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 Douglas (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 Douglas. 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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.
Douglas 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 Douglas. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Douglas:
- DeKalb County (The home county of Douglas)
- The following are listed by their distance from Douglas, with the one closest to Douglas listed first.
- Fort Payne
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Pine Ridge
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Pine Ridge is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Ridge
- Population from the 2020 Census: 273 people
- Adamsburg
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Adamsburg is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adamsburg
- Bootsville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Bootsville is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bootsville
- Chavies
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Chavies is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chavies
- Dog Town
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Dog Town is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dog Town
- Luna ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Luna is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Luna
- Lickskillet
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Lickskillet is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lickskillet
- Sigsbee
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Sigsbee is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sigsbee
- Alpine
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Alpine is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpine
- Cordell ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Cordell is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cordell
- Guest
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Guest is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guest
- Cherokee County
- The following are listed by their distance from Douglas, with the one closest to Douglas listed first.
- Blanche
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Blanche is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blanche
- Taft
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Taft is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taft
- Berry Springs ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Berry Springs is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berry Springs
- Broomtown
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Broomtown is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Broomtown
- Grover
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Grover is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grover
- New Moon
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- New Moon is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Moon
- Sand Rock
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Sand Rock is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sand Rock
- Population from the 2020 Census: 674 people
- Ringgold
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Ringgold is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ringgold
- Starkville ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Starkville is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Starkville
- Gaylesville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Anderson
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Cedar Springs ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Cedar Springs is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Springs
- Etowah County
- The following are listed by their distance from Douglas, with the one closest to Douglas listed first.
- Keener
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Keener is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keener
- Yancy
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Yancy is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yancy
- Hale ‑ Historic
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Hale is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hale
- Duck Springs
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Duck Springs is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duck Springs
- Wilsonia
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Wilsonia is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilsonia
- Ballplay
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Ballplay is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ballplay
- Coat's Bend
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Coat's Bend is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coat's Bend
- Turkeytown
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Turkeytown is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turkeytown
- Coato Bend ‑ Historic
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Coato Bend is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coato Bend
- Anderson
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Anderson is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anderson
- Whitesboro
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Whitesboro is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitesboro
- Crudup
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Crudup is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crudup
- Jackson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Douglas, with the one closest to Douglas listed first.
- Rock City
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Rock City is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock City
- Central
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Central is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central
- Dutton
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Dutton is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dutton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 307 people
- Pisgah
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Gray ‑ Historic
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Gray is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gray
- Section
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Ferncliff ‑ Historic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Ferncliff is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ferncliff
- Langston
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Bellefonte ‑ Historic
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Bellefonte is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellefonte
- Flat Rock
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Dodsonville ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Dodsonville is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dodsonville
- Hollywood
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Marshall County
- The following are listed by their distance from Douglas, with the one closest to Douglas listed first.
- Peters ‑ Historic
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Peters is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peters
- Mid ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Mid is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mid
- Hustleville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Hustleville is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hustleville
- Columbus City Ferry
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Columbus City Ferry is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Columbus City Ferry
- Boaz
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Columbus City
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Columbus City is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Columbus City
- Minorville ‑ Historic
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Minorville is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minorville
- Albertville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Grant
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Chattooga County (GA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Douglas, with the one closest to Douglas listed first.
- Menlo
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- 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>
- Cloudland
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Chattoogaville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Chattoogaville is located in Chattooga County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chattoogaville
- Lyerly
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Berryton
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Berryton is located in Chattooga County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berryton
- Taliaferro ‑ Historic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Taliaferro is located in Chattooga County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taliaferro
- Estimated population in 2019: 71 people
- Summerville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Pennville
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Pennville is located in Chattooga County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pennville
- Euthtilloga ‑ Historic
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Euthtilloga is located in Chattooga County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Euthtilloga
- Population from the 2010 Census: 29,011 people
- Trion
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Trion is located in Chattooga County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trion
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,905 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Trion <1>
- Zula ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Zula is located in Chattooga County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zula
- Dade County (GA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Douglas, with the one closest to Douglas listed first.
- Rising Fawn
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Stewart Town
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Stewart Town is located in Dade County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stewart Town
- Floyd County (GA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Douglas, with the one closest to Douglas listed first.
- Coosa
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Oreburg
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Oreburg is located in Floyd County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oreburg
- Central Grove ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Central Grove is located in Floyd County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central Grove
- Estimated population in 2019: 377 people
- Walker County (GA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Douglas, with the one closest to Douglas listed first.
- Bronco
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Bronco is located in Walker County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bronco
- Estimated population in 2019: 367 people
- Martindale
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Martindale is located in Walker County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martindale
- Population from the 2010 Census: 35,795 people
- Cassandra
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Cassandra is located in Walker County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cassandra
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Douglas, see our County-by-County Page for Douglas.
Cemeteries Near Douglas ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Douglas.
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 Douglas - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Douglas covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Douglas, with the one closest to Douglas listed first.
- Hammack Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Glenwood Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Husky Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Lankford Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Stewart Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Green Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Scott Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Mt. Herman Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Antioch Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Moore Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Franklin Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Mountain View Memorial Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Continue List (451 more) ...
- Fisher Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Sulphur Springs Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Green Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
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.<3>
While we didn't find Douglas in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Douglas.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Douglas, with the one closest to Douglas listed first.
- Fort Payne
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Collbran
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Collbran is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Collbran
- Blake
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Blake is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blake
- Chavies
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Chavies is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chavies
- Luna ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Luna is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Luna
- Lebanon
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Lebanon is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lebanon
- Lydia
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Lydia is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lydia
- Loveless
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Loveless is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loveless
- Jamestown
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Jamestown is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamestown
- Cordell ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Cordell is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cordell
- Musgrove ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Musgrove is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Musgrove
- Portersville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Portersville is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Portersville
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Floy ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Floy is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Floy
- Wills ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Wills is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wills
- Mahan ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Mahan is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mahan
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Douglas. See our List of 1890's Communities around Douglas.
Newspapers Published in Douglas ...
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 23 newspapers that have been published in the area around Douglas.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Douglas, there are papers which were published within 16 miles [25.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Douglas.
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 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 Douglas:
- Websites specific to Alabama
- Pages specific to DeKalb County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Cherokee County
- Etowah County
- Jackson County
- Marshall County
- Chattooga County
- Dade County
- Floyd County
- Walker County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Alabama
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> | 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. |
| <3> | 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 Douglas, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Douglas) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |