RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Alabama >> Sumter County >> GastonIndex...

Welcome to Gaston ...

Gaston is located in Sumter County<1>.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Gaston, you might consider that their post office opened in 1839.

Gaston is 310 feet [94 m] above sea level.<2>.

Time Zone: Gaston lies in the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT) and observes daylight saving time

Area Codes for Gaston: 205 & 659<3>

Communities Also Named Gaston ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are two Alabama communities named Gaston: This one is located in Sumter County and the other is located in Wilcox County.

Beyond Alabama, there are 12 communities that are also named Gaston - they are located in Arkansas, California, Georgia, Indiana, Mississippi, North Carolina (2), Oregon, South Carolina and West Virginia (2).

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Gaston.

Communities near Gaston ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Gaston.

  • Livingston
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
  • York
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • York is located in Sumter County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for York
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,218 people
    • Former names for York:
    • New York Station
    • York Station
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for York <4>
  • Butler
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
  • Lisman
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Lisman is located in Choctaw County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lisman
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 476 people
  • Cuba
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Cuba is located in Sumter County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cuba
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 287 people
  • Pennington
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Pennington is located in Choctaw County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pennington
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 202 people
  • Myrtlewood
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Myrtlewood is located in Marengo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Myrtlewood
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 115 people
  • Intercourse
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Intercourse is located in Sumter County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Intercourse
  • Kinterbish
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Kinterbish is located in Sumter County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kinterbish
  • Pelham
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Pelham is located in Choctaw County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pelham

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Gaston. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Gaston.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Gaston. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Gaston.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Gaston. See our Newspapers Page for Gaston.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Gaston ...

Looking for more information about Gaston? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

While we are unaware of a Tourism page that is specific to Gaston, there are neighboring communities that do have Tourism pages. A map of those communities can be found with our TripAdvisor Page for Gaston.

Adding Gaston to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Gaston in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found (so far) for Gaston was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<5>

From that list, the Gaston post office opened in 1839. The Gaston post office closed in 1912.

For more details, see References and Mentions for Gaston.

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of Alabama's counties, including Sumter, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Gaston - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<3>When there's a risk of an area code running out of phone numbers, an 'Overlay Area Code' is created that has the same geographic boundaries as the existing area code. In this case, the 205 code has been Overlayed with the 659 area code. New phone numbers in the Gaston area will be assigned with one of these codes: 205 or 659. As a result, placing a call in the Gaston area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number).
<4>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<5>A copy of the Blevins & Helbock Post Office list with background information can be found at:

      https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/