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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 Dawson (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 Dawson. 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 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 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.

Dawson is located in DeKalb 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 DeKalb County: Cherokee, Etowah, Jackson, Marshall, Chattooga (GA), Dade (GA) & Walker (GA).

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

  • DeKalb County     (The home county of Dawson)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Dawson, with the one closest to Dawson listed first.
    • Cotnam
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Collinsville
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Crossville
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Floy ‑ Historic
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Floy is located in DeKalb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Floy
    • Clyde ‑ Historic
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Clyde is located in DeKalb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clyde
    • Geraldine
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Lakeview
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Lakeview is located in DeKalb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 156 people
    • Marcus ‑ Historic
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Marcus is located in DeKalb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marcus
    • Mount Vernon
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Mount Vernon is located in DeKalb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Vernon
    • Rodentown
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Guest
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Chigger Hill
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Blount County
  • Calhoun County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Dawson, with the one closest to Dawson listed first.
    • Colvins Gap
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Collins ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Collins is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Collins
    • Adelia ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Adelia is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adelia
    • Douthrittville ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Douthrittville is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Douthrittville
    • Oak Level
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Southside
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Goshen ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Goshen is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goshen
    • Mack ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Mack is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mack
  • Cherokee County
  • Etowah County
  • Jackson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Dawson, with the one closest to Dawson listed first.
    • Rock City
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Rock City is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock City
    • Langston
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Section
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Dutton
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Ferncliff ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Ferncliff is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ferncliff
    • Dodsonville ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Dodsonville is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dodsonville
    • Gray ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Gray is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gray
    • Scottsboro
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Aspel
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Dry Cove ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Dry Cove is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dry Cove
    • Central
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Pisgah
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
  • Marshall County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Dawson, with the one closest to Dawson listed first.
    • Peters ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Peters is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peters
    • Hustleville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Boaz
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Albertville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Minorville ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Minorville is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minorville
    • Mid ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Mid is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mid
    • Columbus City Ferry
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Columbus City Ferry is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Columbus City Ferry
    • Rabbit Town
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Rabbit Town is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rabbit Town
    • Rayburn
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Columbus City
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Columbus City is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Columbus City
    • Bartlett ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Bartlett is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bartlett
    • Gregory
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
  • Saint Clair County
    • Steele
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Steele is located in Saint Clair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Steele
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,093 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Steele <1>
  • Chattooga County (GA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Dawson, with the one closest to Dawson listed first.
    • Chattoogaville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Cloudland
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Menlo
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Menlo is located in Chattooga County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Menlo
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 454 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Menlo <1>
    • Lyerly
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Lyerly is located in Chattooga County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyerly
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 519 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lyerly <1>
    • Taliaferro ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Taliaferro is located in Chattooga County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taliaferro
      • Estimated population in 2019: 71 people

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

Cemeteries Near Dawson ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Dawson.

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 Dawson - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Dawson had a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Cotnam
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Wills ‑ Historic
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Wills is located in DeKalb County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wills
  • Skirum
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Skirum is located in DeKalb County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skirum
  • Crossville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Collinsville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Floy ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Floy is located in DeKalb County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Floy
  • Geraldine
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Marcus ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Marcus is located in DeKalb County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marcus
  • Chumley
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Chumley is located in DeKalb County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chumley
  • Portersville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Portersville is located in DeKalb County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Portersville
  • Rodentown
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Lebanon
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Lebanon is located in DeKalb County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lebanon
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Leonard
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Leonard is located in Cherokee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leonard
    • Ten Broeck
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Ten Broeck is located in DeKalb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ten Broeck
    • Rains ‑ Historic
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Rains is located in DeKalb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rains

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

Newspapers Published in Dawson ...

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 28 newspapers that have been published in the area around Dawson.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Dawson, there are papers which were published within 15 miles [24.1 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Dawson.

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 Dawson:

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>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 from Point A (ie- Dawson) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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>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 Dawson, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.