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 Hobbs Island (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 Hobbs Island. 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 Hobbs Island ...
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 Hobbs Island: Hobbs Is. (in Canada, 'Isld.' is the more common abbreviation.)
- While the name of this community is Hobbs Island, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Hobbs Island may originally have been Hobb's Island.
Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Hobbs Island might be written as Hobb Island.
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 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.
Hobbs Island is located in Madison 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 Madison County: Jackson, Limestone, Marshall, Morgan, Franklin (TN) & Lincoln (TN).
Below are the counties that are near Hobbs Island. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Hobbs Island:
- Madison County (The home county of Hobbs Island)
- The following are listed by their distance from Hobbs Island, with the one closest to Hobbs Island listed first.
- Whitesburg
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Whitesburg is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitesburg
- English Village
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- English Village is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for English Village
- Owens' Cross Roads
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- New Hope
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Big Cove
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Big Cove is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Cove
- Berkley
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Berkley is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berkley
- Slaughter Landing ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Slaughter Landing is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slaughter Landing
- Slaughter Landing has also been known as:
- Slaughter Ferry
- Chelsea
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Chelsea is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chelsea
- Greenwycke Village
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Greenwycke Village is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwycke Village
- Triana
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Triana is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Triana
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,327 people
- Huntsville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Lincoln
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Lincoln is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln
- Gurley
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Blount County
- The following are listed by their distance from Hobbs Island, with the one closest to Hobbs Island listed first.
- Fowler ‑ Historic
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Fowler is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fowler
- Summit
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Summit is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summit
- Birdie
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Birdie is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Birdie
- McLarty
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- McLarty is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McLarty
- Bright Star
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Bright Star is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bright Star
- Brooksville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Brooksville is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brooksville
- Highmound
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Highmound is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highmound
- Craig
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Craig is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Craig
- Liberty
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Liberty is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty
- Snead
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Colbert County
- Garner ‑ Historic
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Garner is located in Colbert County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garner
- Cullman County
- The following are listed by their distance from Hobbs Island, with the one closest to Hobbs Island listed first.
- Joppa
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Baileyton
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Fairview
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Fairview is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairview
- Population from the 2020 Census: 463 people
- Simcoe
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Simcoe is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Simcoe
- Holly Pond
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Baileytown
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Baileytown is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baileytown
- Berlin
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Berlin is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berlin
- Vinemont
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- East Point
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- East Point is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Point
- South Vinemont
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- South Vinemont is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Vinemont
- Population from the 2020 Census: 636 people
- Cullman
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- DeKalb County
- The following are listed by their distance from Hobbs Island, with the one closest to Hobbs Island listed first.
- Grove Oak
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Grove Oak is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grove Oak
- Rogers
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Rogers is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rogers
- Whiton
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Whiton is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whiton
- Jackson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Hobbs Island, with the one closest to Hobbs Island listed first.
- Paint Rock
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Paint Rock is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paint Rock
- Population from the 2020 Census: 196 people
- Woodville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Aspel
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Aspel is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aspel
- Lim Rock
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Lim Rock is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lim Rock
- Trenton
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Dodsonville ‑ Historic
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Dodsonville is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dodsonville
- Dry Cove ‑ Historic
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Dry Cove is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dry Cove
- Pleasant Groves
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Pleasant Groves is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Groves
- Population from the 2020 Census: 404 people
- Hollytree
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Hollytree is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollytree
- Langston
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Larkinsville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Larkinsville is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Larkinsville
- Princeton
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Princeton is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Princeton
- Beachboro ‑ Historic
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Beachboro is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beachboro
- Limestone County
- The following are listed by their distance from Hobbs Island, with the one closest to Hobbs Island listed first.
- Swancott
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Swancott is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swancott
- Westlake
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Westlake is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westlake
- Mooresville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Capshaw
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Capshaw is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Capshaw
- Belle Mina
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Belle Mina is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belle Mina
- Center Hill
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Center Hill is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Center Hill
- Fairmount
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Fairmount is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairmount
- Harris Station
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Harris Station is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harris Station
- Orrville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Orrville is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orrville
- Country Village
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Country Village is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Country Village
- Tanner
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Wooley Springs ‑ Historic
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Wooley Springs is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wooley Springs
- Athens
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Marshall County
- The following are listed by their distance from Hobbs Island, with the one closest to Hobbs Island listed first.
- Ferns Quarter ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Ferns Quarter is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ferns Quarter
- Union Grove
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Ruth
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Ruth is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruth
- Friendship
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Friendship is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friendship
- Pine Lake Village
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Pine Lake Village is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Lake Village
- Fort Deposit ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Fort Deposit is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Deposit
- Grassy
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Grassy is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grassy
- Scant City
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Scant City is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scant City
- Hog Jaw
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Hog Jaw is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hog Jaw
- Arab
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Warrenton
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Warrenton is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warrenton
- Grant
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Askea Grove
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Askea Grove is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Askea Grove
- Morgan County
- The following are listed by their distance from Hobbs Island, with the one closest to Hobbs Island listed first.
- Lacey's Spring
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Morgan City
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Morgan City is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morgan City
- Briscoe
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Briscoe is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Briscoe
- Valhermoso Springs
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Apple Grove
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Apple Grove is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Apple Grove
- Florette
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Florette is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florette
- Winton
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Winton is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winton
- Ryan Crossroads
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Ryan Crossroads is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ryan Crossroads
- Bluff City ‑ Historic
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Bluff City is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluff City
- Hulaco
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Hulaco is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hulaco
- Somerville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Somerville is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Somerville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 782 people
- Eva
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Priceville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Hobbs Island, see our County-by-County Page for Hobbs Island.
Cemeteries Near Hobbs Island ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Hobbs Island.
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 Hobbs Island - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Hobbs Island covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Hobbs Island, with the one closest to Hobbs Island listed first.
- Bloomfield Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Dunlap Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Beard Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Logan Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Walling Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Davidson Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Campbell Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Black Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Winton Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Lee Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Smith Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Polly Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Continue List (849 more) ...
- Short Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Gibson Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Stewart Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
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 Hobbs Island in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Hobbs Island.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Hobbs Island, with the one closest to Hobbs Island listed first.
- Whitesburg
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Whitesburg is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitesburg
- Briscoe
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Briscoe is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Briscoe
- Owens' Cross Roads
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- New Hope
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Lowe ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Lowe is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lowe
- Valhermoso Springs
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Oleander
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Oleander is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oleander
- Berkley
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Berkley is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berkley
- Talucah
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Talucah is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Talucah
- Woodland Mills
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Woodland Mills is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland Mills
- Apple Grove
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Apple Grove is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Apple Grove
- Union Grove
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Haden
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Haden is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haden
- Nebo
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Nebo is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nebo
- Friendship
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Friendship is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friendship
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Hobbs Island. See our List of 1890's Communities around Hobbs Island.
Newspapers Published in Hobbs Island ...
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 7 newspapers that have been published in the area around Hobbs Island.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Hobbs Island, there are papers which were published within 11 miles [17.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Hobbs Island.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we first visit the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These professional and volunteer 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 Hobbs Island:
- Websites specific to Alabama
- Pages specific to Madison County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Blount County
- Colbert County
- Cullman County
- DeKalb County
- Jackson County
- Limestone County
- Marshall County
- Morgan 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 Hobbs Island, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Hobbs Island) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |