Our Genealogy Helper
Introduction ...
So far, we found very little information about Homer. The little that we've found leads us believe that the community is historic.<1>
We've added Homer to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Homer, please Contact Us.
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 Homer (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 Homer. 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 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.
Although our information shows that the community of Homer is historic, it would have been located within present day DeKalb 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 DeKalb County: Cherokee, Etowah, Jackson, Marshall, Chattooga (GA), Dade (GA) & Walker (GA).
Below are the counties that are near Homer. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Homer:
- DeKalb County (The home county of Homer)
- The following are listed by their distance from Homer, with the one closest to Homer listed first.
- Cotnam
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Cotnam is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cotnam
- Collinsville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Dawson
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Dawson is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dawson
- Marcus ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Marcus is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marcus
- Crossville
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Rodentown
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Rodentown is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rodentown
- Mount Vernon
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Mount Vernon is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Vernon
- Clyde ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Clyde is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clyde
- Floy ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Floy is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Floy
- Geraldine
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Lakeview
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Lakeview is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview
- Population from the 2020 Census: 156 people
- Rains ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Rains is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rains
- Chigger Hill
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Chigger Hill is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chigger Hill
- Blount County
- The following are listed by their distance from Homer, with the one closest to Homer listed first.
- Highmound
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Highmound is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highmound
- McLarty
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- McLarty is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McLarty
- Fowler ‑ Historic
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Fowler is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fowler
- Snead
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Wynnville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Wynnville is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wynnville
- Bright Star
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Bright Star is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bright Star
- Calhoun County
- The following are listed by their distance from Homer, with the one closest to Homer listed first.
- Colvins Gap
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Colvins Gap is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colvins Gap
- Collins ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Collins is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Collins
- Adelia ‑ Historic
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Adelia is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adelia
- Douthrittville ‑ Historic
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Douthrittville is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Douthrittville
- Oak Level
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Oak Level is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Level
- Southside
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Goshen ‑ Historic
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Goshen is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goshen
- Mack ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Mack is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mack
- Piedmont
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Angel
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Angel is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Angel
- Cochran Springs
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Cochran Springs is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cochran Springs
- Germania Springs ‑ Historic
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Germania Springs is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Germania Springs
- Hebron ‑ Historic
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Hebron is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hebron
- Cherokee County
- The following are listed by their distance from Homer, with the one closest to Homer listed first.
- Sand Rock
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Sand Rock is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sand Rock
- Population from the 2020 Census: 674 people
- Anderson
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Leesburg
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Centre
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Turkey Town ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Turkey Town is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turkey Town
- Taft
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Taft is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taft
- Cedar Bluff
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Blanche
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Blanche is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blanche
- Gaylesville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Ball Flat
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Ball Flat is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ball Flat
- Moshat
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Moshat is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moshat
- Ricks ‑ Historic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Ricks is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ricks
- Coloma ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Coloma is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coloma
- Etowah County
- The following are listed by their distance from Homer, with the one closest to Homer listed first.
- Keener
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Keener is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keener
- Yancy
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Yancy is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yancy
- Duck Springs
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Duck Springs is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duck Springs
- Turkeytown
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Turkeytown is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turkeytown
- Wilsonia
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Wilsonia is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilsonia
- Whitesboro
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Whitesboro is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitesboro
- Coat's Bend
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Coat's Bend is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coat's Bend
- Hale ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Hale is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hale
- Crudup
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Crudup is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crudup
- Haworth ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Haworth is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haworth
- Anderson
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Anderson is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anderson
- Sardis City
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Sardis City is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sardis City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,776 people
- Coato Bend ‑ Historic
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Coato Bend is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coato Bend
- Jackson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Homer, with the one closest to Homer listed first.
- Rock City
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Rock City is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock City
- Langston
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Section
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Dutton
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Dutton is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dutton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 307 people
- Ferncliff ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Ferncliff is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ferncliff
- Dodsonville ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Dodsonville is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dodsonville
- Gray ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Gray is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gray
- Central
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Central is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central
- Scottsboro
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Aspel
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Aspel is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aspel
- Dry Cove ‑ Historic
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Dry Cove is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dry Cove
- Pisgah
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Bellefonte ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Bellefonte is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellefonte
- Marshall County
- The following are listed by their distance from Homer, with the one closest to Homer listed first.
- Peters ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Peters is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peters
- Boaz
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Hustleville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Hustleville is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hustleville
- Albertville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Minorville ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Minorville is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minorville
- Mid ‑ Historic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Mid is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mid
- Bartlett ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Bartlett is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bartlett
- Rabbit Town
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Rabbit Town is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rabbit Town
- Whitesville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Whitesville is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitesville
- Gregory
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Gregory is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gregory
- Rayburn
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Rayburn is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rayburn
- Columbus City Ferry
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Columbus City Ferry is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Columbus City Ferry
- Horton
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Horton is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horton
- Saint Clair County
- Steele
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Chattooga County (GA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Homer, with the one closest to Homer listed first.
- Chattoogaville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Chattoogaville is located in Chattooga County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chattoogaville
- Menlo
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Menlo is located in Chattooga County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Menlo
- Population from the 2020 Census: 454 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Menlo <2>
- Cloudland
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Lyerly
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Taliaferro ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Taliaferro is located in Chattooga County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taliaferro
- Estimated population in 2019: 71 people
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Homer, see our County-by-County Page for Homer.
Cemeteries Near Homer ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Homer.
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 Homer - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Homer covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Homer, with the one closest to Homer listed first.
- Nicholson Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Pleasant Hill Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Mathis Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Boyd Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Collinsville Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Collinsville Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Collinsville Cemetery is located outside and to the southwest of Collinsville.
- Kerley Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kerley Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Kerley Cemetery is located outside and to the southwest of Collinsville.
- Freeman Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Collins Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Anthony Collins Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Copeland Bridge Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Gilbreath Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Harbour Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Continue List (442 more) ...
- Smith Chapel Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Nicholson Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Patrick Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 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.
While we didn't find Homer in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Homer.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Homer, with the one closest to Homer listed first.
- Cotnam
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Cotnam is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cotnam
- Dawson
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Dawson is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dawson
- Collinsville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Chumley
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Chumley is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chumley
- Marcus ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Marcus is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marcus
- Leonard
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Leonard is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leonard
- Wills ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Wills is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wills
- Skirum
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Skirum is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skirum
- Crossville
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Rodentown
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Rodentown is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rodentown
- Portersville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Portersville is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Portersville
- Yancy
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Yancy is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yancy
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- Keener
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Keener is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keener
- Tabor
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Tabor is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tabor
- Sand Rock
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Sand Rock is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sand Rock
- Population from the 2020 Census: 674 people
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Homer. See our List of 1890's Communities around Homer.
Newspapers Published in Homer ...
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 17 newspapers that have been published in the area around Homer.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Homer, there are papers which were published within 14 miles [22.5 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Homer.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we start 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 Homer:
- Websites specific to Alabama
- Pages specific to DeKalb County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Blount County
- Calhoun County
- Cherokee County
- Etowah County
- Jackson County
- Marshall County
- Saint Clair County
- Chattooga County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Alabama
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Homer, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <3> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Homer) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <4> | 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. |