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 Mount Olive (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 Mount Olive. 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 Mount Olive ...
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.
For example, a typical abbreviation for Mount Olive: Mt. Olive
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Mount Olive. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Mount Olive.
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 southeast 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 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.
Mount Olive 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 Mount Olive. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Mount Olive:
- Calhoun County (The home county of Mount Olive)
- The following are listed by their distance from Mount Olive, with the one closest to Mount Olive listed first.
- Macon
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Macon is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Macon
- Boozer ‑ Historic
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Boozer is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boozer
- Bruner ‑ Historic
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Bruner is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bruner
- Cane Creek ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Cane Creek is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cane Creek
- Ohatchee
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Blue Eye ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Blue Eye is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Eye
- Beasley ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Beasley is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beasley
- Morrisville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Morrisville is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morrisville
- Eastaboga
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Bera ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Bera is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bera
- Chigger Ridge ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Chigger Ridge is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chigger Ridge
- Cochran Springs
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Cochran Springs is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cochran Springs
- Blount County
- The following are listed by their distance from Mount Olive, with the one closest to Mount Olive listed first.
- Straight Mountain
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Straight Mountain is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Straight Mountain
- Appalachian
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Appalachian is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Appalachian
- Highland Lake
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Highland Lake is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland Lake
- Population from the 2020 Census: 410 people
- Taits Gap
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Taits Gap is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taits Gap
- Hoods Crossroads
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Hoods Crossroads is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hoods Crossroads
- Bird ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Bird is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bird
- Oneonta
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Allgood
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Allgood is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allgood
- Population from the 2020 Census: 638 people
- Rosa
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Rosa is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosa
- Population from the 2020 Census: 324 people
- Wynnville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Wynnville is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wynnville
- Remlap
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Cherokee County
- Ball Flat
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Ball Flat is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ball Flat
- Clay County
- The following are listed by their distance from Mount Olive, with the one closest to Mount Olive listed first.
- Elder
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Elder is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elder
- Erin
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Erin is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erin
- Haynes Crossroad
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Haynes Crossroad is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haynes Crossroad
- Chambers Springs
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Chambers Springs is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chambers Springs
- Delta
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Cleburne County
- The following are listed by their distance from Mount Olive, with the one closest to Mount Olive listed first.
- Abel
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Abel is located in Cleburne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abel
- Heflin
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Hollis Crossroads
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Hollis Crossroads is located in Cleburne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollis Crossroads
- Etowah County
- The following are listed by their distance from Mount Olive, with the one closest to Mount Olive listed first.
- Brannon Springs ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Brannon Springs is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brannon Springs
- Markton
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Markton is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Markton
- Pilgrims Rest
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Pilgrims Rest is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pilgrims Rest
- Rainbow City
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Cobb City
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Cobb City is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cobb City
- Glencoe
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Attalla
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Burns Park
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Burns Park is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burns Park
- Alabama City
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Alabama City is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alabama City
- East Gadsden
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- East Gadsden is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Gadsden
- Gadsden
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Clear Springs ‑ Historic
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Clear Springs is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clear Springs
- Jefferson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Mount Olive, with the one closest to Mount Olive listed first.
- Ayres
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Ayres is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ayres
- Leeds
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Breakstone Village
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Breakstone Village is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Breakstone Village
- East Trussville ‑ Historic
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- East Trussville is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Trussville
- Clay
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Roper
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Roper is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roper
- Cahaba Village
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Cahaba Village is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cahaba Village
- Lola City
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Lola City is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lola City
- Scott City
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Scott City is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scott City
- Trussville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Saint Clair County
- The following are listed by their distance from Mount Olive, with the one closest to Mount Olive listed first.
- Ragland
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Riverside
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Coal City
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Coal City is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coal City
- Seddon
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Seddon is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seddon
- Wattsville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Wattsville is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wattsville
- Ashville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Avondale Village
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Avondale Village is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avondale Village
- Glen City
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Glen City is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen City
- Pell City
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Cropwell
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Steele
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Whitney Junction
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Whitney Junction is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitney Junction
- Shelby County
- The following are listed by their distance from Mount Olive, with the one closest to Mount Olive listed first.
- Calcis
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Calcis is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calcis
- Sterrett
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Dunnavant
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Dunnavant is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunnavant
- Vandiver
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Dunavant
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Dunavant is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunavant
- Talladega County
- The following are listed by their distance from Mount Olive, with the one closest to Mount Olive listed first.
- Lincoln
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Colony
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Colony is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colony
- Coldwater
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Coldwater is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coldwater
- Windsong Island
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Windsong Island is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windsong Island
- Grant Town
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Grant Town is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grant Town
- Munford
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Silver Run
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Silver Run is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Run
- McElderry
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- McElderry is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McElderry
- Talladega
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Kentuck
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Kentuck is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kentuck
- Ironaton
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Ironaton is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ironaton
- Waldo
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- 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 Mount Olive, see our County-by-County Page for Mount Olive.
Cemeteries Near Mount Olive ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Mount Olive.
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 Mount Olive - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Mount Olive covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Mount Olive, with the one closest to Mount Olive listed first.
- Green Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Wester Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Creswell Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Ragan Chapel Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Morning Star Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Hall Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Refuge Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Macedonia Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Garden of Memories Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Pattons Chapel Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Box Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Ten Island Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Continue List (275 more) ...
- Old Mitchell Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Plum Springs Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- New Bethel Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
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 Mount Olive in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Mount Olive.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Mount Olive, with the one closest to Mount Olive listed first.
- Macon
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Macon is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Macon
- Bruner ‑ Historic
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Bruner is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bruner
- Refuge
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Refuge is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Refuge
- Cane Creek ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Cane Creek is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cane Creek
- Ragland
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Francis
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Francis is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Francis
- Ohatchee
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Ottery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Ottery is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ottery
- Morrisville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Morrisville is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morrisville
- Fairview
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Fairview is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairview
- Lincoln
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Eastaboga
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Continue List (16 more) ...
- Riverside
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Bera ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Bera is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bera
- Grayton
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Grayton is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grayton
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Mount Olive. See our List of 1890's Communities around Mount Olive.
Newspapers Published in Mount Olive ...
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 19 newspapers that have been published in the area around Mount Olive.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Mount Olive, there are papers which were published within 14 miles [22.5 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Mount Olive.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 Mount Olive:
- Websites specific to Alabama
- Pages specific to Calhoun County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Blount County
- Cherokee County
- Clay County
- Cleburne County
- Etowah County
- Jefferson County
- Saint Clair County
- Shelby 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 Mount Olive, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | 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- Mount Olive) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |