List (16 more) ...
- Bingham
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Bingham is located in Colbert County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bingham
- Concord
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Concord is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Concord
- Simpson
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Simpson is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Simpson
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Brides Hill. See our List of 1890's Communities around Brides Hill.
Newspapers Published in Brides Hill ...
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 33 newspapers that have been published in the area around Brides Hill.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Brides Hill, 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 Brides Hill.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we begin with 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 Brides Hill:
- Websites specific to Alabama
- Pages specific to Lawrence County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Colbert County
- Franklin County
- Lauderdale County
- Limestone County
- Madison County
- Morgan County
- Winston County
- Giles County
- Lawrence 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> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Brides Hill) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <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 Brides Hill, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |