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 Old Bethel (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 Old Bethel. 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.
Old Bethel is located in Colbert 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 Colbert County: Franklin, Lauderdale, Lawrence & Tishomingo (MS).
Below are the counties that are near Old Bethel. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Old Bethel:
- Colbert County (The home county of Old Bethel)
- The following are listed by their distance from Old Bethel, with the one closest to Old Bethel listed first.
- Campbell Settlement ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Campbell Settlement is located in Colbert County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Campbell Settlement
- Spring Valley
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Spring Valley is located in Colbert County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Valley
- Leighton
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Littleville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Littleville is located in Colbert County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Littleville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 992 people
- White House Springs
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- White House Springs is located in Colbert County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White House Springs
- Nitrate City
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Nitrate City is located in Colbert County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nitrate City
- Muscle Shoals
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Davidsons Cross Roads ‑ Historic
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Ford City
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Ford City is located in Colbert County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ford City
- Tuscumbia
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Furnace Hill ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Furnace Hill is located in Colbert County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Furnace Hill
- Sheffield
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- South Florence
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- South Florence is located in Colbert County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Florence
- Franklin County
- The following are listed by their distance from Old Bethel, with the one closest to Old Bethel listed first.
- Russellville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Churntown
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Churntown is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Churntown
- Rockwood
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Rockwood is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockwood
- Spruce Pine
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Spruce Pine is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spruce Pine
- Phil Campbell
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Belgreen
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Belgreen is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belgreen
- Slickrock Ford ‑ Historic
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Slickrock Ford is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slickrock Ford
- Hodges
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Burntout
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Burntout is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burntout
- Burntout has also been known as:
- Burn Out
- Burnout
- Burnt Out
- Pleasant Site
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Pleasant Site is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Site
- Lauderdale County
- The following are listed by their distance from Old Bethel, with the one closest to Old Bethel listed first.
- Bainbridge ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Bainbridge is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bainbridge
- Belleview ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Belleview is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belleview
- Canaan ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Canaan is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canaan
- Florence
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Beach Grove ‑ Historic
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Beach Grove is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beach Grove
- Dells Vista Shores
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Dells Vista Shores is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dells Vista Shores
- Killen
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Cypress Creek
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Cypress Creek is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cypress Creek
- Elgin
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Elgin is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elgin
- Saint Florian
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Saint Florian is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Florian
- Population from the 2020 Census: 780 people
- Mars Hill
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Mars Hill is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mars Hill
- Bailey Springs
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Bailey Springs is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bailey Springs
- Green Tree ‑ Historic
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Green Tree is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Tree
- Lawrence County
- The following are listed by their distance from Old Bethel, with the one closest to Old Bethel listed first.
- Avoca ‑ Historic
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Avoca is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avoca
- Mehama ‑ Historic
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Mehama is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mehama
- Edmond
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Edmond is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edmond
- Concord
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Concord is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Concord
- Hatton
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Hatton is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hatton
- Mount Hope
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Mount Hope is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Hope
- Town Creek
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Camp Spring ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Camp Spring is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camp Spring
- Muck City
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Muck City is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Muck City
- Courtland
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- North Courtland
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- North Courtland is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Courtland
- Population from the 2020 Census: 621 people
- Mountain Home
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Mountain Home is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Home
- Moulton
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Limestone County
- The following are listed by their distance from Old Bethel, with the one closest to Old Bethel listed first.
- Ripley
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Ripley is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ripley
- Poplar Creek
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Poplar Creek is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poplar Creek
- Lentzville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Lentzville is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lentzville
- Cairo
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Cairo is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cairo
- Marion County
- The following are listed by their distance from Old Bethel, with the one closest to Old Bethel listed first.
- Bear Creek
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Hackleburg
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Hackleburg is located in Marion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hackleburg
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,249 people
- Thornhill
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Thornhill is located in Marion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thornhill
- Morgan County
- The following are listed by their distance from Old Bethel, with the one closest to Old Bethel listed first.
- Trinity
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Danville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Moulton Heights
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Moulton Heights is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moulton Heights
- Austinville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Austinville is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Austinville
- Simpson
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Simpson is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Simpson
- Decatur
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- 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>
- Russell Village
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Russell Village is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Russell Village
- Winston County
- The following are listed by their distance from Old Bethel, with the one closest to Old Bethel listed first.
- Pebble
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Pebble is located in Winston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pebble
- Prebble ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Prebble is located in Winston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prebble
- Littleville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Littleville is located in Winston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Littleville
- Grayson
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Grayson is located in Winston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grayson
- Ashridge
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Ashridge is located in Winston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashridge
- Haleyville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Ellaville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Ellaville is located in Winston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellaville
- Boar Tush
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Boar Tush is located in Winston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boar Tush
- Boar Tush has also been known as:
- Boar Tusk
- Boartush
- Boartusk
- Delmar
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Delmar is located in Winston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delmar
- Upshaw
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Upshaw is located in Winston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Upshaw
- Double Springs
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Lawrence County (TN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Old Bethel, with the one closest to Old Bethel listed first.
- Rascal Town
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Rascal Town is located in Lawrence County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rascal Town
- Iron City
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Iron City is located in Lawrence County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iron City
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Old Bethel, see our County-by-County Page for Old Bethel.
Cemeteries Near Old Bethel ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Old Bethel.
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 Old Bethel - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Old Bethel covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Old Bethel, with the one closest to Old Bethel listed first.
- Gargas Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Masterson Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- King Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Bethsaida Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Gargis Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Love Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Beavers Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Roden Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Aycock Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Bob Saint Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bob Saint Cemetery
- The Bob Saint Cemetery has also been known as:
- Bob Saints Cemetery
- St. Cemetery
- Sanderson Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Mt. Zion FWB Church Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Continue List (744 more) ...
- Pennington Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- LaGrange Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Fergason Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
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>
While we didn't find Old Bethel in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Old Bethel.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Old Bethel, with the one closest to Old Bethel listed first.
- Avoca ‑ Historic
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Avoca is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avoca
- Edmond
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Edmond is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edmond
- Bingham
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Bingham is located in Colbert County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bingham
- Concord
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Concord is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Concord
- Hatton
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Hatton is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hatton
- Hunter ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Hunter is located in Colbert County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunter
- Newburg
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Newburg is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newburg
- Spring Valley
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Spring Valley is located in Colbert County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Valley
- Mount Hope
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Mount Hope is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Hope
- Leighton
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Littleville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Littleville is located in Colbert County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Littleville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 992 people
- Town Creek
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Waco
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Waco is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waco
- Landersville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Landersville is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Landersville
- Camp Spring ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Camp Spring is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camp Spring
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Old Bethel. See our List of 1890's Communities around Old Bethel.
Newspapers Published in Old Bethel ...
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 38 newspapers that have been published in the area around Old Bethel.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Old Bethel, there are papers which were published within 17 miles [27.4 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Old Bethel.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we like to 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 Old Bethel:
- Websites specific to Alabama
- Pages specific to Colbert County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Franklin County
- Lauderdale County
- Lawrence County
- Limestone County
- Marion County
- Morgan County
- Winston County
- Lawrence 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> | 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 Old Bethel, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | 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- Old Bethel) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |