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 Browns Crossroad (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 Browns Crossroad. 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 Browns Crossroad ...
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 Browns Crossroad: Browns Xrd.
- While the name of this community is Browns Crossroad, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Browns Crossroad may originally have been Brown's Crossroad.
Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Browns Crossroad might be written as Brown Crossroad.
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Browns Crossroad. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Browns Crossroad.
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 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.
Browns Crossroad 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 Browns Crossroad. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Browns Crossroad:
- Dale County (The home county of Browns Crossroad)
- The following are listed by their distance from Browns Crossroad, with the one closest to Browns Crossroad listed first.
- Ewell
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Ewell is located in Dale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ewell
- Mabson
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Mabson is located in Dale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mabson
- Pinckard
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Newton
(6 miles [9.7 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
- Ozark
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Midland City
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Napier Field
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Napier Field is located in Dale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Napier Field
- Population from the 2020 Census: 344 people
- Skipperville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Skipperville is located in Dale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skipperville
- Grimes
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Grimes is located in Dale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grimes
- Population from the 2020 Census: 556 people
- Bertha
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Bertha is located in Dale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bertha
- Arguta
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Arguta is located in Dale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arguta
- Fort Rucker
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Clopton
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Clopton is located in Dale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clopton
- Barbour County
- The following are listed by their distance from Browns Crossroad, with the one closest to Browns Crossroad listed first.
- Blue Springs
(17 miles [27.4 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
- Elamville
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Elamville is located in Barbour County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elamville
- Clio
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Louisville
(25 miles [40.2 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
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Bakerhill is located in Barbour County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bakerhill
- Population from the 2020 Census: 229 people
- Coffee County
- The following are listed by their distance from Browns Crossroad, with the one closest to Browns Crossroad listed first.
- Enterprise
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Java
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Java is located in Coffee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Java
- Clintonville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Clintonville is located in Coffee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clintonville
- Roeton
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Roeton is located in Coffee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roeton
- Frisco
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Frisco is located in Coffee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frisco
- Battens Crossroads
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Battens Crossroads is located in Coffee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Battens Crossroads
- Mixson
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Mixson is located in Coffee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mixson
- New Brockton
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Central City
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Central City is located in Coffee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central City
- Goodman
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Goodman is located in Coffee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodman
- Jack
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Jack is located in Coffee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jack
- Wilkinstown
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Wilkinstown is located in Coffee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilkinstown
- Geneva County
- The following are listed by their distance from Browns Crossroad, with the one closest to Browns Crossroad listed first.
- Malvern
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Slocomb
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Dundee
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Dundee is located in Geneva County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dundee
- Bellwood
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Bellwood is located in Geneva County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellwood
- Hartford
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Scranton
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Scranton is located in Geneva County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scranton
- Chancellor
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Chancellor is located in Geneva County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chancellor
- Coffee Springs
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Coffee Springs is located in Geneva County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coffee Springs
- Population from the 2020 Census: 220 people
- Black
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Black is located in Geneva County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black
- Population from the 2020 Census: 203 people
- Costilla ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Costilla is located in Geneva County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Costilla
- Henry County
- The following are listed by their distance from Browns Crossroad, with the one closest to Browns Crossroad listed first.
- Headland
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Newville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Newville is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 510 people
- Capps
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Capps is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Capps
- Oakey Grove
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Oakey Grove is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakey Grove
- Graball
(18 miles [29 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
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Haleburg
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Haleburg is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haleburg
- Population from the 2020 Census: 98 people
- Shorterville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Shorterville is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shorterville
- Screamer
(29 miles [46.7 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 Browns Crossroad, with the one closest to Browns Crossroad listed first.
- Tidwell
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Tidwell is located in Houston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tidwell
- Kinsey
(14 miles [22.5 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
- Dothan
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Parker Village
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Parker Village is located in Houston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parker Village
- Taylor
(17 miles [27.4 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
- Parish
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Webb
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Cowarts
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Rehobeth
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Rehobeth is located in Houston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rehobeth
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,699 people
- Avon
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Avon is located in Houston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avon
- Population from the 2020 Census: 510 people
- Barber
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Barber is located in Houston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barber
- Merritts Crossroads
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Merritts Crossroads is located in Houston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merritts Crossroads
- Keyton's
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Keyton's is located in Houston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keyton's
- Pike County
- The following are listed by their distance from Browns Crossroad, with the one closest to Browns Crossroad listed first.
- Tennille
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Tennille is located in Pike County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tennille
- Tarentum
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Tarentum is located in Pike County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tarentum
- Brundidge
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Pronto
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Pronto is located in Pike County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pronto
- Buckhorn
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Buckhorn is located in Pike County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckhorn
- Centre Ridge ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Centre Ridge is located in Pike County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centre Ridge
- Holmes County (FL)
- The following are listed by their distance from Browns Crossroad, with the one closest to Browns Crossroad listed first.
- Esto
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Esto is located in Holmes County (FL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Esto
- Population from the 2020 Census: 358 people
- Noma
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Clay County (GA)
- Oketeyeconne ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Oketeyeconne is located in Clay County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oketeyeconne
- Early County (GA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Browns Crossroad, with the one closest to Browns Crossroad listed first.
- Rock Hill
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- 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 east)
- 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 Browns Crossroad, see our County-by-County Page for Browns Crossroad.
Cemeteries Near Browns Crossroad ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Browns Crossroad.
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 Browns Crossroad - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Browns Crossroad covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Browns Crossroad, with the one closest to Browns Crossroad listed first.
- Mims Family Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Newman Family Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Mt. Enon Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Christian Hill Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Lee Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Woodham Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Johnstown Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- New Hope Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Sylvan Grove Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Omega Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Echo Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Newton Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newton Cemetery
- The Newton Cemetery has also been known as:
- Newton City Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #24991 <3>
- Continue List (277 more) ...
- Kirklands Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Mt. Pisgah Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Asbury Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
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 Browns Crossroad in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Browns Crossroad.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Browns Crossroad, with the one closest to Browns Crossroad listed first.
- Ewell
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Ewell is located in Dale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ewell
- Echo
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Echo is located in Dale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Echo
- Newton
(6 miles [9.7 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
- Asbury
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Asbury is located in Dale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Asbury
- Midland City
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Ozark
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Skipperville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Skipperville is located in Dale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skipperville
- Bertha
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Bertha is located in Dale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bertha
- Arguta
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Arguta is located in Dale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arguta
- Headland
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Dillard
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Dillard is located in Dale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dillard
- Tidwell
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Tidwell is located in Houston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tidwell
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Daleville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Clopton
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Clopton is located in Dale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clopton
- Level Plains
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Level Plains is located in Dale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Level Plains
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,952 people
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Browns Crossroad. See our List of 1890's Communities around Browns Crossroad.
Newspapers Published in Browns Crossroad ...
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 54 newspapers that have been published in the area around Browns Crossroad.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Browns Crossroad, there are papers which were published within 17 miles [27.4 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Browns Crossroad.
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 helpful 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 Browns Crossroad:
- 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
- Holmes 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> | 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 Browns Crossroad, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Browns Crossroad) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |