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 Cedar Lake (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 Cedar Lake. 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 Cedar Lake ...
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.
For example, a typical abbreviation for Cedar Lake: Cedar Lk.
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Cedar Lake. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Cedar Lake.
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 and hospitals 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.
Cedar Lake is located in Morgan 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 Morgan County: Cullman, Lawrence, Limestone, Madison, Marshall & Winston.
Below are the counties that are near Cedar Lake. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Cedar Lake:
- Morgan County (The home county of Cedar Lake)
- The following are listed by their distance from Cedar Lake, with the one closest to Cedar Lake listed first.
- Russell Village
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Russell Village is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Russell Village
- Decatur
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- 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 <1>
- Austinville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Austinville is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Austinville
- Simpson
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Simpson is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Simpson
- Flint City
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Flint City is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flint City
- Moulton Heights
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Moulton Heights is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moulton Heights
- Burningtree Mountain
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Burningtree Mountain is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burningtree Mountain
- Priceville
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Trinity
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Hartselle
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Bluff City ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Bluff City is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluff City
- Danville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Colbert County
- Garner ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Garner is located in Colbert County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garner
- Cullman County
- The following are listed by their distance from Cedar Lake, with the one closest to Cedar Lake listed first.
- West Point
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- West Point is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Point
- Population from the 2020 Census: 604 people
- Central
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Central is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central
- South Vinemont
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- South Vinemont is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Vinemont
- Population from the 2020 Census: 636 people
- Vinemont
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Jones' Chapel
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Jones' Chapel is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jones' Chapel
- Chances Crossroad
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Chances Crossroad is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chances Crossroad
- Fairview
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Fairview is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairview
- Population from the 2020 Census: 463 people
- Simcoe
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Simcoe is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Simcoe
- Cullman
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- East Point
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- East Point is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Point
- Baileyton
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Berlin
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Berlin is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berlin
- Lauderdale County
- The following are listed by their distance from Cedar Lake, with the one closest to Cedar Lake listed first.
- Dells Vista Shores
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Dells Vista Shores is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dells Vista Shores
- Confluence
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Confluence is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Confluence
- Rogersville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- 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 <1>
- Estep ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Estep is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Estep
- Cedar Hill
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Cedar Hill is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Hill
- Anderson
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Anderson is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anderson
- Population from the 2020 Census: 268 people
- Belleview ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Belleview is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belleview
- Lawrence County
- The following are listed by their distance from Cedar Lake, with the one closest to Cedar Lake listed first.
- Hillsboro
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Oakville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Oakville is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakville
- Chalybeate Springs
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Chalybeate Springs is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chalybeate Springs
- Mountain Home
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Mountain Home is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Home
- Moulton
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- North Courtland
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- North Courtland is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Courtland
- Population from the 2020 Census: 621 people
- Wren
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Wren is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wren
- Courtland
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Muck City
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Muck City is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Muck City
- Hatton
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Hatton is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hatton
- Red Bank
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Red Bank is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Bank
- Town Creek
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Limestone County
- The following are listed by their distance from Cedar Lake, with the one closest to Cedar Lake listed first.
- Harris Station
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Harris Station is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harris Station
- Orrville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Orrville is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orrville
- Mooresville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Westlake
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Westlake is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westlake
- Belle Mina
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Belle Mina is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belle Mina
- Swancott
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Swancott is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swancott
- Tanner
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Country Village
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Country Village is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Country Village
- Ripley
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Ripley is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ripley
- Athens
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Fairmount
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Fairmount is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairmount
- Capshaw
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Capshaw is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Capshaw
- Madison County
- The following are listed by their distance from Cedar Lake, with the one closest to Cedar Lake listed first.
- Triana
(13 miles [20.9 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
- Slaughter Landing ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Slaughter Landing is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slaughter Landing
- Slaughter Landing has also been known as:
- Slaughter Ferry
- Madison
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Monrovia
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Monrovia is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monrovia
- Rideout Village
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Rideout Village is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rideout Village
- Chelsea
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Chelsea is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chelsea
- English Village
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- English Village is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for English Village
- Whitesburg
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Whitesburg is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitesburg
- Jeff
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Jeff is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jeff
- Harvest
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Huntsville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Lincoln
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Lincoln is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln
- Marshall County
- The following are listed by their distance from Cedar Lake, with the one closest to Cedar Lake listed first.
- Ruth
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Ruth is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruth
- Hog Jaw
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Hog Jaw is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hog Jaw
- Pine Lake Village
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Pine Lake Village is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Lake Village
- Winston County
- The following are listed by their distance from Cedar Lake, with the one closest to Cedar Lake listed first.
- Upshaw
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Upshaw is located in Winston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Upshaw
- Addison
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Grayson
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Grayson is located in Winston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grayson
- Ellaville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Ellaville is located in Winston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellaville
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Cedar Lake, see our County-by-County Page for Cedar Lake.
Cemeteries Near Cedar Lake ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Cedar Lake.
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 Cedar Lake - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Cedar Lake covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Cedar Lake, with the one closest to Cedar Lake listed first.
- Blackwell Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Rather Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Wise Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Oakview Memorial Gardens
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Adkins Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Mitchell Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Stroup Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Grizzard Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Pisgah Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Crow Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Burleson Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Chestnut Grove Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Continue List (898 more) ...
- Minor Hill Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Bishop Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Dancy Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
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.<3>
While we didn't find Cedar Lake in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Cedar Lake.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Cedar Lake, with the one closest to Cedar Lake listed first.
- Simpson
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Simpson is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Simpson
- Decatur
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- 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 <1>
- Decatur Junction
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Decatur Junction is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Decatur Junction
- Priceville
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Neel
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Neel is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Neel
- Hartselle
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Mooresville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Harris Station
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Harris Station is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harris Station
- Swancott
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Swancott is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swancott
- Greenbrier
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Greenbrier is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenbrier
- Leesdale
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Leesdale is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leesdale
- Somerville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Somerville is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Somerville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 782 people
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Oakville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Oakville is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakville
- Massey
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Massey is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Massey
- Cedar Plains
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Cedar Plains is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Plains
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Cedar Lake. See our List of 1890's Communities around Cedar Lake.
Newspapers Published in Cedar Lake ...
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 20 newspapers that have been published in the area around Cedar Lake.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Cedar Lake, there are papers which were published within 16 miles [25.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Cedar Lake.
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 Cedar Lake:
- Websites specific to Alabama
- Pages specific to Morgan County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Colbert County
- Cullman County
- Lauderdale County
- Lawrence County
- Limestone County
- Madison County
- Marshall County
- Winston County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Alabama
Footnotes ...
| <1> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <2> | 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. |
| <3> | 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 Cedar Lake, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | 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- Cedar Lake) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |