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 Harrisburg (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 Harrisburg. 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.
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.
Harrisburg is located in Saint Clair 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 Saint Clair County: Blount, Calhoun, Etowah, Jefferson, Shelby & Talladega.
Below are the counties that are near Harrisburg. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Harrisburg:
- Saint Clair County (The home county of Harrisburg)
- The following are listed by their distance from Harrisburg, with the one closest to Harrisburg listed first.
- Avondale Village
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Avondale Village is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avondale Village
- Pell City
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Glen City
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Glen City is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen City
- Cropwell
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Seddon
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Seddon is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seddon
- Coal City
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Coal City is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coal City
- Riverside
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Easonville ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Easonville is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Easonville
- Wattsville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Wattsville is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wattsville
- Fountainrun ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Fountainrun is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fountainrun
- Cook's Springs
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Cook's Springs is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cook's Springs
- Odenville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Branchville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Branchville is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Branchville
- Blount County
- The following are listed by their distance from Harrisburg, with the one closest to Harrisburg listed first.
- Straight Mountain
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Straight Mountain is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Straight Mountain
- Dale ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Dale is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dale
- Appalachian
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Appalachian is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Appalachian
- Highland Lake
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Highland Lake is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland Lake
- Population from the 2020 Census: 410 people
- Remlap
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Compton
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Compton is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Compton
- Allgood
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Allgood is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allgood
- Population from the 2020 Census: 638 people
- Taits Gap
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Taits Gap is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taits Gap
- Oneonta
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Dallas
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Dallas is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dallas
- Selfville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Selfville is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Selfville
- Adville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Adville is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adville
- Deavers
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Deavers is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deavers
- Calhoun County
- The following are listed by their distance from Harrisburg, with the one closest to Harrisburg listed first.
- Bruner ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Bruner is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bruner
- Blue Eye ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Blue Eye is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Eye
- Eastaboga
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Boozer ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Boozer is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boozer
- Macon
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Macon is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Macon
- Bynum
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Bynum is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bynum
- Bynum has also been known as:
- Bynum's
- Cane Creek ‑ Historic
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Cane Creek is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cane Creek
- Ohatchee
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Eulaton
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Eulaton is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eulaton
- Beasley ‑ Historic
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Beasley is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beasley
- Morrisville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Morrisville is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morrisville
- Bera ‑ Historic
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Bera is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bera
- Chigger Ridge ‑ Historic
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Chigger Ridge is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chigger Ridge
- Clay County
- The following are listed by their distance from Harrisburg, with the one closest to Harrisburg listed first.
- Chambers Springs
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Chambers Springs is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chambers Springs
- Erin
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Erin is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erin
- Etowah County
- The following are listed by their distance from Harrisburg, with the one closest to Harrisburg listed first.
- Brannon Springs ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Brannon Springs is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brannon Springs
- Markton
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Markton is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Markton
- Clear Springs ‑ Historic
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Clear Springs is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clear Springs
- Nix ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Nix is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nix
- Pilgrims Rest
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Pilgrims Rest is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pilgrims Rest
- Gallant
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Gallant is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gallant
- Rainbow City
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Altoona
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Attalla
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Jefferson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Harrisburg, with the one closest to Harrisburg listed first.
- Leeds
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Breakstone Village
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Breakstone Village is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Breakstone Village
- East Trussville ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- East Trussville is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Trussville
- Roper
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Roper is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roper
- Scott City
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Scott City is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scott City
- Cedar Grove ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Cedar Grove is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Grove
- Lola City
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Lola City is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lola City
- Ayres
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Ayres is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ayres
- Cahaba Village
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Cahaba Village is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cahaba Village
- McCombs
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- McCombs is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McCombs
- Trussville
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Clay
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Alton
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Shelby County
- The following are listed by their distance from Harrisburg, with the one closest to Harrisburg listed first.
- Calcis
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Calcis is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calcis
- Sterrett
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Vandiver
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Dunnavant
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Dunnavant is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunnavant
- Dunavant
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Dunavant is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunavant
- Harpersville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Westover
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Westover is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westover
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,769 people
- Shoal Creek
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Shoal Creek is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shoal Creek
- Bridgeton
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Bridgeton is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bridgeton
- Lake Purdy
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Lake Purdy is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Purdy
- Chelsea
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Meadowbrook
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Meadowbrook is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowbrook
- Inverness
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Inverness is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Inverness
- Talladega County
- The following are listed by their distance from Harrisburg, with the one closest to Harrisburg listed first.
- Colony
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Colony is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colony
- Windsong Island
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Windsong Island is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windsong Island
- Lincoln
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Logan Martin Dam
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Logan Martin Dam is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Logan Martin Dam
- East Bend
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- East Bend is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Bend
- Talladega
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Nottingham ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Nottingham is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nottingham
- Former name for Nottingham:
- Jones Camp Ground
- Alpine
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Grant Town
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Grant Town is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grant Town
- Munford
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Winterboro
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Winterboro is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winterboro
- McElderry
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- McElderry is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McElderry
- Rendalia
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Rendalia is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rendalia
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Harrisburg, see our County-by-County Page for Harrisburg.
Cemeteries Near Harrisburg ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Harrisburg.
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 Harrisburg - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Harrisburg covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Harrisburg, with the one closest to Harrisburg listed first.
- Oak Ridge Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Mt. Carmel Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Boykin Truitt Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Valley Hill Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Hill Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Valley Hill Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located 2 miles [3.2 km]<2> to the south of Pell City.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #26861 <3>
- Bowman Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Roberts Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Coosa Valley Baptist Church Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Seddon Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Karr Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Robert Chapel Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- St. Clair Memorial Gardens
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Old Florence Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Continue List (294 more) ...
- Walkers Family Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- McCellan Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Garden of Memories 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.<4>
While we didn't find Harrisburg in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Harrisburg.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Harrisburg, with the one closest to Harrisburg listed first.
- Pell City
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Eden
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Eden is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eden
- Cropwell
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Seddon
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Seddon is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seddon
- Coal City
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Coal City is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coal City
- Easonville ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Easonville is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Easonville
- Riverside
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Wolf Creek
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Wolf Creek is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolf Creek
- Stemley
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Stemley is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stemley
- Cook's Springs
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Cook's Springs is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cook's Springs
- Eureka
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Eureka is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eureka
- Lincoln
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Odenville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Branchville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Branchville is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Branchville
- Refuge
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Refuge is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Refuge
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Harrisburg. See our List of 1890's Communities around Harrisburg.
Newspapers Published in Harrisburg ...
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 14 newspapers that have been published in the area around Harrisburg.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Harrisburg, there are papers which were published within 13 miles [20.9 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Harrisburg.
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 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 Harrisburg:
- Websites specific to Alabama
- Pages specific to Saint Clair County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Blount County
- Calhoun County
- Clay County
- Etowah County
- Jefferson County
- Shelby County
- Talladega 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> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Harrisburg) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <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 Harrisburg, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |