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 Brooks Acres (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 Brooks Acres. 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 Brooks Acres ...
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 Brooks Acres, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Brooks Acres may originally have been Brook's Acres.
Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Brooks Acres might be written as Brook Acres.
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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors 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.
Brooks Acres is located in Lauderdale 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 Lauderdale County: Colbert, Lawrence, Limestone, Tishomingo (MS), Giles (TN), Hardin (TN), Lawrence (TN) & Wayne (TN).
Below are the counties that are near Brooks Acres. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Brooks Acres:
- Lauderdale County (The home county of Brooks Acres)
- The following are listed by their distance from Brooks Acres, with the one closest to Brooks Acres listed first.
- Beach Grove ‑ Historic
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Beach Grove is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beach Grove
- Killen
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Belleview ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Belleview is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belleview
- Atlas ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Atlas is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atlas
- Bailey Springs
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Bailey Springs is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bailey Springs
- Bainbridge ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Bainbridge is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bainbridge
- Elgin
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Elgin is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elgin
- Arnot
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Arnot is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arnot
- Saint Florian
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Saint Florian is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Florian
- Population from the 2020 Census: 780 people
- Comer
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Comer is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Comer
- Mars Hill
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Mars Hill is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mars Hill
- Green Hill
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Green Hill is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Hill
- Arkdell
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Arkdell is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arkdell
- Colbert County
- The following are listed by their distance from Brooks Acres, with the one closest to Brooks Acres listed first.
- Ford City
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Ford City is located in Colbert County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ford City
- Davidsons Cross Roads ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Nitrate City
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Nitrate City is located in Colbert County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nitrate City
- Wilson Dam
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Wilson Dam is located in Colbert County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilson Dam
- Leighton
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Muscle Shoals
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- South Florence
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- South Florence is located in Colbert County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Florence
- Furnace Hill ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Furnace Hill is located in Colbert County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Furnace Hill
- Sheffield
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Campbell Settlement ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Campbell Settlement is located in Colbert County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Campbell Settlement
- Spring Valley
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Spring Valley is located in Colbert County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Valley
- Tuscumbia
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- White House Springs
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- 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 Brooks Acres, with the one closest to Brooks Acres listed first.
- Russellville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Rockwood
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Rockwood is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockwood
- Lawrence County
- The following are listed by their distance from Brooks Acres, with the one closest to Brooks Acres listed first.
- Wheeler Dam Village
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Wheeler Dam Village is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheeler Dam Village
- Red Bank
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Red Bank is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Bank
- Town Creek
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Edmond
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Edmond is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edmond
- Courtland
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- North Courtland
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- North Courtland is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Courtland
- Population from the 2020 Census: 621 people
- Avoca ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Avoca is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avoca
- Mehama ‑ Historic
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Mehama is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mehama
- Hatton
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Hatton is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hatton
- Concord
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Concord is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Concord
- Hillsboro
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Mountain Home
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Mountain Home is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Home
- Chalybeate Springs
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Chalybeate Springs is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chalybeate Springs
- Limestone County
- The following are listed by their distance from Brooks Acres, with the one closest to Brooks Acres listed first.
- Cairo
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Cairo is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cairo
- Lentzville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Lentzville is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lentzville
- Poplar Creek
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Poplar Creek is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poplar Creek
- Ripley
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Ripley is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ripley
- Lester
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Lester is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lester
- Population from the 2020 Census: 134 people
- Clifton ‑ Historic
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Clifton is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clifton
- Athens
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Elkmont
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Hay's Mill
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Hay's Mill is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hay's Mill
- Morgan County
- Trinity
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Giles County (TN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Brooks Acres, with the one closest to Brooks Acres listed first.
- Minor Hill
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- 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 northeast)
- Stella is located in Giles County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stella
- Anthony Hill
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Anthony Hill is located in Giles County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anthony Hill
- Lawrence County (TN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Brooks Acres, with the one closest to Brooks Acres listed first.
- Rascal Town
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Rascal Town is located in Lawrence County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rascal Town
- Iron City
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Iron City is located in Lawrence County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iron City
- Saint Joseph
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Liberty Grove
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Liberty Grove is located in Lawrence County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty Grove
- Estimated population in 2014: 7,825 people
- Loretto
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Busby
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Busby is located in Lawrence County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Busby
- Westpoint
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Westpoint is located in Lawrence County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westpoint
- Appleton
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Appleton is located in Lawrence County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Appleton
- Leoma
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Fall River
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Fall River is located in Lawrence County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fall River
- Lawrenceburg
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- New Prospect
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- New Prospect is located in Lawrence County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Prospect
- Estimated population in 2014: 6,880 people
- Wayne County (TN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Brooks Acres, with the one closest to Brooks Acres listed first.
- Corning ‑ Historic
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Corning is located in Wayne County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corning
- Estimated population in 2014: 1,210 people
- Cypress Inn
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Cypress Inn is located in Wayne County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cypress Inn
- Whittens Stand ‑ Historic
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Whittens Stand is located in Wayne County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whittens Stand
- Collinwood
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Collinwood is located in Wayne County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Collinwood
- Population from the 2020 Census: 932 people
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Brooks Acres, see our County-by-County Page for Brooks Acres.
Cemeteries Near Brooks Acres ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Brooks Acres.
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 Brooks Acres - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Brooks Acres covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Brooks Acres, with the one closest to Brooks Acres listed first.
- Douglass Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Harden Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Hale Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Peck Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- McKiernan Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Hennigan Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Carter Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Harrison Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Jordan Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Bailey Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Kernachan Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Whitamore Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (742 more) ...
- Mt. Pleasant Cumberland Presbyterian Church Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Faircloth Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Houston Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
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 Brooks Acres in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Brooks Acres.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Brooks Acres, with the one closest to Brooks Acres listed first.
- Beach Grove ‑ Historic
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Beach Grove is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beach Grove
- Bailey Springs
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Bailey Springs is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bailey Springs
- Saint Florian
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Saint Florian is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Florian
- Population from the 2020 Census: 780 people
- Comer
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Comer is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Comer
- Mars Hill
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Mars Hill is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mars Hill
- Leighton
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Green Hill
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Green Hill is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Hill
- Jacksonburg
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Jacksonburg is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jacksonburg
- Florence
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- South Florence
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- South Florence is located in Colbert County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Florence
- Belew ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Belew is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belew
- Webster ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Webster is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Webster
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Sheffield
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Town Creek
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Rogersville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- 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>
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Brooks Acres. See our List of 1890's Communities around Brooks Acres.
Newspapers Published in Brooks Acres ...
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 38 newspapers that have been published in the area around Brooks Acres.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Brooks Acres, there are papers which were published within 10 miles [16.1 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Brooks Acres.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to 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 Brooks Acres:
- Websites specific to Alabama
- Pages specific to Lauderdale County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Colbert County
- Franklin County
- Lawrence County
- Limestone County
- Morgan County
- Giles County
- Lawrence County
- Wayne 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 Brooks Acres, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <5> | 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- Brooks Acres) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |