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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 Healing Springs (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 Healing Springs. 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 Healing Springs ...

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 have occurred.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Healing Springs: Healing Spgs. (or less commonly used: Healing Spngs. or Healing Sprngs.)

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 and hospitals 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.

Healing Springs is located in Washington County.

To see how the shape of Alabama's counties have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Washington County: Baldwin, Choctaw, Clarke, Mobile, Greene (MS) & Wayne (MS).

Below are the counties that are near Healing Springs. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Healing Springs:

  • Washington County     (The home county of Healing Springs)
  • Choctaw County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Healing Springs, with the one closest to Healing Springs listed first.
    • Cullomburg
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Aquilla
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Aquilla have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aquilla
      • Aquilla is located in Choctaw County
    • Silas
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Bolinger
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bolinger have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bolinger
      • Bolinger is located in Choctaw County
    • Bladon Springs
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Souwilpa
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Souwilpa. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Souwilpa
      • Souwilpa is located in Choctaw County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Souwilpa
      • From Healing Springs to Souwilpa
    • Isney
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Isney. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Isney
      • Isney is located in Choctaw County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Isney
      • From Healing Springs to Isney
    • Emory
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Emory. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emory
      • Emory is located in Choctaw County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Emory
      • From Healing Springs to Emory
    • Gilbertown
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Womack Hill
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Toxey
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Toxey have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toxey
      • Toxey is located in Choctaw County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 121 people
    • Melvin
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Melvin have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melvin
      • Melvin is located in Choctaw County
    • Okatuppa
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Okatuppa. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Okatuppa
      • Okatuppa is located in Choctaw County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Okatuppa
      • From Healing Springs to Okatuppa
  • Clarke County
  • Clarke County (MS)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Healing Springs, with the one closest to Healing Springs listed first.
    • Gin ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gin have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gin
      • Gin is located in Clarke County (MS)
    • Junction City
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Junction City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Junction City
      • Junction City is located in Clarke County (MS)
    • Shubuta
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shubuta have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shubuta
      • Shubuta is located in Clarke County (MS)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 399 people
  • Greene County (MS)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Healing Springs, with the one closest to Healing Springs listed first.
    • State Line
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for State Line. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for State Line
      • State Line is located in Greene County (MS)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 545 people
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to State Line
      • From Healing Springs to State Line
    • Carson City
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Carson City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carson City
      • Carson City is located in Greene County (MS)
    • Clark
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Wayne County (MS)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Healing Springs, with the one closest to Healing Springs listed first.
    • Robinsons Junction
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Waynesboro
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Waynesboro have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waynesboro
      • Waynesboro is located in Wayne County (MS)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,866 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Waynesboro <2>
    • Matherville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Clara
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Whistler
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Whistler. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whistler
      • Whistler is located in Wayne County (MS)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Whistler
      • From Healing Springs to Whistler

For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Healing Springs, see our County-by-County Page for Healing Springs.

Cemeteries Near Healing Springs ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Healing Springs.

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.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Healing Springs covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Healing Springs, with the one closest to Healing Springs listed first.

  • Healing Springs Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Healing Springs Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Healing Springs Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Millry Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Millry Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Millry Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Smiths Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Smiths Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Smiths Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Winsletts Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Winsletts Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Winsletts Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Providence Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Providence Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Providence Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Shady Grove Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Shady Grove Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Shady Grove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Minerva Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Minerva Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Minerva Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Browns Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Browns Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Browns Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mt. Carmel Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Carmel Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Carmel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Pine Tree Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pine Tree Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pine Tree Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Rocky Ridge Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rocky Ridge Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rocky Ridge Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Reeds Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Reeds Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Reeds Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (257 more) ...
    • North Oak Grove Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the North Oak Grove Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the North Oak Grove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Williamson Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Williamson Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Williamson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Barlow Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Barlow Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Barlow Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Healing Springs had a post office and no railroad service.

These communities are listed based on their distance from Healing Springs, with the one closest to Healing Springs listed first.

  • Millry
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Millry have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millry
    • Millry is located in Washington County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 487 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Millry <2>
  • Koenton
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Koenton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Koenton
    • Koenton is located in Washington County
  • Rescueville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rescueville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rescueville
    • Rescueville is located in Choctaw County
  • Aquilla
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Aquilla have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aquilla
    • Aquilla is located in Choctaw County
  • Silas
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Bigbee
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Frankville
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Denham
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Denham have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Denham
    • Denham is located in Wayne County (MS)
  • Isney
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Isney. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Isney
    • Isney is located in Choctaw County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Isney
    • From Healing Springs to Isney
  • Souwilpa
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Souwilpa. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Souwilpa
    • Souwilpa is located in Choctaw County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Souwilpa
    • From Healing Springs to Souwilpa
  • Emory
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Emory. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emory
    • Emory is located in Choctaw County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Emory
    • From Healing Springs to Emory
  • Tokio
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tokio have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tokio
    • Tokio is located in Wayne County (MS)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Winchester
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Winchester have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winchester
      • Winchester is located in Wayne County (MS)
    • State Line
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for State Line. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for State Line
      • State Line is located in Greene County (MS)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 545 people
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to State Line
      • From Healing Springs to State Line
    • Yellow Pine
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)

We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Healing Springs. See our List of 1890's Communities around Healing Springs.

Newspapers Published in Healing Springs ...

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 9 newspapers that have been published in the area around Healing Springs.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Healing Springs, there are papers which were published within 26 miles [41.8 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Healing Springs.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to 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 Healing Springs:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Healing Springs. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Washington County: www.washingtoncountyalgov.com

The official website for State of Alabama: https://www.alabama.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<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 Healing Springs, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Healing Springs) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Healing Springs. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.6325, Longitude: -88.3367       In this case, the coordinates for Healing Springs have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025