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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and 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.
Oakdale is located in Limestone 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 Limestone County: Lauderdale, Lawrence, Madison, Morgan, Giles (TN) & Lincoln (TN).
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:
- Limestone County (The home county of Oakdale)
- The following are listed by their distance from Oakdale, with the one closest to Oakdale listed first.
- Fairmount
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Fairmount is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairmount
- Country Village
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Country Village is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Country Village
- Athens
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Hay's Mill
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Hay's Mill is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hay's Mill
- Center Hill
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Center Hill is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Center Hill
- Capshaw
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Capshaw is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Capshaw
- Tanner
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Wooley Springs ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Wooley Springs is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wooley Springs
- Elkmont
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Caro
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Caro is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caro
- Estaville ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Estaville is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Estaville
- Pettusville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Pettusville is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pettusville
- Colbert County
- Garner ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Garner is located in Colbert County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garner
- Lauderdale County
- The following are listed by their distance from Oakdale, with the one closest to Oakdale listed first.
- Confluence
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Confluence is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Confluence
- Estep ‑ Historic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Estep is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Estep
- Bethel
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Bethel is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bethel
- Anderson
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Anderson is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anderson
- Population from the 2020 Census: 268 people
- Dells Vista Shores
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Dells Vista Shores is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dells Vista Shores
- Rogersville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Rogersville is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rogersville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,293 people
- Former name for Rogersville:
- Rodgersville
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rogersville <1>
- Cedar Hill
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Cedar Hill is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Hill
- Corum ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Corum is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corum
- Elgin
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Elgin is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elgin
- Lexington
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Belleview ‑ Historic
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Belleview is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belleview
- Comer
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Comer is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Comer
- Lawrence County
- The following are listed by their distance from Oakdale, with the one closest to Oakdale listed first.
- Hillsboro
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Courtland
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- North Courtland
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- North Courtland is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Courtland
- Population from the 2020 Census: 621 people
- Chalybeate Springs
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Chalybeate Springs is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chalybeate Springs
- Red Bank
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Red Bank is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Bank
- Mountain Home
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Mountain Home is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Home
- Wheeler Dam Village
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Wheeler Dam Village is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheeler Dam Village
- Oakville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Oakville is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakville
- Town Creek
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Madison County
- The following are listed by their distance from Oakdale, with the one closest to Oakdale listed first.
- Harvest
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Jeff
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Jeff is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jeff
- Monrovia
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Monrovia is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monrovia
- Toney
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Madison Crossroads
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Madison Crossroads is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Madison Crossroads
- Madison
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Rideout Village
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Rideout Village is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rideout Village
- Elkwood
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Elkwood is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkwood
- Huntsville
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Triana
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Triana is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Triana
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,327 people
- Lincoln
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Lincoln is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln
- Chelsea
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Chelsea is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chelsea
- Morgan County
- The following are listed by their distance from Oakdale, with the one closest to Oakdale listed first.
- Decatur
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Decatur is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Decatur
- Population from the 2020 Census: 54,381 people
- Former names for Decatur:
- Albany
- New Decatur
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Decatur <1>
- Moulton Heights
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Moulton Heights is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moulton Heights
- Austinville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Austinville is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Austinville
- Simpson
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Simpson is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Simpson
- Russell Village
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Russell Village is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Russell Village
- Trinity
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Bluff City ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Bluff City is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluff City
- Burningtree Mountain
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Burningtree Mountain is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burningtree Mountain
- Flint City
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Flint City is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flint City
- Priceville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Winton
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Winton is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winton
- Somerville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Somerville is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Somerville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 782 people
- Giles County (TN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Oakdale, with the one closest to Oakdale listed first.
- Ardmore
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Elkmont Springs
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Elkmont Springs is located in Giles County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkmont Springs
- Dickson Town
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Dickson Town is located in Giles County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dickson Town
- Prospect
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Elkton
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Elkton is located in Giles County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 522 people
- Stella
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Stella is located in Giles County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stella
- Wheelerton
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Wheelerton is located in Giles County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheelerton
- Minor Hill
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Minor Hill is located in Giles County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minor Hill
- Population from the 2020 Census: 533 people
- Green Field
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Green Field is located in Giles County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Field
- Aymett Town
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Aymett Town is located in Giles County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aymett Town
- Pisgah
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Pisgah is located in Giles County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pisgah
- Anthony Hill
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Anthony Hill is located in Giles County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anthony Hill
- Lawrence County (TN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Oakdale, with the one closest to Oakdale listed first.
- Appleton
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Appleton is located in Lawrence County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Appleton
- Fall River
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Fall River is located in Lawrence County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fall River
- Liberty Grove
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Liberty Grove is located in Lawrence County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty Grove
- Estimated population in 2014: 7,825 people
- Lincoln County (TN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Oakdale, with the one closest to Oakdale listed first.
- Cash Point
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Cash Point is located in Lincoln County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cash Point
- Coldwater
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Coldwater is located in Lincoln County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coldwater
- Dellrose
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Camargo
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Camargo is located in Lincoln County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camargo
- Molino
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Molino is located in Lincoln County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Molino
- Goshen ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Goshen is located in Lincoln County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goshen
- Pearl City
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Pearl City is located in Lincoln County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pearl City
- Park City Heights
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Park City Heights is located in Lincoln County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park City Heights
- Population from the 2010 Census: 2,442 people
- Park City
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Park City is located in Lincoln County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park City
- Harms
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Harms is located in Lincoln County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harms
- Howell Hill
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Howell Hill is located in Lincoln County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howell Hill
- Boonshill
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Boonshill is located in Lincoln County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boonshill
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.
- Bottom Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Fielding Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Roselawn Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Wiggins Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Isom Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Johnson Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Reunion Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Slave Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Memorial Gardens
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- West Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Cambridge Church Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Bethel Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Continue List (1149 more) ...
- Menefee Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Fairview Church Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Malone Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 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.<3>
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.
- Athens
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Hay's Mill
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Hay's Mill is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hay's Mill
- Sand Spring ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Sand Spring is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sand Spring
- O'Neal
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- O'Neal is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for O'Neal
- Blackburn
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Blackburn is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackburn
- Elkmont
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Wooley Springs ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Wooley Springs is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wooley Springs
- Cluttsville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Cluttsville is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cluttsville
- Caro
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Caro is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caro
- Cartwright
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Cartwright is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cartwright
- Pettusville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Pettusville is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pettusville
- Estaville ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Estaville is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Estaville
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Gipsy
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Gipsy is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gipsy
- Harris Station
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Harris Station is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harris Station
- Greenbrier
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Greenbrier is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenbrier
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 27 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]<4>. 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 start with 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 Limestone County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Colbert County
- Lauderdale County
- Lawrence County
- Madison County
- Morgan County
- Giles County
- Lawrence County
- Lincoln 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 Oakdale, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Oakdale) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |