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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 Chatom (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 Chatom. 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.

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 northeast 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 north.

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 north 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.

Chatom is located in Washington County and is the County Seat.

To see how the shape of Alabama's counties have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Washington County: Baldwin, Choctaw, Clarke, Mobile, Greene (MS) & Wayne (MS).

Below are the counties that are near Chatom. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Chatom:

  • Washington County     (The home county of Chatom)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Chatom, with the one closest to Chatom listed first.
    • Hobson
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Tibbie
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Barlow
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Barlow have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barlow
      • Barlow is located in Washington County
    • Seaboard
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Seaboard. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seaboard
      • Seaboard is located in Washington County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Seaboard
      • From Chatom to Seaboard
    • Millry
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Millry have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millry
      • Millry is located in Washington County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 487 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Millry <3>
    • Bigbee
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Copeland
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Copeland. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Copeland
      • Copeland is located in Washington County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Copeland
      • From Chatom to Copeland
    • Yellow Pine
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Saint Stephen's
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Healing Springs
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Fruitdale
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Bassetts Creek
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bassetts Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bassetts Creek
      • Bassetts Creek is located in Washington County
    • Hawthorn
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hawthorn. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hawthorn
      • Hawthorn is located in Washington County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Hawthorn
      • From Chatom to Hawthorn
  • Choctaw County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Chatom, with the one closest to Chatom listed first.
    • Cullomburg
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Bladon Springs
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Aquilla
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Aquilla have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aquilla
      • Aquilla is located in Choctaw County
    • Silas
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Silas. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silas
      • Silas is located in Choctaw County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 418 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Silas <3>
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Silas
      • From Chatom to Silas
    • Bolinger
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bolinger have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bolinger
      • Bolinger is located in Choctaw County
    • Souwilpa
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Souwilpa. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Souwilpa
      • Souwilpa is located in Choctaw County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Souwilpa
      • From Chatom to Souwilpa
    • Isney
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Isney. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Isney
      • Isney is located in Choctaw County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Isney
      • From Chatom to Isney
    • Emory
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Emory. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emory
      • Emory is located in Choctaw County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Emory
      • From Chatom to Emory
    • Womack Hill
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Womack Hill. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Womack Hill
      • Womack Hill is located in Choctaw County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Womack Hill
      • From Chatom to Womack Hill
    • Gilbertown
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Toxey
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Toxey have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toxey
      • Toxey is located in Choctaw County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 121 people
  • Clarke County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Chatom, with the one closest to Chatom listed first.
    • Salitpa
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Stave Creek
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Jackson
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Fakit Chipunta ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fakit Chipunta have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fakit Chipunta
      • Fakit Chipunta is located in Clarke County
    • Coffeeville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Coffeeville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coffeeville
      • Coffeeville is located in Clarke County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 305 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Coffeeville <3>
    • Winn
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Winn. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winn
      • Winn is located in Clarke County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Winn
      • From Chatom to Winn
    • Rockville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Toddtown
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Carlton
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Walker Springs
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Zimco
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Alma
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alma have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alma
      • Alma is located in Clarke County
  • Mobile County
  • Greene County (MS)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Chatom, with the one closest to Chatom listed first.
    • State Line
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for State Line. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for State Line
      • State Line is located in Greene County (MS)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 545 people
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to State Line
      • From Chatom to State Line
    • Clark
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Carson City
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Carson City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carson City
      • Carson City is located in Greene County (MS)
    • Leakesville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Leakesville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leakesville
      • Leakesville is located in Greene County (MS)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 868 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Leakesville <3>
    • Brown Town
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Avera
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Avera. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avera
      • Avera is located in Greene County (MS)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Avera
      • From Chatom to Avera
  • Wayne County (MS)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Chatom, with the one closest to Chatom listed first.
    • Robinsons Junction
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Waynesboro
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Waynesboro have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waynesboro
      • Waynesboro is located in Wayne County (MS)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,866 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Waynesboro <3>
    • Clara
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)

For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Chatom, see our County-by-County Page for Chatom.

Cemeteries Near Chatom ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Chatom.

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.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Chatom covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Chatom, with the one closest to Chatom listed first.

  • Turner Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Turner Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Turner Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Fairhope Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fairhope Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fairhope Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Rutan Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rutan Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rutan Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Spring Bank Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Spring Bank Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Spring Bank Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Reynolds Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Reynolds Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Reynolds Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Richardson Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Richardson Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Richardson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Spring Hill Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Spring Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Spring Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Yarbo Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Yarbo Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Yarbo Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Tibbie Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Tibbie Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Tibbie Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Howard Town Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Howard Town Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Howard Town Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Pine Level Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pine Level Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pine Level Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Laton Hill Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Laton Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Laton Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (243 more) ...
    • Old Methodist Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Methodist Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Methodist Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Rocky Ridge Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rocky Ridge Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rocky Ridge Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Chalker Memorial Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Chalker Memorial Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Chalker Memorial Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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 Chatom in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Chatom.

These communities are listed based on their distance from Chatom, with the one closest to Chatom listed first.

  • Yellow Pine
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Millry
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Millry have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millry
    • Millry is located in Washington County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 487 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Millry <3>
  • Bigbee
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Koenton
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Koenton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Koenton
    • Koenton is located in Washington County
  • Healing Springs
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Saint Stephen's
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
  • State Line
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for State Line. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for State Line
    • State Line is located in Greene County (MS)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 545 people
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to State Line
    • From Chatom to State Line
  • Escatawpa
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Escatawpa. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Escatawpa
    • Escatawpa is located in Washington County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Escatawpa
    • From Chatom to Escatawpa
  • Vinegar Bend
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Frankville
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Sunflower
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
  • Wagar
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wagar have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wagar
    • Wagar is located in Washington County
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Rescueville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rescueville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rescueville
      • Rescueville is located in Choctaw County
    • Deer Park
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Salitpa
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)

We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Chatom. See our List of 1890's Communities around Chatom.

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Chatom ...

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 10 newspapers that have been published in the area around Chatom.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Chatom. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Chatom and those printed in the larger area surrounding Chatom.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<5> of Chatom.

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 Chatom:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Chatom. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Washington County: www.washingtoncountyalgov.com

The official website for State of Alabama: https://www.alabama.gov/

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>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Chatom, 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Chatom) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Chatom. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.4648, Longitude: -88.2544    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025