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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 Nanafalia (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 Nanafalia. 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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

Nanafalia is located in Marengo 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 Marengo County: Choctaw, Clarke, Dallas, Greene, Hale, Perry, Sumter & Wilcox.

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

  • Marengo County     (The home county of Nanafalia)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Nanafalia, with the one closest to Nanafalia listed first.
    • Barrons ‑ Historic
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Barrons is located in Marengo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barrons
    • Aimwell
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Putnam
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Sweet Water
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Half Acre
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Myrtlewood
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Myrtlewood is located in Marengo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Myrtlewood
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 115 people
    • Moss ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Moss is located in Marengo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moss
    • Dixon's Mills
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Dixon's Mills is located in Marengo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dixon's Mills
    • Beckleys ‑ Historic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Beckleys is located in Marengo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beckleys
    • Blue Lock ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Blue Lock is located in Marengo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Lock
    • Griffins ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Griffins is located in Marengo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Griffins
    • Ellison ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Ellison is located in Marengo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellison
    • Linden
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Choctaw County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Nanafalia, with the one closest to Nanafalia listed first.
    • Lavaca
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Tompkinsville
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Pennington
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Pennington is located in Choctaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pennington
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 202 people
    • Choctaw City
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Choctaw City is located in Choctaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Choctaw City
    • Cedahoma ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Cedahoma is located in Choctaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedahoma
    • Jachin
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Jachin is located in Choctaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jachin
    • Pelham
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Pelham is located in Choctaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pelham
    • Butler
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Lisman
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Red Springs
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Cromwell
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Cromwell is located in Choctaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cromwell
    • Womack Hill
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Needham
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Needham is located in Choctaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Needham
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 79 people
  • Clarke County
  • Sumter County
  • Wilcox County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Nanafalia, with the one closest to Nanafalia listed first.
    • Arlington
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Anne Manie
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Anne Manie is located in Wilcox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anne Manie
    • Lamison
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Kimbrough
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Kimbrough is located in Wilcox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kimbrough
    • Pine Hill
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Pine Hill is located in Wilcox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Hill
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 834 people
    • Bethel
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Bethel is located in Wilcox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bethel
    • Catherine
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)

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

Cemeteries Near Nanafalia ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Nanafalia.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Nanafalia, with the one closest to Nanafalia listed first.

  • Nanafalia Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Howell Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Mt. Mariah Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Hickory Grove Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • St. Paul Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Geneva Presbyterian Church Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Aimwell Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Campground Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Gibson Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Old Union Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Community Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Red House Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (225 more) ...
    • White Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Spencer Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Putnam Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)

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.<2>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Nanafalia had a population of 66 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Aimwell
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Putnam
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Tompkinsville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Sweet Water
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Morvin
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Morvin is located in Clarke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morvin
  • Nicholsville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Nicholsville is located in Marengo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nicholsville
  • Myrtlewood
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Myrtlewood is located in Marengo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Myrtlewood
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 115 people
  • Moss ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Moss is located in Marengo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moss
  • Rembert
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Rembert is located in Marengo County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rembert
  • Robjohn
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Robjohn is located in Choctaw County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robjohn
  • Mount Sterling
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Mount Sterling is located in Choctaw County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Sterling
  • Bashi
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Bashi is located in Clarke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bashi
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Dixon's Mills
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Dixon's Mills is located in Marengo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dixon's Mills
    • Ararat
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Ararat is located in Choctaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ararat
    • Campbell
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)

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

Newspapers Published in Nanafalia ...

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 Nanafalia.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Nanafalia, there are papers which were published within 23 miles [37 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Nanafalia.

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 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 Nanafalia:

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>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 Nanafalia, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Nanafalia) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.