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 Five Forks (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 Five Forks. 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 Five Forks ...
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.
For example, a typical abbreviation for Five Forks: Five Frks.
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Five Forks. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Five Forks.
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 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.
Five Forks 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 Five Forks. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Five Forks:
- DeKalb County (The home county of Five Forks)
- The following are listed by their distance from Five Forks, with the one closest to Five Forks listed first.
- Whiton
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Whiton is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whiton
- Rogers
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Rogers is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rogers
- Chigger Hill
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Chigger Hill is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chigger Hill
- Geraldine
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Grove Oak
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Grove Oak is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grove Oak
- Lakeview
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Lakeview is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview
- Population from the 2020 Census: 156 people
- Rains ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Rains is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rains
- Crossville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Floy ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Floy is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Floy
- Hix ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Hix is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hix
- Gibson Crossroads
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Gibson Crossroads is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gibson Crossroads
- Dawson
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Dawson is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dawson
- Blount County
- The following are listed by their distance from Five Forks, with the one closest to Five Forks listed first.
- Fowler ‑ Historic
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Fowler is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fowler
- McLarty
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- McLarty is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McLarty
- Highmound
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Highmound is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highmound
- Bright Star
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Bright Star is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bright Star
- Snead
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Brooksville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Brooksville is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brooksville
- Craig
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Craig is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Craig
- Summit
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Summit is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summit
- Wynnville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Wynnville is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wynnville
- Clarence
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Clarence is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarence
- Susan Moore
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Susan Moore is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Susan Moore
- Population from the 2020 Census: 797 people
- Bird ‑ Historic
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Bird is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bird
- Cherokee County
- The following are listed by their distance from Five Forks, with the one closest to Five Forks listed first.
- Sand Rock
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Sand Rock is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sand Rock
- Population from the 2020 Census: 674 people
- Anderson
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Leesburg
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Taft
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Taft is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taft
- Blanche
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Blanche is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blanche
- Centre
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Turkey Town ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Turkey Town is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turkey Town
- Cedar Bluff
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Gaylesville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Ringgold
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Ringgold is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ringgold
- Cullman County
- Joppa
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Etowah County
- The following are listed by their distance from Five Forks, with the one closest to Five Forks listed first.
- Sardis City
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Sardis City is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sardis City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,776 people
- Whitesboro
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Whitesboro is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitesboro
- Yancy
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Yancy is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yancy
- Mountainboro
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Mountainboro is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountainboro
- Carlisle
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Carlisle is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carlisle
- Duck Springs
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Duck Springs is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duck Springs
- Haworth ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Haworth is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haworth
- Keener
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Keener is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keener
- Greer ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Greer is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greer
- Aurora
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Aurora is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aurora
- Crudup
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Crudup is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crudup
- Egypt
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Egypt is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Egypt
- Jackson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Five Forks, with the one closest to Five Forks listed first.
- Langston
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Rock City
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Rock City is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock City
- Dodsonville ‑ Historic
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Dodsonville is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dodsonville
- Section
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Dry Cove ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Dry Cove is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dry Cove
- Aspel
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Aspel is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aspel
- Ferncliff ‑ Historic
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Ferncliff is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ferncliff
- Dutton
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Dutton is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dutton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 307 people
- Scottsboro
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Woodville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Lim Rock
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Lim Rock is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lim Rock
- Gray ‑ Historic
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Gray is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gray
- Madison County
- The following are listed by their distance from Five Forks, with the one closest to Five Forks listed first.
- New Hope
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Owens' Cross Roads
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Berkley
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Berkley is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berkley
- Gurley
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Marshall County
- The following are listed by their distance from Five Forks, with the one closest to Five Forks listed first.
- Peters ‑ Historic
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Peters is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peters
- Hustleville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Hustleville is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hustleville
- Mid ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Mid is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mid
- Minorville ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Minorville is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minorville
- Columbus City Ferry
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Columbus City Ferry is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Columbus City Ferry
- Columbus City
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Columbus City is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Columbus City
- Albertville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- North ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- North is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North
- Rayburn
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Rayburn is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rayburn
- Wyeth City
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Wyeth City is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyeth City
- Boaz
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Guntersville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Guntersville is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guntersville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 8,676 people
- Former names for Guntersville:
- Gunter's Ferry
- Gunter's Landing
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Guntersville <1>
- Morgan County
- The following are listed by their distance from Five Forks, with the one closest to Five Forks listed first.
- Briscoe
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Briscoe is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Briscoe
- Morgan City
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Morgan City is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morgan City
- Apple Grove
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Apple Grove is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Apple Grove
- Hulaco
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Hulaco is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hulaco
- Ryan Crossroads
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Ryan Crossroads is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ryan Crossroads
- Saint Clair County
- Steele
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Five Forks, see our County-by-County Page for Five Forks.
Cemeteries Near Five Forks ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Five Forks.
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 Five Forks - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Five Forks covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Five Forks, with the one closest to Five Forks listed first.
- Dalrymple Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- New Canaan Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Mt. Pleasant Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Rooks Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Asbury Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Concord Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Liberty Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Lowrey Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Piney Grove Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Martling Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- De Kalb Memorial Gardens
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Turnover Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Continue List (522 more) ...
- Kirby Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Eason Johnson Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Fairview Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
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.<2>
While we didn't find Five Forks in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Five Forks.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Five Forks, with the one closest to Five Forks listed first.
- Whiton
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Whiton is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whiton
- Rogers
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Rogers is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rogers
- Jink ‑ Historic
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Jink is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jink
- Peters ‑ Historic
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Peters is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peters
- Geraldine
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Grove Oak
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Grove Oak is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grove Oak
- Pendergrass ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Pendergrass is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pendergrass
- Martling
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Martling is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martling
- McVille
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- McVille is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McVille
- Skirum
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Skirum is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skirum
- Ten Broeck
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Ten Broeck is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ten Broeck
- Rains ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Rains is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rains
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Crossville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Thirtynine ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Thirtynine is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thirtynine
- Mid ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Mid is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mid
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Five Forks. See our List of 1890's Communities around Five Forks.
Newspapers Published in Five Forks ...
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 38 newspapers that have been published in the area around Five Forks.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Five Forks, there are papers which were published within 14 miles [22.5 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Five Forks.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 Five Forks:
- Websites specific to Alabama
- Pages specific to DeKalb County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Blount County
- Cherokee County
- Cullman County
- Etowah County
- Jackson County
- Madison County
- Marshall County
- Morgan County
- Saint Clair 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> | 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 Five Forks, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Five Forks) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |