Our Genealogy Helper
Introduction ...
So far, we found very little information about Melvin. The little that we've found leads us believe that the community is historic.<1>
We've added Melvin to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Melvin, 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 Melvin (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 Melvin. 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 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 Melvin is historic, it would have been located within present day Lauderdale 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 Lauderdale County: Colbert, Lawrence, Limestone, Tishomingo (MS), Giles (TN), Hardin (TN), Lawrence (TN) & Wayne (TN).
Below are the counties that are near Melvin. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Melvin:
- Lauderdale County (The home county of Melvin)
- The following are listed by their distance from Melvin, with the one closest to Melvin listed first.
- Threet
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Threet is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Threet
- Cloverdale
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Cloverdale is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cloverdale
- McGee Town
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- McGee Town is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McGee Town
- Green Tree ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Green Tree is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Tree
- Jacksonburg
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Jacksonburg is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jacksonburg
- Zip City
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Zip City is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zip City
- Cypress Creek
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Cypress Creek is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cypress Creek
- Mars Hill
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Mars Hill is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mars Hill
- Saint Florian
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Saint Florian is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Florian
- Population from the 2020 Census: 780 people
- Canaan ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Canaan is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canaan
- Florence
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Waterloo
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Pruitton
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Pruitton is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pruitton
- Colbert County
- The following are listed by their distance from Melvin, with the one closest to Melvin listed first.
- Doubleheads Village ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Doubleheads Village is located in Colbert County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doubleheads Village
- Crows Camp ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Crows Camp is located in Colbert County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crows Camp
- Gatesville ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Gatesville is located in Colbert County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gatesville
- Cherokee
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Ingleton ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Ingleton is located in Colbert County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ingleton
- Chickasaw ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Chickasaw is located in Colbert County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chickasaw
- Riverton
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Riverton is located in Colbert County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverton
- Furnace Hill ‑ Historic
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Furnace Hill is located in Colbert County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Furnace Hill
- Sheffield
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- South Florence
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- South Florence is located in Colbert County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Florence
- Wilson Dam
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Wilson Dam is located in Colbert County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilson Dam
- Red Rock
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Red Rock is located in Colbert County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Rock
- Caryton ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Caryton is located in Colbert County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caryton
- Franklin County
- The following are listed by their distance from Melvin, with the one closest to Melvin listed first.
- Slickrock Ford ‑ Historic
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Slickrock Ford is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slickrock Ford
- Russellville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Pleasant Site
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Pleasant Site is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Site
- Belgreen
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Belgreen is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belgreen
- Lawrence County
- The following are listed by their distance from Melvin, with the one closest to Melvin listed first.
- Wheeler Dam Village
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Wheeler Dam Village is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheeler Dam Village
- Edmond
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Edmond is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edmond
- Red Bank
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Red Bank is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Bank
- Town Creek
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Avoca ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Avoca is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avoca
- Mehama ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Mehama is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mehama
- Tishomingo County (MS)
- The following are listed by their distance from Melvin, with the one closest to Melvin listed first.
- Oldham
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Oldham is located in Tishomingo County (MS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oldham
- Short
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Short is located in Tishomingo County (MS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Short
- Iuka
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Iuka is located in Tishomingo County (MS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iuka
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,928 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Iuka <2>
- Midway
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Midway is located in Tishomingo County (MS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midway
- Burnsville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Holcut
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Holcut is located in Tishomingo County (MS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holcut
- Paden
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Paden is located in Tishomingo County (MS)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paden
- Population from the 2020 Census: 112 people
- Tishomingo
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Hardin County (TN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Melvin, with the one closest to Melvin listed first.
- Lowryville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Lowryville is located in Hardin County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lowryville
- Walnut Grove ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Walnut Grove is located in Hardin County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Grove
- Bruton Branch
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Bruton Branch is located in Hardin County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bruton Branch
- Gibbs ‑ Historic
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Gibbs is located in Hardin County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gibbs
- White Sulphur ‑ Historic
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- White Sulphur is located in Hardin County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Sulphur
- Slab Town ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Slab Town is located in Hardin County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slab Town
- Pyburn
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Pyburn is located in Hardin County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pyburn
- Nixon
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Nixon is located in Hardin County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nixon
- Estimated population in 2014: 718 people
- Smiths Fork ‑ Historic
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Smiths Fork is located in Hardin County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smiths Fork
- Nash Landing
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Nash Landing is located in Hardin County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nash Landing
- Hamburg
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Hamburg is located in Hardin County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hamburg
- Belle Meade
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Belle Meade is located in Hardin County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belle Meade
- Estimated population in 2014: 3,017 people
- Paulks ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Paulks is located in Hardin County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paulks
- Lawrence County (TN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Melvin, with the one closest to Melvin listed first.
- Iron City
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Iron City is located in Lawrence County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iron City
- Saint Joseph
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Westpoint
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Westpoint is located in Lawrence County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westpoint
- Rascal Town
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Rascal Town is located in Lawrence County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rascal Town
- Loretto
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Liberty Grove
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Liberty Grove is located in Lawrence County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty Grove
- Estimated population in 2014: 7,825 people
- Busby
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Busby is located in Lawrence County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Busby
- Wayne County (TN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Melvin, with the one closest to Melvin listed first.
- Cypress Inn
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Cypress Inn is located in Wayne County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cypress Inn
- Whittens Stand ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Whittens Stand is located in Wayne County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whittens Stand
- Lutts
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Corning ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Corning is located in Wayne County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corning
- Estimated population in 2014: 1,210 people
- Collinwood
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Collinwood is located in Wayne County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Collinwood
- Population from the 2020 Census: 932 people
- Sorby ‑ Historic
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Sorby is located in Wayne County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sorby
- Waynesboro
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Melvin, see our County-by-County Page for Melvin.
Cemeteries Near Melvin ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Melvin.
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 Melvin - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Melvin covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Melvin, with the one closest to Melvin listed first.
- Dowdy Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Wesley Chapel UMC Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Austin Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Sherrod Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Pine Hill Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Lindsey Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Milford Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Thompson Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Pearson Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Lipscomb Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Simmons Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Francis - King - Lucas Public Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Continue List (749 more) ...
- Paulk Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Darby Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Oak Grove 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.
While we didn't find Melvin in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Melvin.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Melvin, with the one closest to Melvin listed first.
- Gravelly Springs
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Gravelly Springs is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gravelly Springs
- Rhodesville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Rhodesville is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rhodesville
- Cloverdale
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Cloverdale is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cloverdale
- Kendell ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Kendell is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kendell
- Oakland
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Oakland is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakland
- Cypress Inn
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Cypress Inn is located in Wayne County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cypress Inn
- Wright
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Wright is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wright
- Smithsonia
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Smithsonia is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smithsonia
- Jacksonburg
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Jacksonburg is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jacksonburg
- Pleasant Valley ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Pleasant Valley is located in Wayne County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Valley
- Whittens Stand ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Whittens Stand is located in Wayne County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whittens Stand
- Stout
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Stout is located in Wayne County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stout
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Mars Hill
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Mars Hill is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mars Hill
- Webster ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Webster is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Webster
- Florence
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Melvin. See our List of 1890's Communities around Melvin.
Newspapers Published in Melvin ...
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 27 newspapers that have been published in the area around Melvin.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Melvin, there are papers which were published within 15 miles [24.1 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Melvin.
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 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 Melvin:
- Websites specific to Alabama
- Pages specific to Lauderdale County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Colbert County
- Franklin County
- Lawrence County
- Tishomingo County
- Hardin County
- Lawrence County
- Wayne 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 Melvin, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Melvin) 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. |