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 Grays Gardens (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 Grays Gardens. 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 Grays Gardens ...
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 Grays Gardens: Grays Gdns. (or less commonly used: Grays Gardns., Grays Grdens. or Grays Grdns.)
- While the name of this community is Grays Gardens, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Grays Gardens may originally have been Gray's Gardens.
Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Grays Gardens might be written as Gray Gardens.
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 doctors and 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.
Grays Gardens 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 Grays Gardens. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Grays Gardens:
- Jefferson County (The home county of Grays Gardens)
- The following are listed by their distance from Grays Gardens, with the one closest to Grays Gardens listed first.
- Adamsville
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Mulga
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Westwood
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Westwood is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westwood
- Alden
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Alden is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alden
- Daisey City
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Daisey City is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Daisey City
- Pinkney City
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Pinkney City is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinkney City
- Maytown
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Maytown is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maytown
- Population from the 2020 Census: 364 people
- Docena
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Docena is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Docena
- Forestdale
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Forestdale is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forestdale
- Brookside
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Brookside is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookside
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,323 people
- Cardiff
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Cardiff is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cardiff
- Population from the 2020 Census: 55 people
- Edgewater
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Edgewater is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgewater
- Bibb County
- The following are listed by their distance from Grays Gardens, with the one closest to Grays Gardens listed first.
- Green Pond
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Blocton Junction
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Blocton Junction is located in Bibb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blocton Junction
- Blocton Junction has also been known as:
- Blockton Junc
- North Bibb
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- North Bibb is located in Bibb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Bibb
- Woodstock
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Blount County
- The following are listed by their distance from Grays Gardens, with the one closest to Grays Gardens listed first.
- Red Hill
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Red Hill is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Hill
- Warrior
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Dale ‑ Historic
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Dale is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dale
- Reid's
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Reid's is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reid's
- County Line
(21 miles [33.8 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
- Smoke Rise
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Smoke Rise is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smoke Rise
- Hayden
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Selfville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Selfville is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Selfville
- Blount Springs
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Blount Springs is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blount Springs
- Compton
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Compton is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Compton
- Dallas
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Dallas is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dallas
- Remlap
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Cullman County
- The following are listed by their distance from Grays Gardens, with the one closest to Grays Gardens 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
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Baltimore is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baltimore
- Colony
(24 miles [38.6 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
(24 miles [38.6 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
- Black Bottom
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Black Bottom is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Bottom
- Damascus
(26 miles [41.8 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)
- Ardell
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Ardell is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ardell
- Saint Clair County
- The following are listed by their distance from Grays Gardens, with the one closest to Grays Gardens listed first.
- Woodland Village
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Woodland Village is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland Village
- Acmar
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Acmar is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acmar
- Argo
(27 miles [43.5 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
(27 miles [43.5 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
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Parsons is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parsons
- Brompton
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Brompton is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brompton
- Margaret
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Turnbough Town
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Turnbough Town is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turnbough Town
- Shelby County
- The following are listed by their distance from Grays Gardens, with the one closest to Grays Gardens listed first.
- Indian Springs Village
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- 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
- Inverness
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Inverness is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Inverness
- Lake Purdy
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Lake Purdy is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Purdy
- Meadowbrook
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Meadowbrook is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowbrook
- Tacoa
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Tacoa is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tacoa
- Bridgeton
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Bridgeton is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bridgeton
- Bamford
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Bamford is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bamford
- Falliston
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Falliston is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falliston
- Helena
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Pelham
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Shoal Creek
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Shoal Creek is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shoal Creek
- Tulse
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Tulse is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tulse
- Tuscaloosa County
- The following are listed by their distance from Grays Gardens, with the one closest to Grays Gardens listed first.
- Bull City
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Bull City is located in Tuscaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bull City
- Tannehill
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Tannehill is located in Tuscaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tannehill
- Lake View
(23 miles [37 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
- Abernant
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Abernant is located in Tuscaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abernant
- Kellerman
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Kellerman is located in Tuscaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kellerman
- Walker County
- The following are listed by their distance from Grays Gardens, with the one closest to Grays Gardens listed first.
- Quinton
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Twilley Town
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Twilley Town is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twilley Town
- Yerkwood
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Yerkwood is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yerkwood
- Reeds Ferry
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Reeds Ferry is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reeds Ferry
- Wyatt
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Wyatt is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyatt
- Burnwell
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Burnwell is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burnwell
- Oakahalla
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Oakahalla is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakahalla
- Sumiton
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- 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>
- Dora
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Red Star
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Red Star is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Star
- Barney
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Barney is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barney
- Dovertown
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Dovertown is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dovertown
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Grays Gardens, see our County-by-County Page for Grays Gardens.
Cemeteries Near Grays Gardens ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Grays Gardens.
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 Grays Gardens - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Grays Gardens covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Grays Gardens, with the one closest to Grays Gardens listed first.
- Union Grove Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Shady Grove Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Midway Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Adams - Heaton Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Crestview Memorial Gardens
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Glasgow Hill Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Village Falls Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Lakeview Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Crumley Chapel Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Linn Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- George Washington Memorial Gardens
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Bivens Chapel Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Continue List (341 more) ...
- St. Michaels Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Cardiff Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Maben Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
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.<4>
While we didn't find Grays Gardens in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Grays Gardens.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Grays Gardens, with the one closest to Grays Gardens listed first.
- Adamsville
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Blossburg
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Blossburg is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blossburg
- Brookside
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Brookside is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookside
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,323 people
- Cardiff
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Cardiff is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cardiff
- Population from the 2020 Census: 55 people
- Porter
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Porter is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Porter
- Sandusky
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Sandusky is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandusky
- Linn Crossing
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Linn Crossing is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Linn Crossing
- Pratt Mines ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Pratt Mines is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pratt Mines
- Coalburg
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Coalburg is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coalburg
- Former name for Coalburg:
- Coalburgh
- Short Creek
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Short Creek is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Short Creek
- Wylam
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Wylam is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wylam
- Ensley
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Ensley is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ensley
- Continue List (16 more) ...
- Thomas
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Thomas is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thomas
- Dolomite
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- North Birmingham
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- North Birmingham is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Birmingham
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Grays Gardens. See our List of 1890's Communities around Grays Gardens.
Newspapers Published in Grays Gardens ...
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 12 newspapers that have been published in the area around Grays Gardens.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Grays Gardens, there are papers which were published within 7 miles [11.3 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Grays Gardens.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we like to start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These helpful 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 Grays Gardens:
- Websites specific to Alabama
- Pages specific to Jefferson County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Bibb County
- 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> | 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. |
| <4> | 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 Grays Gardens, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <5> | 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- Grays Gardens) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |