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 Harpers Ferry (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 Harpers Ferry. 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 Harpers Ferry ...
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 Harpers Ferry: Harpers Fry. (or less commonly used: Harpers Frry.)
- While the name of this community is Harpers Ferry, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Harpers Ferry may originally have been Harper's Ferry.
Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Harpers Ferry might be written as Harper Ferry.
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Harpers Ferry. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Harpers Ferry.
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 southeast 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 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 east 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.
Harpers Ferry is located in Coffee 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 Coffee County: Covington, Crenshaw, Dale, Geneva & Pike.
Below are the counties that are near Harpers Ferry. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Harpers Ferry:
- Coffee County (The home county of Harpers Ferry)
- The following are listed by their distance from Harpers Ferry, with the one closest to Harpers Ferry listed first.
- Elba
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Mixson
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Mixson is located in Coffee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mixson
- New Brockton
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Clintonville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Clintonville is located in Coffee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clintonville
- Zoar
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Zoar is located in Coffee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zoar
- Curtis
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Curtis is located in Coffee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Curtis
- Jack
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Jack is located in Coffee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jack
- Danleys Crossroads
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Danleys Crossroads is located in Coffee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Danleys Crossroads
- Pine Level
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Pine Level is located in Coffee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Level
- Wilkinstown
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Wilkinstown is located in Coffee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilkinstown
- Goodman
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Goodman is located in Coffee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodman
- Enterprise
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Alberton
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Alberton is located in Coffee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alberton
- Barbour County
- The following are listed by their distance from Harpers Ferry, with the one closest to Harpers Ferry listed first.
- Elamville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Elamville is located in Barbour County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elamville
- Clio
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Covington County
- The following are listed by their distance from Harpers Ferry, with the one closest to Harpers Ferry listed first.
- County Line
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- County Line is located in Covington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for County Line
- Opp
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Opp is located in Covington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Opp
- Population from the 2020 Census: 6,313 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Opp <2>
- Beulah
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Beulah is located in Covington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beulah
- Rose Hill
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Rose Hill is located in Covington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rose Hill
- Babbie
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Babbie is located in Covington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Babbie
- Population from the 2020 Census: 599 people
- Horn Hill
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Horn Hill is located in Covington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horn Hill
- Population from the 2020 Census: 227 people
- Onycha
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Onycha is located in Covington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Onycha
- Population from the 2020 Census: 180 people
- Antioch
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Antioch is located in Covington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Antioch
- Sanford
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Sanford is located in Covington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sanford
- Population from the 2020 Census: 259 people
- Gantt
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Gantt is located in Covington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gantt
- Population from the 2020 Census: 214 people
- Heath
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Heath is located in Covington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heath
- Population from the 2020 Census: 252 people
- Libertyville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Libertyville is located in Covington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Libertyville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 110 people
- Andalusia
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Crenshaw County
- The following are listed by their distance from Harpers Ferry, with the one closest to Harpers Ferry listed first.
- Bullock
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Bullock is located in Crenshaw County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bullock
- Peacock ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Peacock is located in Crenshaw County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peacock
- Brantley
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Glenwood
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Social Town
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Social Town is located in Crenshaw County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Social Town
- Dozier
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Vidette
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Vidette is located in Crenshaw County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vidette
- Leon
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Leon is located in Crenshaw County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leon
- Luverne
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Merrill Mill
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Merrill Mill is located in Crenshaw County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merrill Mill
- Rutledge
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Rutledge is located in Crenshaw County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rutledge
- Population from the 2020 Census: 449 people
- Cherokee Village
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Cherokee Village is located in Crenshaw County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherokee Village
- Vernledge
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Vernledge is located in Crenshaw County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vernledge
- Dale County
- The following are listed by their distance from Harpers Ferry, with the one closest to Harpers Ferry listed first.
