Our Genealogy Helper
Introduction ...
So far, we found very little information about Collins. The little that we've found leads us believe that the community is historic.<1>
We've added Collins to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Collins, please Contact Us.
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 (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. 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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors 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.
Although our information shows that the community of Collins is historic, it would have been located within present day Calhoun 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 Calhoun County: Cherokee, Cleburne, Etowah, Saint Clair & Talladega.
Below are the counties that are near Collins. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Collins:
- Calhoun County (The home county of Collins)
- The following are listed by their distance from Collins, with the one closest to Collins listed first.
- Goshen ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Goshen is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goshen
- Piedmont
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Adelia ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Adelia is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adelia
- Merrellton
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Merrellton is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merrellton
- Colvins Gap
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Colvins Gap is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colvins Gap
- Germania Springs ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Germania Springs is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Germania Springs
- Nances Creek
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Nances Creek is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nances Creek
- Dailey
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Dailey is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dailey
- Jacksonville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Booker T City
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Booker T City is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Booker T City
- Angel
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Angel is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Angel
- Mack ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Mack is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mack
- Cherokee County
- The following are listed by their distance from Collins, with the one closest to Collins listed first.
- Ball Flat
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Ball Flat is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ball Flat
- Ricks ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Ricks is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ricks
- Spring Garden
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Spring Garden is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Garden
- Coloma ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Coloma is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coloma
- Exie
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Exie is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Exie
- Turkey Town ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Turkey Town is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turkey Town
- Moshat
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Moshat is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moshat
- Rock Run
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Rock Run is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Run
- Centre
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Noah
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Noah is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Noah
- Tucker Crossroads
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Tucker Crossroads is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tucker Crossroads
- Leesburg
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Cleburne County
- The following are listed by their distance from Collins, with the one closest to Collins listed first.
- Grantley
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Grantley is located in Cleburne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grantley
- Borden Springs
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Borden Springs is located in Cleburne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Borden Springs
- Palestine
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Palestine is located in Cleburne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palestine
- Oak Level
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Oak Level is located in Cleburne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Level
- Edwardsville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Edwardsville is located in Cleburne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edwardsville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 201 people
- Heflin
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Fruithurst
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Fruithurst is located in Cleburne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fruithurst
- Population from the 2020 Census: 284 people
- Muscadine
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Muscadine is located in Cleburne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Muscadine
- Ai
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Ai is located in Cleburne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ai
- Abel
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Abel is located in Cleburne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abel
- Hopewell
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Hopewell is located in Cleburne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopewell
- Hollis Crossroads
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Hollis Crossroads is located in Cleburne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollis Crossroads
- DeKalb County
- The following are listed by their distance from Collins, with the one closest to Collins listed first.
- Mount Vernon
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Mount Vernon is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Vernon
- Collinsville
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Marcus ‑ Historic
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Marcus is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marcus
- Cotnam
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Cotnam is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cotnam
- Lickskillet
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Lickskillet is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lickskillet
- Sigsbee
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Sigsbee is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sigsbee
- Rodentown
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Rodentown is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rodentown
- Dog Town
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Dog Town is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dog Town
- Dawson
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Dawson is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dawson
- Mount Zion ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Mount Zion is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Zion
- Crossville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Clyde ‑ Historic
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Clyde is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clyde
- Etowah County
- The following are listed by their distance from Collins, with the one closest to Collins listed first.
- Banner
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Banner is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Banner
- Ballplay
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Ballplay is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ballplay
- Hokes Bluff
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Coato Bend ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Coato Bend is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coato Bend
- Hale ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Hale is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hale
- Cobb City
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Cobb City is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cobb City
- Glencoe
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Coat's Bend
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Coat's Bend is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coat's Bend
- Edwardsville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Edwardsville is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edwardsville
- Anderson
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Anderson is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anderson
- Turkeytown
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Turkeytown is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turkeytown
- Burns Park
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Burns Park is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burns Park
- Marshall County
- Boaz
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Saint Clair County
- The following are listed by their distance from Collins, with the one closest to Collins listed first.
- Steele
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Ragland
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Talladega County
- The following are listed by their distance from Collins, with the one closest to Collins listed first.
- Coldwater
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Coldwater is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coldwater
- Silver Run
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Silver Run is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Run
- Kentuck
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Kentuck is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kentuck
- Chattooga County (GA)
- Chattoogaville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Chattoogaville is located in Chattooga County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chattoogaville
- Floyd County (GA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Collins, with the one closest to Collins listed first.
- Cave Spring
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Coosa
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Oreburg
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Oreburg is located in Floyd County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oreburg
- Haralson County (GA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Collins, with the one closest to Collins listed first.
- Felton
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Tallapoosa
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Tabernacle
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Tabernacle is located in Haralson County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tabernacle
- Budapest
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Budapest is located in Haralson County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Budapest
- Polk County (GA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Collins, with the one closest to Collins listed first.
- Esom Hill
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Etna
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Etna is located in Polk County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Etna
- Estimated population in 2019: 902 people
- Greenway ‑ Historic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Greenway is located in Polk County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenway
- Cedartown
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Collins, see our County-by-County Page for Collins.
Cemeteries Near Collins ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Collins.
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 - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Collins covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Collins, with the one closest to Collins listed first.
- Shady Grove Congregational Methodist Church Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Littlejohn Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Lebanon Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Taylors Chapel Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Pisgah Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Patterson Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Youngs Chapel Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Davis Chapel Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Highland Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Goshen Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Goshen Valley Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goshen Valley Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Goshen Valley Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located 2 miles [3.2 km]<4> to the north of Piedmont.
- The Goshen Valley Cemetery has also been known as:
- Goshen Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1413181 <3>
- Sardis Hill Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Continue List (366 more) ...
- Landers Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Ohatchee #2 Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Boozer Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
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.
While we didn't find Collins in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Collins.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Collins, with the one closest to Collins listed first.
- Gnatville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Gnatville is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gnatville
- Reaves
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Reaves is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reaves
- Adelia ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Adelia is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adelia
- Piedmont
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Colvins Gap
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Colvins Gap is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colvins Gap
- Merrellton
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Merrellton is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merrellton
- Nances Creek
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Nances Creek is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nances Creek
- Ladiga
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Ladiga is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ladiga
- Ricks ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Ricks is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ricks
- Spring Garden
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Spring Garden is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Garden
- Coloma ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Coloma is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coloma
- Hokes Bluff
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Continue List (19 more) ...
- Jacksonville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Pleasant Gap
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Pleasant Gap is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Gap
- Plano
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Plano is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plano
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Collins. See our List of 1890's Communities around Collins.
Newspapers Published in Collins ...
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 22 newspapers that have been published in the area around Collins.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Collins, there are papers which were published within 13 miles [20.9 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Collins.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we begin 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 Collins:
- Websites specific to Alabama
- Pages specific to Calhoun County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Cherokee County
- Cleburne County
- DeKalb County
- Etowah County
- Marshall County
- Saint Clair County
- Talladega County
- Chattooga County
- Floyd County
- Haralson County
- Polk County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Alabama
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |