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 Frances Heights (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 Frances Heights. 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 Frances Heights ...
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.
- A typical abbreviation for Frances Heights: Frances Hts. (in Canada, 'Hgts.' is the more common abbreviation.)
- While the name of this community is Frances Heights, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Frances Heights may originally have been France's Heights.
Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Frances Heights might be written as France Heights.
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 southwest 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 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 west 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.
Frances Heights is located in Jefferson 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 Jefferson County: Bibb, Blount, Saint Clair, Shelby, Tuscaloosa & Walker.
Below are the counties that are near Frances Heights. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Frances Heights:
- Jefferson County (The home county of Frances Heights)
- The following are listed by their distance from Frances Heights, with the one closest to Frances Heights listed first.
- Fultondale
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Watson
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Watson is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Watson
- New Town
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- New Town is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Town
- Gardendale
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Hooper City
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Hooper City is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hooper City
- Scarlet Town
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Scarlet Town is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scarlet Town
- Mount Olive
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- New Castle
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- New Castle is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Castle
- Bartonville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Bartonville is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bartonville
- Tarrant
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Tarrant is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tarrant
- Population from the 2020 Census: 6,081 people
- Tarrant has also been known as:
- Tarrant City
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tarrant <2>
- Forestdale
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Forestdale is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forestdale
- Brookside
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Brookside is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookside
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,323 people
- Daisey City
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Daisey City is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Daisey City
- Blount County
- The following are listed by their distance from Frances Heights, with the one closest to Frances Heights listed first.
- Dale ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Dale is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dale
- Warrior
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- County Line
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- County Line is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for County Line
- Population from the 2020 Census: 241 people
- Red Hill
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Red Hill is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Hill
- Selfville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Selfville is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Selfville
- Reid's
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Reid's is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reid's
- Compton
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Compton is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Compton
- Hayden
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Smoke Rise
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Smoke Rise is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smoke Rise
- Dallas
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Dallas is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dallas
- Remlap
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Adville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Adville is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adville
- Locust Fork
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Cullman County
- The following are listed by their distance from Frances Heights, with the one closest to Frances Heights listed first.
- Arkadelphia
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Arkadelphia is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arkadelphia
- Baltimore ‑ Historic
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Baltimore is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baltimore
- Black Bottom
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Black Bottom is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Bottom
- Colony
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Colony is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colony
- Estimated population in 2015: 273 people
- The Colony
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- The Colony is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Colony
- Population from the 2020 Census: 291 people
- Damascus
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Damascus is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Damascus
- Bremen
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Garden City
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Garden City is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 506 people
- Dodge City
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Dodge City is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dodge City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 621 people
- Ardell
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Ardell is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ardell
- Saint Clair County
- The following are listed by their distance from Frances Heights, with the one closest to Frances Heights listed first.
- Woodland Village
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Woodland Village is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland Village
- Acmar
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Acmar is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acmar
- Argo
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Argo is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Argo
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,278 people
- Moody
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Moody is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moody
- Population from the 2020 Census: 13,292 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Moody <2>
- Parsons
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Parsons is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parsons
- Brompton
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Brompton is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brompton
- Margaret
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Turnbough Town
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Turnbough Town is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turnbough Town
- Springville
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Branchville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Branchville is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Branchville
- Cook's Springs
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Cook's Springs is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cook's Springs
- Odenville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Saint Clair Springs
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Saint Clair Springs is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Clair Springs
- Shelby County
- The following are listed by their distance from Frances Heights, with the one closest to Frances Heights listed first.
- Bridgeton
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Bridgeton is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bridgeton
- Inverness
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Inverness is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Inverness
- Lake Purdy
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Lake Purdy is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Purdy
- Meadowbrook
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Meadowbrook is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowbrook
- Shoal Creek
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Shoal Creek is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shoal Creek
- Dunnavant
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Dunnavant is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunnavant
- Indian Springs Village
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Indian Springs Village is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Springs Village
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,628 people
- Dunavant
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Dunavant is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunavant
- Pelham
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Tacoa
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Tacoa is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tacoa
- Vandiver
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Falliston
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Falliston is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falliston
- Chelsea
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Tuscaloosa County
- The following are listed by their distance from Frances Heights, with the one closest to Frances Heights listed first.
- Bull City
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Bull City is located in Tuscaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bull City
- Lake View
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Lake View is located in Tuscaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake View
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,732 people
- Tannehill
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Tannehill is located in Tuscaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tannehill
- Abernant
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Abernant is located in Tuscaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abernant
- Walker County
- The following are listed by their distance from Frances Heights, with the one closest to Frances Heights listed first.
- Quinton
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Twilley Town
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Twilley Town is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twilley Town
- Yerkwood
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Yerkwood is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yerkwood
- Burnwell
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Burnwell is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burnwell
- Oakahalla
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Oakahalla is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakahalla
- Sumiton
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Sumiton is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sumiton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,330 people
- Former names for Sumiton:
- Commercial
- Democrat
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sumiton <2>
- Wyatt
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Wyatt is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyatt
- Creel
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Creel is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Creel
- Dora
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Empire
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Empire is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Empire
- Reeds Ferry
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Reeds Ferry is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reeds Ferry
- Red Star
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Red Star is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Star
- Black Warrior Town ‑ Historic
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Black Warrior Town is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Warrior Town
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Frances Heights, see our County-by-County Page for Frances Heights.
Cemeteries Near Frances Heights ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Frances Heights.
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 Frances Heights - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Frances Heights covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Frances Heights, with the one closest to Frances Heights listed first.
- Walkers Chapel Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Hodges Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Sheritt Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Inglenook Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Moncrief Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- St. Michaels Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Bivens Chapel Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Crumley Chapel Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Fraternal Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Roberts Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Mt. Olive Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Edward Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Continue List (314 more) ...
- Midway Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Enon Ridge Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Knesses Israel 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.<3>
While we didn't find Frances Heights in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Frances Heights.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Frances Heights, with the one closest to Frances Heights listed first.
- Coalburg
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Coalburg is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coalburg
- Former name for Coalburg:
- Coalburgh
- Lewisburg
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Lewisburg is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lewisburg
- North Birmingham
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- North Birmingham is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Birmingham
- Bartonville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Bartonville is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bartonville
- New Castle
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- New Castle is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Castle
- Brookside
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Brookside is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookside
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,323 people
- Sandusky
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Sandusky is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandusky
- Thomas
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Thomas is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thomas
- East Birmingham
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- East Birmingham is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Birmingham
- Vanderbilt
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Vanderbilt is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vanderbilt
- Cunningham
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Cunningham is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cunningham
- Cardiff
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Cardiff is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cardiff
- Population from the 2020 Census: 55 people
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- Pratt Mines ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Pratt Mines is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pratt Mines
- Birmingham
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Woodlawn
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Woodlawn is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodlawn
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Frances Heights. See our List of 1890's Communities around Frances Heights.
Newspapers Published in Frances Heights ...
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 198 newspapers that have been published in the area around Frances Heights.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Frances Heights, there are papers which were published within 7 miles [11.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Frances Heights.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we start 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 Frances Heights:
- Websites specific to Alabama
- Pages specific to Jefferson County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Blount County
- Cullman County
- Saint Clair County
- Shelby County
- Tuscaloosa County
- Walker County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Alabama
Footnotes ...
| <1> | It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties). |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 Frances Heights, 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Frances Heights) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |