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 Mars Hill (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 Mars Hill. 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 Mars Hill ...
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.
While the name of this community is Mars Hill, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Mars Hill may originally have been Mar's Hill.
Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Mars Hill might be written as Mar Hill.
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Mars Hill. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Mars Hill.
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.
Mars Hill 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 Mars Hill. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Mars Hill:
- Jefferson County (The home county of Mars Hill)
- The following are listed by their distance from Mars Hill, with the one closest to Mars Hill listed first.
- Hoover
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Shannon
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Shannon is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shannon
- Oxmoor
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Oxmoor is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oxmoor
- New Village
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- New Village is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Village
- Greenwood
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Greenwood is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwood
- Lipscomb
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Lipscomb is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lipscomb
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,110 people
- Duncan
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Duncan is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duncan
- Homewood
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Ishkooda
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Ishkooda is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ishkooda
- Vestavia Hills
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Bessemer
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Roosevelt - Cairo Village
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Mobile Junction
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Mobile Junction is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mobile Junction
- Bibb County
- The following are listed by their distance from Mars Hill, with the one closest to Mars Hill listed first.
- Eddings
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Eddings is located in Bibb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eddings
- Cane Creek ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Cane Creek is located in Bibb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cane Creek
- Green Pond
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Blocton Junction
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Blocton Junction is located in Bibb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blocton Junction
- Blocton Junction has also been known as:
- Blockton Junc
- Seymour
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Seymour is located in Bibb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seymour
- Woodstock
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Belle Ellen
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Belle Ellen is located in Bibb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belle Ellen
- Nash Town ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Nash Town is located in Bibb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nash Town
- North Bibb
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- North Bibb is located in Bibb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Bibb
- Brierfield
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Italian Town
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Italian Town is located in Bibb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Italian Town
- Blocton ‑ Historic
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Blocton is located in Bibb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blocton
- Bucktown ‑ Historic
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Bucktown is located in Bibb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bucktown
- Blount County
- Dale ‑ Historic
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Dale is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dale
- Chilton County
- The following are listed by their distance from Mars Hill, with the one closest to Mars Hill listed first.
- Jemison
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Thorsby
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Jumbo
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Jumbo is located in Chilton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jumbo
- Coosa County
- Aucheucaula ‑ Historic
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Aucheucaula is located in Coosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aucheucaula
- Saint Clair County
- The following are listed by their distance from Mars Hill, with the one closest to Mars Hill listed first.
- Woodland Village
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Woodland Village is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland Village
- Vincent
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Brompton
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Brompton is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brompton
- Moody
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- 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 <2>
- Acmar
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Acmar is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acmar
- Parsons
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Parsons is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parsons
- Argo
(30 miles [48.3 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
- Cook's Springs
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Cook's Springs is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cook's Springs
- Shelby County
- The following are listed by their distance from Mars Hill, with the one closest to Mars Hill listed first.
- Tacoa
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Tacoa is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tacoa
- Falliston
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Falliston is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falliston
- Helena
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Indian Springs Village
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- 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
- Pelham
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Alabaster
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Bamford
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Bamford is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bamford
- Inverness
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Inverness is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Inverness
- Siluria
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Siluria is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Siluria
- Tulse
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Tulse is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tulse
- Meadowbrook
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Meadowbrook is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowbrook
- Brantleyville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Brantleyville is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brantleyville
- Saginaw
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Saginaw is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saginaw
- Talladega County
- The following are listed by their distance from Mars Hill, with the one closest to Mars Hill listed first.
- Childersburg
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- East Bend
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- East Bend is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Bend
- Talladega Springs
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Talladega Springs is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Talladega Springs
- Population from the 2020 Census: 156 people
- Logan Martin Dam
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Logan Martin Dam is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Logan Martin Dam
- Fayetteville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Fayetteville is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fayetteville
- Bon Air
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Bon Air is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bon Air
- Population from the 2020 Census: 109 people
- Tuscaloosa County
- The following are listed by their distance from Mars Hill, with the one closest to Mars Hill listed first.
- Tannehill
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Tannehill is located in Tuscaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tannehill
- Lake View
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Lake View is located in Tuscaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake View
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,732 people
- Abernant
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Abernant is located in Tuscaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abernant
- Bull City
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Bull City is located in Tuscaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bull City
- Vance
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Kellerman
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Kellerman is located in Tuscaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kellerman
- Brookwood
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Walker County
- The following are listed by their distance from Mars Hill, with the one closest to Mars Hill listed first.
- Quinton
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Twilley Town
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Twilley Town is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twilley Town
- Reeds Ferry
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Reeds Ferry is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reeds Ferry
- Yerkwood
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Yerkwood is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yerkwood
- Wyatt
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Wyatt is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyatt
- Burnwell
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Burnwell is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burnwell
- Oakahalla
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Oakahalla is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakahalla
- Dora
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Red Star
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Red Star is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Star
- Barney
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Barney is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barney
- Sumiton
(30 miles [48.3 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 <2>
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Mars Hill, see our County-by-County Page for Mars Hill.
Cemeteries Near Mars Hill ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Mars Hill.
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 Mars Hill - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Mars Hill covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Mars Hill, with the one closest to Mars Hill listed first.
- Grace Community Church Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grace Community Church Cemetery
- The Grace Community Church Cemetery has also been known as:
- Mars Hill Missionary Baptist Church Cemetery
- Sulphur Springs Missionary Baptist Church Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2138568 <3>
- Jefferson Garden of Memories
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Acton Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Southern Heritage Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Southern Heritage Cemetery
- The Southern Heritage Cemetery has also been known as:
- Rideout Southern Heritage Cemetery
- Ridout Southern Heritage Cemetery
- Cumberland Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Pelham Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Miller Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Croft Acton Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Ray Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- David Lindsay Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Indian Springs First Baptist Church Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Old Acton Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Continue List (373 more) ...
- Bailey Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Bryan Memorial Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Sadlers Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
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>
While we didn't find Mars Hill in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Mars Hill.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Mars Hill, with the one closest to Mars Hill listed first.
- Tacoa
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Tacoa is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tacoa
- Morgan
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Morgan is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morgan
- Helena
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Falliston
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Falliston is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falliston
- Pelham
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Oxmoor
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Oxmoor is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oxmoor
- Ware
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Ware is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ware
- Brickyard Junction
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Brickyard Junction is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brickyard Junction
- Sloss
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Sloss is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sloss
- Bamford
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Bamford is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bamford
- Duncan
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Duncan is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duncan
- Hillman
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Hillman is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillman
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- Woodward Junction
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Woodward Junction is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodward Junction
- Bessemer
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Ishkooda
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Ishkooda is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ishkooda
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Mars Hill. See our List of 1890's Communities around Mars Hill.
Newspapers Published in Mars Hill ...
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 1 newspapers that have been published in the area around Mars Hill.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Mars Hill, there are papers which were published within 5 miles [8 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Mars Hill.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we begin 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 Mars Hill:
- Websites specific to Alabama
- Pages specific to Jefferson County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Bibb County
- Blount County
- Chilton County
- Coosa County
- Saint Clair County
- Shelby County
- Talladega County
- Tuscaloosa County
- Walker 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> | 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 Mars Hill, 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Mars Hill) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |