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 Burtons Ferry (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 Burtons Ferry. 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 Burtons Ferry ...
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.
While the name of this community is Burtons Ferry, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Burtons Ferry may originally have been Burton's Ferry.
Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Burtons Ferry might be written as Burton Ferry.
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Burtons Ferry. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Burtons Ferry.
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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.
Burtons Ferry is located in Walker 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 Walker County: Blount, Cullman, Fayette, Jefferson, Marion, Tuscaloosa & Winston.
Below are the counties that are near Burtons Ferry. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Burtons Ferry:
- Walker County (The home county of Burtons Ferry)
- The following are listed by their distance from Burtons Ferry, with the one closest to Burtons Ferry listed first.
- Sipsey
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Sipsey is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sipsey
- Population from the 2020 Census: 396 people
- Black Warrior Town ‑ Historic
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Black Warrior Town is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Warrior Town
- Empire
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Empire is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Empire
- Dora
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Sumiton
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Sumiton is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sumiton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,330 people
- Former names for Sumiton:
- Commercial
- Democrat
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sumiton <2>
- Creel
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Creel is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Creel
- Oakahalla
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Oakahalla is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakahalla
- Cordova
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Dovertown
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Dovertown is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dovertown
- Red Rock
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Red Rock is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Rock
- Burnwell
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Burnwell is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burnwell
- Red Star
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Red Star is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Star
- Barney
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Barney is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barney
- Blount County
- The following are listed by their distance from Burtons Ferry, with the one closest to Burtons Ferry listed first.
- Red Hill
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Red Hill is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Hill
- Warrior
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Reid's
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Reid's is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reid's
- Smoke Rise
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Smoke Rise is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smoke Rise
- Blount Springs
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Blount Springs is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blount Springs
- Hayden
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- County Line
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- County Line is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for County Line
- Population from the 2020 Census: 241 people
- Bangor
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Bangor is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bangor
- Selfville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Selfville is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Selfville
- Dallas
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Dallas is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dallas
- Adville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Adville is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adville
- Compton
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Compton is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Compton
- Locust Fork
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Cullman County
- The following are listed by their distance from Burtons Ferry, with the one closest to Burtons Ferry listed first.
- Arkadelphia
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Arkadelphia is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arkadelphia
- Ardell
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Ardell is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ardell
- Baltimore ‑ Historic
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Baltimore is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baltimore
- Colony
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Colony is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colony
- Estimated population in 2015: 273 people
- The Colony
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- The Colony is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Colony
- Population from the 2020 Census: 291 people
- Bremen
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Black Bottom
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Black Bottom is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Bottom
- Damascus
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Damascus is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Damascus
- Crane Hill
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Dodge City
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Dodge City is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dodge City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 621 people
- Trimble
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Trimble is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trimble
- Logan
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Garden City
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Garden City is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 506 people
- Fayette County
- The following are listed by their distance from Burtons Ferry, with the one closest to Burtons Ferry listed first.
- Alta
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Alta is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alta
- Berry
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Jefferson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Burtons Ferry, with the one closest to Burtons Ferry listed first.
- Robbins Crossroads
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Robbins Crossroads is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robbins Crossroads
- Corner
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Corner is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corner
- Media
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Media is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Media
- Sayre
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Sayre is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sayre
- West Jefferson
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- West Jefferson is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Jefferson
- Population from the 2020 Census: 415 people
- Graysville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Alden
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Alden is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alden
- Cardiff
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Cardiff is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cardiff
- Population from the 2020 Census: 55 people
- Adamsville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Brookside
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Brookside is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookside
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,323 people
- Pinkney City
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Pinkney City is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinkney City
- Black Creek
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Black Creek is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Creek
- Daisey City
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Daisey City is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Daisey City
- Tuscaloosa County
- Bull City
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Bull City is located in Tuscaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bull City
- Winston County
- The following are listed by their distance from Burtons Ferry, with the one closest to Burtons Ferry listed first.
- Falls City ‑ Historic
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Falls City is located in Winston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falls City
- Arley
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Slick Ford
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Slick Ford is located in Winston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slick Ford
- Houston
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Addison
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Double Springs
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Burtons Ferry, see our County-by-County Page for Burtons Ferry.
Cemeteries Near Burtons Ferry ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Burtons Ferry.
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 Burtons Ferry - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Burtons Ferry covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Burtons Ferry, with the one closest to Burtons Ferry listed first.
- Burton Bend Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Sipsey Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Phillips Freewill Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Sardis Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Davis Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Drummond Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Empire Memorial Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Empire Memorial Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Empire Memorial Cemetery is located in Empire.
- The Empire Memorial Cemetery has also been known as:
- Empire Memorial Gardens
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1442863 <3>
- New Canaan Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Phillips Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Mauldin Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- John Portzer Family Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for John Portzer Family Cemetery
- The John Portzer Family Cemetery has also been known as:
- John Porter Family Cemetery
- Porter Cemetery
- Portzer Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #25611 <3>
- Union Chapel Methodist Episcopal Church Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Continue List (421 more) ...
- Old Mt. Carmel Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Bolden Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bolden Cemetery
- The Bolden Cemetery has also been known as:
- Bolen Cemetery
- Bolling Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2155435 <3>
- Mt. Carmel Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mt. Carmel Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Mt. Carmel Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the south of Cordova.
- The Mt. Carmel Cemetery has also been known as:
- Tatum Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #24603 <3>
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 Burtons Ferry in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Burtons Ferry.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Burtons Ferry, with the one closest to Burtons Ferry listed first.
- Dora
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Cordova
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Powellville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Powellville is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powellville
- Robbins Crossroads
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Robbins Crossroads is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robbins Crossroads
- Sloan
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Sloan is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sloan
- Arkadelphia
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Arkadelphia is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arkadelphia
- Jasper
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Parrish
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Parrish is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parrish
- Population from the 2020 Census: 929 people
- Linn Crossing
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Linn Crossing is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Linn Crossing
- Porter
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Porter is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Porter
- South Lowell
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- South Lowell is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Lowell
- Ardell
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Ardell is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ardell
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Marylee
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Marylee is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marylee
- Blossburg
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Blossburg is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blossburg
- Cardiff
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Cardiff is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cardiff
- Population from the 2020 Census: 55 people
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Burtons Ferry. See our List of 1890's Communities around Burtons Ferry.
Newspapers Published in Burtons Ferry ...
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 23 newspapers that have been published in the area around Burtons Ferry.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Burtons Ferry, there are papers which were published within 14 miles [22.5 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Burtons Ferry.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we like to start with 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 Burtons Ferry:
- Websites specific to Alabama
- Pages specific to Walker County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Blount County
- Cullman County
- Fayette County
- Jefferson County
- Tuscaloosa County
- Winston 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 Burtons Ferry, 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- Burtons Ferry) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |