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A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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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 Leesburg (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 Leesburg. 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 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.

Leesburg is located in Cherokee 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 Cherokee County: Calhoun, Cleburne, DeKalb, Etowah, Chattooga (GA), Floyd (GA) & Polk (GA).

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

  • Cherokee County     (The home county of Leesburg)
  • Calhoun County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Leesburg, with the one closest to Leesburg listed first.
    • Collins ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Collins is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Collins
    • Colvins Gap
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Goshen ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Goshen is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goshen
    • Adelia ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Adelia is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adelia
    • Piedmont
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Merrellton
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Dailey
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Germania Springs ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Germania Springs is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Germania Springs
    • Mack ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Mack is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mack
    • Douthrittville ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Douthrittville is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Douthrittville
    • Oak Level
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Nances Creek
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
  • Cleburne County
  • DeKalb County
  • Etowah County
  • Jackson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Leesburg, with the one closest to Leesburg listed first.
    • Rock City
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Rock City is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock City
    • Dutton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
    • Section
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Marshall County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Leesburg, with the one closest to Leesburg listed first.
    • Boaz
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Peters ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Peters is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peters
    • Hustleville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Albertville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Minorville ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Minorville is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minorville
    • Whitesville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Bartlett ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Bartlett is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bartlett
    • Mid ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Mid is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mid
    • Rabbit Town
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Rabbit Town is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rabbit Town
    • Horton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Saint Clair County
    • Steele
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Steele is located in Saint Clair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Steele
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,093 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Steele <1>
  • Chattooga County (GA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Leesburg, with the one closest to Leesburg listed first.
    • Chattoogaville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Lyerly
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Lyerly is located in Chattooga County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyerly
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 519 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lyerly <1>
    • Taliaferro ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Taliaferro is located in Chattooga County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taliaferro
      • Estimated population in 2019: 71 people
    • Menlo
      (26 miles [41.8 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 <1>
    • Cloudland
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Berryton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Floyd County (GA)
  • Polk County (GA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Leesburg, with the one closest to Leesburg listed first.
    • Etna
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Esom Hill
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Greenway ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Greenway is located in Polk County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenway

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

Cemeteries Near Leesburg ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Leesburg.

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 Leesburg - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

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 Leesburg had a population of 161 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Leesburg had a population of 1,016 people.

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

  • Mackey
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Mackey is located in Cherokee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mackey
  • Slackland
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Slackland is located in Cherokee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slackland
  • Maple Grove
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Maple Grove is located in Cherokee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Grove
  • Plano
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Plano is located in Cherokee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plano
  • Sand Rock
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Leonard
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Leonard is located in Cherokee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leonard
  • Centre
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Round Mountain
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Round Mountain is located in Cherokee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Round Mountain
  • Oak Hill ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Oak Hill is located in Etowah County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Hill
  • Moshat
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Collinsville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Loveless
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Loveless is located in DeKalb County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loveless
  • Continue List   (18 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in Leesburg ...

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 Leesburg.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Leesburg, there are papers which were published within 10 miles [16.1 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Leesburg.

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 Leesburg:

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 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Leesburg) 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 Leesburg, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.