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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 Montevallo (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 Montevallo. 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 and 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.

Montevallo is located in Shelby 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 Shelby County: Bibb, Chilton, Coosa, Jefferson, Saint Clair & Talladega.

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

  • Shelby County     (The home county of Montevallo)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Montevallo, with the one closest to Montevallo listed first.
    • Wilton
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • Wilton is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 684 people
      • Former names for Wilton:
      • Birmingham Junction
      • Bismarck
      • Catoosa
      • Woods
      • Woodsborough
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Wilton
      • From Montevallo to Wilton
    • Calera
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Maylene
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Sawmill Town
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Sawmill Town is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sawmill Town
    • Brantleyville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Aden
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Siluria
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Saginaw
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Saginaw is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saginaw
    • Alabaster
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Tulse
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Tulse is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tulse
    • Bamford
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Bamford is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bamford
    • Helena
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Falliston
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Falliston is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falliston
  • Bibb County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Montevallo, with the one closest to Montevallo listed first.
    • Brierfield
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Ashby
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Oakley
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Eddings
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Eddings is located in Bibb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eddings
    • Cane Creek ‑ Historic
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Cane Creek is located in Bibb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cane Creek
    • Seymour
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Seymour is located in Bibb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seymour
    • Belle Ellen
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Nash Town ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Nash Town is located in Bibb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nash Town
    • Pratt Ferry ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Blocton ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Blocton is located in Bibb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blocton
    • Italian Town
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Italian Town is located in Bibb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Italian Town
    • Bucktown ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Bucktown is located in Bibb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bucktown
    • Corinne ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Corinne is located in Bibb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corinne
  • Chilton County
  • Coosa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Montevallo, with the one closest to Montevallo listed first.
    • Aucheucaula ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Aucheucaula is located in Coosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aucheucaula
    • Dollar
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Dallas County
    • Plantersville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Plantersville is located in Dallas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plantersville
  • Jefferson County
  • Perry County
  • Talladega County
  • Tuscaloosa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Montevallo, with the one closest to Montevallo listed first.
    • Tannehill
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Tannehill is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tannehill
    • Lake View
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Vance
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Vance is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vance
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,807 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Vance <1>
    • Abernant
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Pearson
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Hagler
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Brookwood
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Coaling
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Coaling is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coaling
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,633 people
    • Kellerman
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Montevallo ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Montevallo.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Montevallo, with the one closest to Montevallo 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 Montevallo had a population of 572 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Montevallo had a population of 7,098 people.

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

  • Dogwood
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Dogwood is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dogwood
  • Brierfield
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Ashby
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • South Calera
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • South Calera is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Calera
  • Calera
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Maylene
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Longview
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Longview is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longview
  • Gurnee
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Gurnee is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gurnee
  • Anita
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Anita is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anita
  • Siluria
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Boothton
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Boothton is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boothton
  • Tulse
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Tulse is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tulse
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Shelby Springs
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Shelby Springs is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shelby Springs
    • Jemison
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Bamford
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Bamford is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bamford

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Montevallo ...

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 43 newspapers that have been published in the area around Montevallo.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Montevallo. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Montevallo and those printed in the larger area surrounding Montevallo.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 15 miles [24.1 km]<2> of Montevallo.

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 Montevallo:

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 '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- Montevallo) 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 Montevallo, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.