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 Collins 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 Collins 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 Collins 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 Collins Ferry, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Collins Ferry may originally have been Collin's Ferry.
Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Collins Ferry might be written as Collin Ferry.
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Collins Ferry. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Collins 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 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.
Collins Ferry is located in Talladega 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 Talladega County: Calhoun, Clay, Cleburne, Coosa, Saint Clair & Shelby.
Below are the counties that are near Collins Ferry. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Collins Ferry:
- Talladega County (The home county of Collins Ferry)
- The following are listed by their distance from Collins Ferry, with the one closest to Collins Ferry listed first.
- Windsong Island
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Windsong Island is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windsong Island
- Colony
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Colony is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colony
- Lincoln
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Logan Martin Dam
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Logan Martin Dam is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Logan Martin Dam
- Talladega
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- East Bend
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- East Bend is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Bend
- Nottingham ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Nottingham is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nottingham
- Former name for Nottingham:
- Jones Camp Ground
- Alpine
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Rendalia
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Rendalia is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rendalia
- Winterboro
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Winterboro is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winterboro
- Waldo
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Waldo is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waldo
- Population from the 2020 Census: 272 people
- Abihka ‑ Historic
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Abihka is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abihka
- Ironaton
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Ironaton is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ironaton
- Blount County
- The following are listed by their distance from Collins Ferry, with the one closest to Collins Ferry listed first.
- Dale ‑ Historic
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Dale is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dale
- Appalachian
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Appalachian is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Appalachian
- Straight Mountain
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Straight Mountain is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Straight Mountain
- Highland Lake
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Highland Lake is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland Lake
- Population from the 2020 Census: 410 people
- Remlap
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Calhoun County
- The following are listed by their distance from Collins Ferry, with the one closest to Collins Ferry listed first.
- Eastaboga
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Blue Eye ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Blue Eye is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Eye
- Bruner ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Bruner is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bruner
- Boozer ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Boozer is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boozer
- Bynum
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Bynum is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bynum
- Bynum has also been known as:
- Bynum's
- Macon
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Macon is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Macon
- Cane Creek ‑ Historic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Cane Creek is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cane Creek
- Eulaton
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Eulaton is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eulaton
- Cobb Town
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Cobb Town is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cobb Town
- Hobson City
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Hobson City is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hobson City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 749 people
- Beasley ‑ Historic
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Beasley is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beasley
- Bera ‑ Historic
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Bera is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bera
- Morrisville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Morrisville is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morrisville
- Clay County
- The following are listed by their distance from Collins Ferry, with the one closest to Collins Ferry listed first.
- Chambers Springs
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Chambers Springs is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chambers Springs
- Erin
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Erin is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erin
- Elder
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Elder is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elder
- Hollins
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Hollins is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollins
- Ashland
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Ashland is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashland
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,872 people
- Harkins Crossroads
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Harkins Crossroads is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harkins Crossroads
- Millerville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Millerville is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millerville
- Haynes Crossroad
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Haynes Crossroad is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haynes Crossroad
- Lineville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Cleburne County
- Abel
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Abel is located in Cleburne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abel
- Coosa County
- The following are listed by their distance from Collins Ferry, with the one closest to Collins Ferry listed first.
- Stewartville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Stewartville is located in Coosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stewartville
- Mount Olive
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Mount Olive is located in Coosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Olive
- Etowah County
- The following are listed by their distance from Collins Ferry, with the one closest to Collins Ferry listed first.
- Brannon Springs ‑ Historic
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Brannon Springs is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brannon Springs
- Markton
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Markton is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Markton
- Pilgrims Rest
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Pilgrims Rest is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pilgrims Rest
- Jefferson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Collins Ferry, with the one closest to Collins Ferry listed first.
- Leeds
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Cedar Grove ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Cedar Grove is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Grove
- Scott City
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Scott City is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scott City
- Breakstone Village
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Breakstone Village is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Breakstone Village
- East Trussville ‑ Historic
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- East Trussville is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Trussville
- Lola City
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Lola City is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lola City
- Roper
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Roper is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roper
- Cahaba Village
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Cahaba Village is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cahaba Village
- McCombs
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- McCombs is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McCombs
- Alton
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Trussville
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Ayres
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Ayres is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ayres
- Rock Ridge
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Rock Ridge is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Ridge
- Saint Clair County
- The following are listed by their distance from Collins Ferry, with the one closest to Collins Ferry listed first.
- Cropwell
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Easonville ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Easonville is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Easonville
- Seddon
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Seddon is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seddon
- Glen City
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Glen City is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen City
- Fountainrun ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Fountainrun is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fountainrun
- Avondale Village
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Avondale Village is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avondale Village
- Pell City
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Riverside
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Coal City
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Coal City is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coal City
- Cook's Springs
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Cook's Springs is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cook's Springs
- Wattsville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Wattsville is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wattsville
- Vincent
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Brompton
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Brompton is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brompton
- Shelby County
- The following are listed by their distance from Collins Ferry, with the one closest to Collins Ferry listed first.
- Calcis
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Calcis is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calcis
- Sterrett
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Harpersville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Vandiver
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Dunnavant
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Dunnavant is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunnavant
- Dunavant
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Dunavant is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunavant
- Westover
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Westover is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westover
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,769 people
- Wilsonville
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Shoal Creek
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Shoal Creek is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shoal Creek
- Bridgeton
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Bridgeton is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bridgeton
- Chelsea
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Lake Purdy
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Lake Purdy is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Purdy
- Meadowbrook
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Meadowbrook is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowbrook
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Collins Ferry, see our County-by-County Page for Collins Ferry.
Cemeteries Near Collins Ferry ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Collins 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 Collins Ferry - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Collins Ferry covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Collins Ferry, with the one closest to Collins Ferry listed first.
- Walkers Family Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Old Florence Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Mays Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Robert Chapel Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Coosa Valley Baptist Church Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Hubbard Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Hepzibah Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Freeze Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- McCellan Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Valley Hill Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Hill Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Valley Hill Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located 2 miles [3.2 km]<3> to the south of Pell City.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #26861 <4>
- Seddon Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Allen - Sims Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Continue List (294 more) ...
- Mt. Pisgah Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Mt. Zion Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Oak Ridge Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 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.<5>
While we didn't find Collins Ferry in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Collins Ferry.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Collins Ferry, with the one closest to Collins Ferry listed first.
- Stemley
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Stemley is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stemley
- Cropwell
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Easonville ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Easonville is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Easonville
- Renfroe
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Renfroe is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Renfroe
- Eureka
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Eureka is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eureka
- Seddon
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Seddon is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seddon
- Pell City
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Lincoln
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Riverside
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Eden
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Eden is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eden
- Wolf Creek
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Wolf Creek is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolf Creek
- East Bend
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- East Bend is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Bend
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Talladega
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Coal City
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Coal City is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coal City
- Nottingham ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Nottingham is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nottingham
- Former name for Nottingham:
- Jones Camp Ground
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Collins Ferry. See our List of 1890's Communities around Collins Ferry.
Newspapers Published in Collins 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 30 newspapers that have been published in the area around Collins Ferry.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Collins Ferry, there are papers which were published within 9 miles [14.5 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Collins 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 professional and volunteer 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 Collins Ferry:
- Websites specific to Alabama
- Pages specific to Talladega County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Blount County
- Calhoun County
- Clay County
- Cleburne County
- Coosa County
- Etowah County
- Jefferson County
- Saint Clair County
- Shelby 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> | 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Collins Ferry) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | 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 Collins Ferry, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |