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 Holiday 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 Holiday 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 Holiday 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.
For example, a typical abbreviation for Holiday Gardens: Holiday Gdns. (or less commonly used: Holiday Gardns., Holiday Grdens. or Holiday Grdns.)
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Holiday Gardens. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Holiday 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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors 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.
Holiday 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 Holiday Gardens. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Holiday Gardens:
- Jefferson County (The home county of Holiday Gardens)
- The following are listed by their distance from Holiday Gardens, with the one closest to Holiday Gardens listed first.
- Marks Village
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Marks Village is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marks Village
- Irondale
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Gate City
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Gate City is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gate City
- Cahaba Landing
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Cahaba Landing is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cahaba Landing
- Mountain Brook
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Rock Ridge
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Rock Ridge is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Ridge
- Weems
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Weems is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weems
- Avondale
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Avondale is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avondale
- Zion City
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Zion City is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zion City
- Cahaba Heights
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- English Village
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- English Village is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for English Village
- Mountain Brook Village
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- East Birmingham
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- East Birmingham is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Birmingham
- Bibb County
- Eddings
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Eddings is located in Bibb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eddings
- Blount County
- The following are listed by their distance from Holiday Gardens, with the one closest to Holiday Gardens listed first.
- Dale ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Dale is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dale
- Compton
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Compton is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Compton
- County Line
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- County Line is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for County Line
- Population from the 2020 Census: 241 people
- Warrior
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Remlap
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Selfville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Selfville is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Selfville
- Dallas
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Dallas is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dallas
- Adville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Adville is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adville
- Hayden
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Locust Fork
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Red Hill
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Red Hill is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Hill
- Reid's
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Reid's is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reid's
- Smoke Rise
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Smoke Rise is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smoke Rise
- Cullman County
- The following are listed by their distance from Holiday Gardens, with the one closest to Holiday Gardens listed first.
- Baltimore ‑ Historic
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Baltimore is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baltimore
- Black Bottom
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Black Bottom is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Bottom
- Colony
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Colony is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colony
- Estimated population in 2015: 273 people
- Arkadelphia
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Arkadelphia is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arkadelphia
- Saint Clair County
- The following are listed by their distance from Holiday Gardens, with the one closest to Holiday Gardens listed first.
- Woodland Village
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Woodland Village is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland Village
- Moody
(13 miles [20.9 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 <1>
- Brompton
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Brompton is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brompton
- Acmar
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Acmar is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acmar
- Parsons
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Parsons is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parsons
- Argo
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Argo is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Argo
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,278 people
- Margaret
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Turnbough Town
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Turnbough Town is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turnbough Town
- Cook's Springs
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Cook's Springs is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cook's Springs
- Vincent
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Branchville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Branchville is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Branchville
- Odenville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Fountainrun ‑ Historic
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Fountainrun is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fountainrun
- Shelby County
- The following are listed by their distance from Holiday Gardens, with the one closest to Holiday Gardens listed first.
- Lake Purdy
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Lake Purdy is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Purdy
- Bridgeton
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Bridgeton is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bridgeton
- Inverness
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Inverness is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Inverness
- Meadowbrook
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Meadowbrook is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowbrook
- Shoal Creek
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Shoal Creek is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shoal Creek
- Dunavant
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Dunavant is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunavant
- Dunnavant
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Dunnavant is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunnavant
- Vandiver
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Indian Springs Village
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- 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
- Chelsea
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Sterrett
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Pelham
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Westover
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Westover is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westover
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,769 people
- Talladega County
- The following are listed by their distance from Holiday Gardens, with the one closest to Holiday Gardens listed first.
- East Bend
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- East Bend is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Bend
- Logan Martin Dam
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Logan Martin Dam is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Logan Martin Dam
- Childersburg
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Bon Air
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Bon Air is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bon Air
- Population from the 2020 Census: 109 people
- Colony
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Colony is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colony
- Alpine
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Nottingham ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Nottingham is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nottingham
- Former name for Nottingham:
- Jones Camp Ground
- Windsong Island
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Windsong Island is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windsong Island
- Zubers
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Zubers is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zubers
- Tuscaloosa County
- The following are listed by their distance from Holiday Gardens, with the one closest to Holiday Gardens listed first.
- Tannehill
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Tannehill is located in Tuscaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tannehill
- Lake View
(29 miles [46.7 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
- Walker County
- The following are listed by their distance from Holiday Gardens, with the one closest to Holiday Gardens listed first.
- Quinton
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Twilley Town
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Twilley Town is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twilley Town
- Oakahalla
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Oakahalla is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakahalla
- Wyatt
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Wyatt is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyatt
- Yerkwood
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Yerkwood is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yerkwood
- Burnwell
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Burnwell is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burnwell
- Creel
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Creel is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Creel
- Reeds Ferry
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Reeds Ferry is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reeds Ferry
- Sumiton
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- 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 <1>
- Dora
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Empire
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Empire is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Empire
- Red Star
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Red Star is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Star
- Black Warrior Town ‑ Historic
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Black Warrior Town is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Warrior Town
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Holiday Gardens, see our County-by-County Page for Holiday Gardens.
Cemeteries Near Holiday Gardens ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Holiday 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 Holiday Gardens - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Holiday Gardens covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Holiday Gardens, with the one closest to Holiday Gardens listed first.
- Bush Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Bass Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- McElwain Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- East Lake Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Earltown Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Greenwood Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwood Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Greenwood Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Birmingham.
- The Greenwood Cemetery has also been known as:
- Woodlawn Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #23140 <2>
- Forest Hill Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Higgins Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Union Hill Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Cahaba Heights Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Forest Crest Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Bass Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Continue List (337 more) ...
- Inglenook Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Mt. Zion Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Wise Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
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 Holiday Gardens in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Holiday Gardens.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Holiday Gardens, with the one closest to Holiday Gardens listed first.
- Ruffner
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Ruffner is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruffner
- Gate City
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Gate City is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gate City
- Irondale
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Woodlawn
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Woodlawn is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodlawn
- East Lake
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- East Lake is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Lake
- Rock Ridge
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Rock Ridge is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Ridge
- Weems
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Weems is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weems
- Avondale
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Avondale is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avondale
- Vanderbilt
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Vanderbilt is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vanderbilt
- East Birmingham
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- East Birmingham is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Birmingham
- Huffman
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Huffman is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huffman
- Bartonville
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Bartonville is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bartonville
- Continue List (16 more) ...
- Birmingham
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Bridgeton
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Bridgeton is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bridgeton
- McCombs
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- McCombs is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McCombs
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Holiday Gardens. See our List of 1890's Communities around Holiday Gardens.
Newspapers Published in Holiday 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 186 newspapers that have been published in the area around Holiday Gardens.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Holiday Gardens, there are papers which were published within 5 miles [8 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Holiday 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 Holiday 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
- Talladega County
- Tuscaloosa County
- Walker 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> | 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. |
| <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 Holiday Gardens, 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- Holiday Gardens) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |