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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 Olney (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 Olney. 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 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.

Olney is located in Pickens 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 Pickens County: Fayette, Greene, Lamar, Sumter, Tuscaloosa, Lowndes (MS) & Noxubee (MS).

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

  • Pickens County     (The home county of Olney)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Olney, with the one closest to Olney listed first.
    • Benevola
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Aliceville
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • McMullen
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • McMullen is located in Pickens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McMullen
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 9 people
    • Carrollton
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Garden
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Beaver Town
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Beaver Town is located in Pickens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaver Town
    • Stansel
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Bell
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Gordo
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Gordo is located in Pickens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gordo
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,594 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gordo <1>
    • Pickensville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Archer
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Memphis
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Memphis is located in Pickens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Memphis
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 26 people
    • Reform
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
  • Fayette County
  • Greene County
  • Hale County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Olney, with the one closest to Olney listed first.
    • Oak Village
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Oak Village is located in Hale County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Village
    • Moundville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Akron
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Powers
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Lamar County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Olney, with the one closest to Olney listed first.
    • Millport
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Fernbank
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
    • Kennedy
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Kennedy is located in Lamar County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kennedy
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 421 people
  • Sumter County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Olney, with the one closest to Olney listed first.
    • Panola
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Gainesville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Geiger
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
  • Tuscaloosa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Olney, with the one closest to Olney listed first.
    • Elrod
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Elrod is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elrod
    • Ralph
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Buhl
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Buhl is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buhl
    • Foster's
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Echola
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Echola is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Echola
    • Coker
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Coker is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coker
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 953 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Coker <1>
    • Ingleside Village
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Ingleside Village is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ingleside Village
    • Northport
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Sahama Village
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Sahama Village is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sahama Village
    • Tuscaloosa
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • University
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Lake Front Village
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Lake Front Village is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Front Village
  • Kemper County (MS)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Olney, with the one closest to Olney listed first.
    • Binnsville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Giles
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Lowndes County (MS)
    • New Hope
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • New Hope is located in Lowndes County (MS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Hope
  • Noxubee County (MS)

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

Cemeteries Near Olney ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Olney.

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

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

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

  • Unity Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Bethany Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Hopewell Hill Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Bethesda Churchyard Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Miller Place Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Shea Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Shedd Hill Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Forest Church Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Union Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Fowler Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Gardner Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Eatman Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (429 more) ...
    • Ellis Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Henderson Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Sixteenth Section Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Olney had a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Benevola
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Dillburg
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Dillburg is located in Pickens County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dillburg
  • Bridgeville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Bridgeville is located in Pickens County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bridgeville
  • Lewiston
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Pleasant Grove
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Pleasant Grove is located in Pickens County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Grove
  • Mantua
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Garden
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Pleasant Ridge
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Pleasant Ridge is located in Greene County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Ridge
  • Vienna
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Vienna is located in Pickens County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vienna
  • Union
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Union is located in Greene County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 207 people
  • Gordo
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Gordo is located in Pickens County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gordo
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,594 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gordo <1>
  • Bell
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in Olney ...

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 42 newspapers that have been published in the area around Olney.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Olney, there are papers which were published within 24 miles [38.6 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Olney.

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 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 Olney:

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 Olney, 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- Olney) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.