- Holiday Village
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Holiday Village is located in Dale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holiday Village
- Level Plains
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Level Plains is located in Dale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Level Plains
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,952 people
- Fort Rucker
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Ariton
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Ariton is located in Dale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ariton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 736 people
- Daleville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Ozark
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Clayhatchee
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Clayhatchee is located in Dale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clayhatchee
- Population from the 2020 Census: 580 people
- Ewell
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Ewell is located in Dale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ewell
- Newton
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Newton is located in Dale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,451 people
- Arguta
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Arguta is located in Dale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arguta
- Mabson
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Mabson is located in Dale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mabson
- Phillips Crossroads
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Phillips Crossroads is located in Dale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Phillips Crossroads
- Pinckard
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Geneva County
- The following are listed by their distance from Harpers Ferry, with the one closest to Harpers Ferry listed first.
- Coffee Springs
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Coffee Springs is located in Geneva County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coffee Springs
- Population from the 2020 Census: 220 people
- Chancellor
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Chancellor is located in Geneva County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chancellor
- Scranton
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Scranton is located in Geneva County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scranton
- Samson
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Bellwood
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Bellwood is located in Geneva County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellwood
- Costilla ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Costilla is located in Geneva County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Costilla
- Geneva
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Eunola ‑ Historic
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Eunola is located in Geneva County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eunola
- Dundee
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Dundee is located in Geneva County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dundee
- Hartford
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Pike County
- The following are listed by their distance from Harpers Ferry, with the one closest to Harpers Ferry listed first.
- Centre Ridge ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Centre Ridge is located in Pike County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centre Ridge
- Tarentum
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Tarentum is located in Pike County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tarentum
- Henderson
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Henderson is located in Pike County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henderson
- Tennille
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Tennille is located in Pike County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tennille
- Goshen
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Mossy Grove Village
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Mossy Grove Village is located in Pike County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mossy Grove Village
- Hallsville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Hallsville is located in Pike County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hallsville
- Brundidge
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Pronto
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Pronto is located in Pike County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pronto
- Troy
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Banks
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- McClure Town
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- McClure Town is located in Pike County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McClure Town
- Wingard
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Wingard is located in Pike County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wingard
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Harpers Ferry, see our County-by-County Page for Harpers Ferry.
Cemeteries Near Harpers Ferry ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Harpers Ferry.
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 Harpers Ferry - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Harpers Ferry covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Harpers Ferry, with the one closest to Harpers Ferry listed first.
- Hillcrest Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Shiloh Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Woodland Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- White Water Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Rocky Head Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Wise Mill Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Evergreen Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- McGee Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Pleasant Ridge Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Shady Grove Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Kelly Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Hutchson & Russell Family Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Continue List (305 more) ...
- Rosin Ridge Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Holland Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Shiloh 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.<3>
While we didn't find Harpers Ferry in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Harpers Ferry.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Harpers Ferry, with the one closest to Harpers Ferry listed first.
- Edwardsville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Edwardsville is located in Coffee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edwardsville
- Elba
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Clintonville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Clintonville is located in Coffee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clintonville
- Curtis
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Curtis is located in Coffee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Curtis
- Damascus
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Damascus is located in Coffee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Damascus
- Tabernacle
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Tabernacle is located in Coffee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tabernacle
- Bullock
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Bullock is located in Crenshaw County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bullock
- Alberton
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Alberton is located in Coffee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alberton
- Enterprise
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Henderson
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Henderson is located in Pike County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henderson
- Level Plains
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Level Plains is located in Dale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Level Plains
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,952 people
- Peacock ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Peacock is located in Crenshaw County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peacock
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- Opine
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Opine is located in Covington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Opine
- Brantley
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Coffee Springs
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Coffee Springs is located in Geneva County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coffee Springs
- Population from the 2020 Census: 220 people
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Harpers Ferry. See our List of 1890's Communities around Harpers Ferry.
Newspapers Published in Harpers Ferry ...
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 21 newspapers that have been published in the area around Harpers Ferry.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Harpers Ferry, there are papers which were published within 20 miles [32.2 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Harpers Ferry.
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 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 Harpers Ferry:
- Websites specific to Alabama
- Pages specific to Coffee County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Barbour County
- Covington County
- Crenshaw County
- Dale County
- Geneva County
- Pike 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 Harpers Ferry, 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Harpers Ferry) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |