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 Mechanicsville (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 Mechanicsville. 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 northeast 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 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.
Mechanicsville is located in Calhoun 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 Calhoun County: Cherokee, Cleburne, Etowah, Saint Clair & Talladega.
Below are the counties that are near Mechanicsville. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Mechanicsville:
- Calhoun County (The home county of Mechanicsville)
- The following are listed by their distance from Mechanicsville, with the one closest to Mechanicsville listed first.
- Anniston
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Oxanna
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Oxanna is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oxanna
- Cobb Town
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Cobb Town is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cobb Town
- Blue Mountain
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Blue Mountain is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Mountain
- Hobson City
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Hobson City is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hobson City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 749 people
- Saks
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Saks is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saks
- Oxford
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Eulaton
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Eulaton is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eulaton
- Leatherwood
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Leatherwood is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leatherwood
- Chinnabee ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Chinnabee is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chinnabee
- Bera ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Bera is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bera
- Bynum
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Bynum is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bynum
- Bynum has also been known as:
- Bynum's
- Cherokee County
- The following are listed by their distance from Mechanicsville, with the one closest to Mechanicsville listed first.
- Ball Flat
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Ball Flat is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ball Flat
- Spring Garden
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Spring Garden is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Garden
- Ricks ‑ Historic
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Ricks is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ricks
- Clay County
- The following are listed by their distance from Mechanicsville, with the one closest to Mechanicsville listed first.
- Elder
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Elder is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elder
- Haynes Crossroad
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Haynes Crossroad is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haynes Crossroad
- Delta
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Erin
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Erin is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erin
- Barfield
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Barfield is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barfield
- Lineville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Ashland
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Ashland is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashland
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,872 people
- Chambers Springs
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Chambers Springs is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chambers Springs
- Cragford
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Harkins Crossroads
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Harkins Crossroads is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harkins Crossroads
- Cleburne County
- The following are listed by their distance from Mechanicsville, with the one closest to Mechanicsville listed first.
- Abel
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Abel is located in Cleburne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abel
- Heflin
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Hollis Crossroads
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Hollis Crossroads is located in Cleburne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollis Crossroads
- Edwardsville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Edwardsville is located in Cleburne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edwardsville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 201 people
- Micaville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Micaville is located in Cleburne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Micaville
- Grantley
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Grantley is located in Cleburne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grantley
- Ai
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Ai is located in Cleburne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ai
- Fruithurst
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Fruithurst is located in Cleburne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fruithurst
- Population from the 2020 Census: 284 people
- Oak Level
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Oak Level is located in Cleburne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Level
- Hightower
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Hightower is located in Cleburne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hightower
- Hopewell
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Hopewell is located in Cleburne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopewell
- Muscadine
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Muscadine is located in Cleburne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Muscadine
- Etowah County
- The following are listed by their distance from Mechanicsville, with the one closest to Mechanicsville listed first.
- Markton
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Markton is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Markton
- Cobb City
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Cobb City is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cobb City
- Brannon Springs ‑ Historic
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Brannon Springs is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brannon Springs
- Glencoe
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Pilgrims Rest
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Pilgrims Rest is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pilgrims Rest
- Burns Park
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Burns Park is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burns Park
- Hokes Bluff
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Rainbow City
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Banner
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Banner is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Banner
- East Gadsden
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- East Gadsden is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Gadsden
- Edwardsville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Edwardsville is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edwardsville
- Gadsden
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Randolph County
- The following are listed by their distance from Mechanicsville, with the one closest to Mechanicsville listed first.
- Christiana
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Christiana is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Christiana
- Milner
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Milner is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milner
- Morrison Crossroad
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Morrison Crossroad is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morrison Crossroad
- Ofelia
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Ofelia is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ofelia
- Newell
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Newell is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newell
- Rockdale
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Rockdale is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockdale
- Cambridge
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Cambridge is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cambridge
- Saint Clair County
- The following are listed by their distance from Mechanicsville, with the one closest to Mechanicsville listed first.
- Ragland
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Riverside
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Seddon
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Seddon is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seddon
- Coal City
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Coal City is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coal City
- Avondale Village
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Avondale Village is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avondale Village
- Cropwell
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Pell City
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Wattsville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Wattsville is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wattsville
- Glen City
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Glen City is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen City
- Ashville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Easonville ‑ Historic
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Easonville is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Easonville
- Steele
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Talladega County
- The following are listed by their distance from Mechanicsville, with the one closest to Mechanicsville listed first.
- Coldwater
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Coldwater is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coldwater
- Silver Run
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Silver Run is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Run
- Kentuck
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Kentuck is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kentuck
- Grant Town
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Grant Town is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grant Town
- Munford
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- McElderry
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- McElderry is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McElderry
- Lincoln
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Ironaton
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Ironaton is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ironaton
- Talladega
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Windsong Island
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Windsong Island is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windsong Island
- Colony
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Colony is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colony
- Waldo
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Waldo is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waldo
- Population from the 2020 Census: 272 people
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Mechanicsville, see our County-by-County Page for Mechanicsville.
Cemeteries Near Mechanicsville ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Mechanicsville.
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 Mechanicsville - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Mechanicsville covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Mechanicsville, with the one closest to Mechanicsville listed first.
- Westview Gardens Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Eden Hills Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Oxford Memorial Gardens
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Highland Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Hillside Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Lloyds Chapel Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Edgemont Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Trinity Baptist Church Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Oconee Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Union Grove Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Forestlawn Gardens Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Anniston Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Continue List (274 more) ...
- Coldwater Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coldwater Cemetery
- The Coldwater Cemetery has also been known as:
- Coldwater Baptist Church Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #262899 <2>
- Pine Ridge Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Prisoner of War Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
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 Mechanicsville in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Mechanicsville.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Mechanicsville, with the one closest to Mechanicsville listed first.
- Oxanna
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Oxanna is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oxanna
- Anniston
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Blue Mountain
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Blue Mountain is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Mountain
- Eulaton
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Eulaton is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eulaton
- Oxford
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Leatherwood
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Leatherwood is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leatherwood
- Coldwater
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Coldwater is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coldwater
- Bera ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Bera is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bera
- Bynum
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Bynum is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bynum
- Bynum has also been known as:
- Bynum's
- Silver Run
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Silver Run is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Run
- De Armanville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- De Armanville is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for De Armanville
- Peaceburg
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Peaceburg is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peaceburg
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Morrisville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Morrisville is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morrisville
- Alexandria
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Jenifer
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Jenifer is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jenifer
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Mechanicsville. See our List of 1890's Communities around Mechanicsville.
Newspapers Published in Mechanicsville ...
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 66 newspapers that have been published in the area around Mechanicsville.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Mechanicsville, there are papers which were published within 13 miles [20.9 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Mechanicsville.
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 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 Mechanicsville:
- Websites specific to Alabama
- Pages specific to Calhoun County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Cherokee County
- Clay County
- Cleburne County
- Etowah County
- Randolph County
- Saint Clair County
- Talladega 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 Mechanicsville, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Mechanicsville) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |