A visit to the Willis Cemetery ...
Introduction ...
Note: We have organized the cemeteries in our Gazetteer based on a problem that we had while working on our own genealogy. As an example and without specifying the cemeteries involved, we found an ancestor that we believed to have been buried in one cemetery had actually been buried elsewhere.
We discovered that his burial plans had changed at the last moment and the family had scrambled to make new arrangements. By looking at nearby cemeteries, the surrounding communities and in newspapers of the period, we were finally able to locate his burial site.
Should you find yourself in the same situation, we hope that our Gazetteer helps you discover your lost ancestor.
The Location of the Willis Cemetery ...
We are using the following GPS coordinates (latitude and longitude) for the Willis Cemetery:
34.5173, -87.7756
Note: The GPS location that we are using for the Willis Cemetery can be traced back to the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS)<1>
The Willis Cemetery is located in Franklin County<2>.
The county seat for Franklin County is located in Russellville. Russellville lies just to the east southeast of the Willis Cemetery .
Open a Google Map centered on the Willis Cemetery.
List of nearby cemeteries ...
Based on our list of cemeteries, we know of 20 that are within 4 miles [6.4 km]<3> of the Willis Cemetery.<4>
We've listed the following cemeteries based on their distance from Willis Cemetery, with the nearest first.
- Jones Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- The Jones Cemetery is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jones Cemetery
- Hester Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- The Hester Cemetery is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hester Cemetery
- The Hester Cemetery has also been known as:
- Hester James Cemetery
- Mt. Zion Baptist Church Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- The Mt. Zion Baptist Church Cemetery is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mt. Zion Baptist Church Cemetery
- The Mt. Zion Baptist Church Cemetery has also been known as:
- Mt. Zion Cemetery
- Knights of Pythias Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Luketown Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- The Luketown Cemetery is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Luketown Cemetery
- Duncan Creek Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- The Duncan Creek Cemetery is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duncan Creek Cemetery
- The Duncan Creek Cemetery has also been known as:
- Burnt Church Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #21881 <5>
- Sparks Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- The Sparks Cemetery is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sparks Cemetery
- Wilson - Nooe Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- The Wilson - Nooe Cemetery is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilson - Nooe Cemetery
- Sadler Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- The Sadler Cemetery is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sadler Cemetery
- Old Town Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- The Old Town Cemetery is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Town Cemetery
- Devaney Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- The Devaney Cemetery is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Devaney Cemetery
- Franklin Memory Gardens
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Continue List (8 more) ...
- Jonesboro Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- The Jonesboro Cemetery is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jonesboro Cemetery
- Malone Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- The Malone Cemetery is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Malone Cemetery
- Smith Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- The Smith Cemetery is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smith Cemetery
- Graham Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- The Graham Cemetery is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graham Cemetery
- Jones Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- The Jones Cemetery is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jones Cemetery
- Orman Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- The Orman Cemetery is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orman Cemetery
- Robinson Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- The Robinson Cemetery is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robinson Cemetery
- Antioch Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- The Antioch Cemetery is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Antioch Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Antioch Cemetery is located 4 miles [6.4 km]<3> to the northwest of Russellville.
For an expanded list with details, please visit our List of cemeteries.
List of neighboring communities ...
The following 26 communities are within 10 miles [16.1 km] of the Willis Cemetery.
We've listed the following communities based on their distance from Willis Cemetery, with the nearest first:
- Russellville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Rockwood
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Rockwood is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockwood
- Belgreen
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Belgreen is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belgreen
- Littleville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Littleville is located in Colbert County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Littleville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 992 people
- Slickrock Ford ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Slickrock Ford is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slickrock Ford
- Spruce Pine
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Spruce Pine is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spruce Pine
- Churntown
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Churntown is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Churntown
- White House Springs
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- White House Springs is located in Colbert County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White House Springs
- Denton ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Denton is located in Colbert County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Denton
- Phil Campbell
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Red Rock
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Red Rock is located in Colbert County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Rock
- Spring Valley
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Spring Valley is located in Colbert County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Valley
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Burntout
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Burntout is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burntout
- Burntout has also been known as:
- Burn Out
- Burnout
- Burnt Out
- Mehama ‑ Historic
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Mehama is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mehama
- Hodges
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Gatesville ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Gatesville is located in Colbert County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gatesville
- Avoca ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Avoca is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avoca
- Campbell Settlement ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Campbell Settlement is located in Colbert County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Campbell Settlement
- Tuscumbia
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Hackleburg
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Hackleburg is located in Marion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hackleburg
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,249 people
- Furnace Hill ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Furnace Hill is located in Colbert County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Furnace Hill
- Pleasant Site
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Pleasant Site is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Site
- Bear Creek
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Mount Hope
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Mount Hope is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Hope
- Muscle Shoals
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Sheffield
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
For the full list of neighboring communities with details, please visit our extended List of Communities.
Nearby communities with newspapers ...
The following communities are those where newspapers have been published and are located in the vicinity of the Willis Cemetery. Unless otherwise noted, the following communities are located in Franklin County.
More information can be found on our list of Local Newspapers for The Willis Cemetery.
We've listed the following communities alphabetically.
- Muscle Shoals
- Phil Campbell
- Russellville
- Sheffield
- Tuscumbia
Websites to help with your 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 websites are open to everyone.
To help you get started, the following links will take you to the pages that might help with the Willis Cemetery:
- Pages specific to Alabama:
- Pages specific to Franklin County:
- Genealogy information for nearby counties:
- Cemetery Information and Directories:
Miscellaneous References and Mentions ...
Our approach is to add the name of a cemetery whenever we see it mentioned - usually from newspapers, old books and maps. Typically we have little information to start with, but we continue to add detail as we find it.
We've created the following list to keep track of the sources that we found useful for the Willis Cemetery:
- Referenced GNIS Record ...
- GNIS ID #129047 (Willis Cemetery)
- Note: In 2021, GNIS record #129047 was archived by the USGS. It is no longer maintained by the USGS, nor can it be retrieved from their website. In the past, the GNIS record contained the following information:
- BGN Class: cemetery
- County: Franklin
- Est. Elev: 222 (in feet)
- Topo Map Name: Frankfort
- Location given for Willis Cemetery:
- Lat: 34.5173169 Lon: -87.7755889
- Open a Google Map centered on the above location.
Footnotes ...
| <1> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <2> | If you're interested in how the shape of Alabama's counties, including Franklin, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. |
| <3> | 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- Willis Cemetery) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <4> | While we have an extensive database of cemeteries (with over 200,000 entries), be assured that it's not complete and we're still searching for cemeteries to add. |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |