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 Oakdale (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 Oakdale. 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.
Oakdale is located in Etowah 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 Etowah County: Blount, Calhoun, Cherokee, DeKalb, Marshall & Saint Clair.
Below are the counties that are near Oakdale. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Oakdale:
- Etowah County (The home county of Oakdale)
- The following are listed by their distance from Oakdale, with the one closest to Oakdale listed first.
- Wilsonia
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Wilsonia is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilsonia
- Anderson
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Anderson is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anderson
- Turkeytown
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Turkeytown is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turkeytown
- Crudup
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Crudup is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crudup
- Coat's Bend
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Coat's Bend is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coat's Bend
- Keener
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Keener is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keener
- Duck Springs
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Duck Springs is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duck Springs
- Edwardsville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Edwardsville is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edwardsville
- Reece City
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Reece City is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reece City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 624 people
- Yancy
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Yancy is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yancy
- Black Creek Falls ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Black Creek Falls is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Creek Falls
- Coato Bend ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Coato Bend is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coato Bend
- Blount County
- The following are listed by their distance from Oakdale, with the one closest to Oakdale listed first.
- Highmound
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Highmound is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highmound
- Snead
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Bird ‑ Historic
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Bird is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bird
- Wynnville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Wynnville is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wynnville
- McLarty
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- McLarty is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McLarty
- Susan Moore
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Susan Moore is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Susan Moore
- Population from the 2020 Census: 797 people
- Taits Gap
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Taits Gap is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taits Gap
- Bright Star
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Bright Star is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bright Star
- Clarence
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Clarence is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarence
- Craig
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Craig is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Craig
- Fridays Crossing
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Fridays Crossing is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fridays Crossing
- Hoods Crossroads
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Hoods Crossroads is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hoods Crossroads
- Calhoun County
- The following are listed by their distance from Oakdale, with the one closest to Oakdale listed first.
- Douthrittville ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Douthrittville is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Douthrittville
- Oak Level
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Oak Level is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Level
- Southside
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Colvins Gap
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Colvins Gap is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colvins Gap
- Mack ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Mack is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mack
- Adelia ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Adelia is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adelia
- Cochran Springs
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Cochran Springs is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cochran Springs
- Hebron ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Hebron is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hebron
- Collins ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Collins is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Collins
- Angel
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Angel is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Angel
- Wellington
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Wellington is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellington
- Germania Springs ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Germania Springs is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Germania Springs
- Cherokee County
- The following are listed by their distance from Oakdale, with the one closest to Oakdale listed first.
- Leesburg
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Ball Flat
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Ball Flat is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ball Flat
- Anderson
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Sand Rock
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Sand Rock is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sand Rock
- Population from the 2020 Census: 674 people
- Ricks ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Ricks is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ricks
- Turkey Town ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Turkey Town is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turkey Town
- Centre
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Coloma ‑ Historic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Coloma is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coloma
- Moshat
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Moshat is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moshat
- Noah
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Noah is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Noah
- Tucker Crossroads
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Tucker Crossroads is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tucker Crossroads
- Cedar Bluff
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Cleburne County
- The following are listed by their distance from Oakdale, with the one closest to Oakdale listed first.
- Grantley
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Grantley is located in Cleburne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grantley
- Borden Springs
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Borden Springs is located in Cleburne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Borden Springs
- Palestine
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Palestine is located in Cleburne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palestine
- DeKalb County
- The following are listed by their distance from Oakdale, with the one closest to Oakdale listed first.
- Marcus ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Marcus is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marcus
- Rodentown
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Rodentown is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rodentown
- Cotnam
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Cotnam is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cotnam
- Mount Zion ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Mount Zion is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Zion
- Collinsville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Crossville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Rains ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Rains is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rains
- Dawson
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Dawson is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dawson
- Mount Vernon
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Mount Vernon is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Vernon
- Geraldine
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Rogers
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Rogers is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rogers
- Clyde ‑ Historic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Clyde is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clyde
- Jackson County
- Rock City
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Rock City is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock City
- Marshall County
- The following are listed by their distance from Oakdale, with the one closest to Oakdale listed first.
- Boaz
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Whitesville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Whitesville is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitesville
- Albertville
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Bartlett ‑ Historic
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Bartlett is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bartlett
- Hustleville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Hustleville is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hustleville
- Peters ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Peters is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peters
- Horton
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Horton is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horton
- Minorville ‑ Historic
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Minorville is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minorville
- Rabbit Town
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Rabbit Town is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rabbit Town
- Douglas
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Douglas is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Douglas
- Population from the 2020 Census: 780 people
- Reedbrake ‑ Historic
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Reedbrake is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reedbrake
- Gregory
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Gregory is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gregory
- Saint Clair County
- The following are listed by their distance from Oakdale, with the one closest to Oakdale listed first.
- Steele
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Whitney Junction
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Whitney Junction is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitney Junction
- Ashville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Ragland
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Oakdale, see our County-by-County Page for Oakdale.
Cemeteries Near Oakdale ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Oakdale.
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 Oakdale - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Oakdale covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Oakdale, with the one closest to Oakdale listed first.
- Mt. Pisgah Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Beth Israel Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Union Hill UMC Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Owens Memorial Park Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Duck Springs Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Pleasant Hill Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Lebanon Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Croft Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Greenwood Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Forrest Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Hughes Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Tillison Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Continue List (405 more) ...
- Beulah Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Scott Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Leath Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
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>
While we didn't find Oakdale in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Oakdale.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Oakdale, with the one closest to Oakdale listed first.
- Brice
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Brice is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brice
- Upton
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Upton is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Upton
- Turkeytown
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Turkeytown is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turkeytown
- Crudup
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Crudup is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crudup
- Coat's Bend
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Coat's Bend is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coat's Bend
- Tabor
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Tabor is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tabor
- Keener
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Keener is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keener
- Duck Springs
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Duck Springs is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duck Springs
- Avery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Avery is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avery
- Yancy
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Yancy is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yancy
- Oak Hill ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Oak Hill is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Hill
- Gadsden
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (16 more) ...
- East Gadsden
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- East Gadsden is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Gadsden
- Haworth ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Haworth is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haworth
- Marcus ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Marcus is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marcus
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Oakdale. See our List of 1890's Communities around Oakdale.
Newspapers Published in Oakdale ...
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 35 newspapers that have been published in the area around Oakdale.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Oakdale, there are papers which were published within 12 miles [19.3 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Oakdale.
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 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 Oakdale:
- Websites specific to Alabama
- Pages specific to Etowah County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Blount County
- Calhoun County
- Cherokee County
- Cleburne County
- DeKalb County
- Jackson County
- Marshall County
- Saint Clair 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> | 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- Oakdale) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <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 Oakdale, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |