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 Flat Rock (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 Flat Rock. 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 Flat Rock ...
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.
Another variation: Flatrock.
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Flat Rock. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Flat Rock.
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 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.
Flat Rock is located in Lawrence 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 Lawrence County: Colbert, Cullman, Franklin, Limestone, Morgan & Winston.
Below are the counties that are near Flat Rock. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Flat Rock:
- Lawrence County (The home county of Flat Rock)
- The following are listed by their distance from Flat Rock, with the one closest to Flat Rock listed first.
- Concord
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Concord is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Concord
- Avoca ‑ Historic
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Avoca is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avoca
- Mehama ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Mehama is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mehama
- Hatton
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Hatton is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hatton
- Mount Hope
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Mount Hope is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Hope
- Edmond
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Edmond is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edmond
- Camp Spring ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Camp Spring is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camp Spring
- Muck City
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Muck City is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Muck City
- Town Creek
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Moulton
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Mountain Home
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Mountain Home is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Home
- Courtland
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Colbert County
- The following are listed by their distance from Flat Rock, with the one closest to Flat Rock listed first.
- Campbell Settlement ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Campbell Settlement is located in Colbert County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Campbell Settlement
- Leighton
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Spring Valley
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Spring Valley is located in Colbert County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Valley
- Littleville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Littleville is located in Colbert County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Littleville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 992 people
- White House Springs
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- White House Springs is located in Colbert County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White House Springs
- Nitrate City
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Nitrate City is located in Colbert County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nitrate City
- Muscle Shoals
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Davidsons Cross Roads ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Ford City
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Ford City is located in Colbert County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ford City
- Tuscumbia
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Furnace Hill ‑ Historic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Furnace Hill is located in Colbert County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Furnace Hill
- Sheffield
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Franklin County
- The following are listed by their distance from Flat Rock, with the one closest to Flat Rock listed first.
- Churntown
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Churntown is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Churntown
- Russellville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Phil Campbell
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Spruce Pine
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Spruce Pine is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spruce Pine
- Rockwood
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Rockwood is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockwood
- Belgreen
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Belgreen is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belgreen
- Slickrock Ford ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Slickrock Ford is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slickrock Ford
- Hodges
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Lauderdale County
- The following are listed by their distance from Flat Rock, with the one closest to Flat Rock listed first.
- Belleview ‑ Historic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Belleview is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belleview
- Dells Vista Shores
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Dells Vista Shores is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dells Vista Shores
- Bainbridge ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Bainbridge is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bainbridge
- Beach Grove ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Beach Grove is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beach Grove
- Canaan ‑ Historic
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Canaan is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canaan
- Florence
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Elgin
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Elgin is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elgin
- Killen
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Rogersville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Rogersville is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rogersville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,293 people
- Former name for Rogersville:
- Rodgersville
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rogersville <1>
- Cypress Creek
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Cypress Creek is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cypress Creek
- Mars Hill
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Mars Hill is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mars Hill
- Saint Florian
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Saint Florian is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Florian
- Population from the 2020 Census: 780 people
- Limestone County
- The following are listed by their distance from Flat Rock, with the one closest to Flat Rock listed first.
- Ripley
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Ripley is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ripley
- Poplar Creek
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Poplar Creek is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poplar Creek
- Lentzville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Lentzville is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lentzville
- Harris Station
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Harris Station is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harris Station
- Orrville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Orrville is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orrville
- Cairo
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Cairo is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cairo
- Marion County
- The following are listed by their distance from Flat Rock, with the one closest to Flat Rock listed first.
- Bear Creek
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Hackleburg
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Hackleburg is located in Marion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hackleburg
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,249 people
- Thornhill
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Thornhill is located in Marion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thornhill
- Morgan County
- The following are listed by their distance from Flat Rock, with the one closest to Flat Rock listed first.
- Danville
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Trinity
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Austinville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Austinville is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Austinville
- Moulton Heights
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Moulton Heights is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moulton Heights
- Simpson
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Simpson is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Simpson
- Decatur
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Decatur is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Decatur
- Population from the 2020 Census: 54,381 people
- Former names for Decatur:
- Albany
- New Decatur
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Decatur <1>
- Russell Village
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Russell Village is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Russell Village
- Flint City
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Flint City is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flint City
- Cedar Plains
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Cedar Plains is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Plains
- Winston County
- The following are listed by their distance from Flat Rock, with the one closest to Flat Rock listed first.
- Pebble
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Pebble is located in Winston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pebble
- Prebble ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Prebble is located in Winston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prebble
- Grayson
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Grayson is located in Winston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grayson
- Ashridge
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Ashridge is located in Winston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashridge
- Littleville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Littleville is located in Winston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Littleville
- Ellaville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Ellaville is located in Winston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellaville
- Haleyville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Boar Tush
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Boar Tush is located in Winston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boar Tush
- Boar Tush has also been known as:
- Boar Tusk
- Boartush
- Boartusk
- Upshaw
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Upshaw is located in Winston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Upshaw
- Delmar
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Delmar is located in Winston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delmar
- Double Springs
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Addison
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Flat Rock, see our County-by-County Page for Flat Rock.
Cemeteries Near Flat Rock ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Flat Rock.
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 Flat Rock - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Flat Rock covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Flat Rock, with the one closest to Flat Rock listed first.
- Love Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Fergason Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Masterson Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- King Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Sanderson Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Beavers Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Gargas Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Smith Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Wear Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Goodwin Cemetery
- The Goodwin Cemetery is located on private property - be sure to secure permission before visiting.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodwin Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2306470 <2>
- Bethsaida Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Macedonia Baptist Church Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (766 more) ...
- Town Creek Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Rutherford Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Providence Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
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 Flat Rock in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Flat Rock.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Flat Rock, with the one closest to Flat Rock listed first.
- Concord
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Concord is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Concord
- Avoca ‑ Historic
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Avoca is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avoca
- Hatton
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Hatton is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hatton
- Mount Hope
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Mount Hope is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Hope
- Newburg
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Newburg is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newburg
- Landersville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Landersville is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Landersville
- Camp Spring ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Camp Spring is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camp Spring
- Edmond
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Edmond is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edmond
- Bingham
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Bingham is located in Colbert County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bingham
- Waco
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Waco is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waco
- Town Creek
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Hunter ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Hunter is located in Colbert County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunter
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Leighton
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Moulton
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Spring Valley
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Spring Valley is located in Colbert County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Valley
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Flat Rock. See our List of 1890's Communities around Flat Rock.
Newspapers Published in Flat Rock ...
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 27 newspapers that have been published in the area around Flat Rock.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Flat Rock, there are papers which were published within 18 miles [29 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Flat Rock.
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 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 Flat Rock:
- Websites specific to Alabama
- Pages specific to Lawrence County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Colbert County
- Franklin County
- Lauderdale County
- Limestone County
- Marion County
- Morgan County
- Winston 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 Flat Rock, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Flat Rock) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |