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 Orrville (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 Orrville. 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.
Name Variations for Orrville ...
When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.
Another variation: Orville.
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Orrville. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Orrville.
If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.
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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.
Orrville 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 Orrville. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Orrville:
- Limestone County (The home county of Orrville)
- The following are listed by their distance from Orrville, with the one closest to Orrville listed first.
- Harris Station
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Harris Station is also located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harris Station
- Tanner
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Belle Mina
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Belle Mina is also located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belle Mina
- Mooresville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Country Village
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Country Village is also located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Country Village
- Athens
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Athens is also located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Athens
- Population from the 2020 Census: 28,643 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Athens <1>
- Westlake
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Westlake is also located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westlake
- Fairmount
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Fairmount is also located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairmount
- Ripley
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Ripley is also located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ripley
- Swancott
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Swancott is also located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swancott
- Capshaw
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Capshaw is also located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Capshaw
- Poplar Creek
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Poplar Creek is also located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poplar Creek
- Hay's Mill
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Hay's Mill is also located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hay's Mill
- Colbert County
- Garner ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Garner was located in Colbert County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garner
- Cullman County
- The following are listed by their distance from Orrville, with the one closest to Orrville listed first.
- West Point
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- West Point is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Point
- Population from the 2020 Census: 604 people
- Central
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Central is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central
- South Vinemont
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- South Vinemont is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Vinemont
- Population from the 2020 Census: 636 people
- Vinemont
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Lauderdale County
- The following are listed by their distance from Orrville, with the one closest to Orrville listed first.
- Dells Vista Shores
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Dells Vista Shores is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dells Vista Shores
- Confluence
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Confluence is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Confluence
- Rogersville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- 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>
- Estep ‑ Historic
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Estep was located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Estep
- Cedar Hill
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Cedar Hill is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Hill
- Anderson
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Anderson is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anderson
- Population from the 2020 Census: 268 people
- Bethel
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Bethel is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bethel
- Corum ‑ Historic
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Corum was located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corum
- Elgin
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Elgin is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elgin
- Belleview ‑ Historic
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Belleview was located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belleview
- Beach Grove ‑ Historic
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Beach Grove was located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beach Grove
- Comer
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Comer is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Comer
- Lexington
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Lawrence County
- The following are listed by their distance from Orrville, with the one closest to Orrville listed first.
- Hillsboro
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Chalybeate Springs
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Chalybeate Springs is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chalybeate Springs
- Mountain Home
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Mountain Home is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Home
- Oakville
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Oakville is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakville
- Courtland
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- North Courtland
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- North Courtland is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Courtland
- Population from the 2020 Census: 621 people
- Moulton
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Red Bank
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Red Bank is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Bank
- Muck City
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Muck City is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Muck City
- Wren
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Wren is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wren
- Town Creek
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Wheeler Dam Village
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Wheeler Dam Village is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheeler Dam Village
- Hatton
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Hatton is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hatton
- Madison County
- The following are listed by their distance from Orrville, with the one closest to Orrville listed first.
- Madison
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Triana
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Triana is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Triana
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,327 people
- Slaughter Landing ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Slaughter Landing was located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slaughter Landing
- Slaughter Landing has also been known as:
- Slaughter Ferry
- Monrovia
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Monrovia is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monrovia
- Rideout Village
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Rideout Village is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rideout Village
- Harvest
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Jeff
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Jeff is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jeff
- Chelsea
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Chelsea is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chelsea
- Toney
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Huntsville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Lincoln
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Lincoln is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln
- Madison Crossroads
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Madison Crossroads is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Madison Crossroads
- English Village
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- English Village is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for English Village
- Morgan County
- The following are listed by their distance from Orrville, with the one closest to Orrville listed first.
- Decatur
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Simpson
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Simpson is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Simpson
- Moulton Heights
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Moulton Heights is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moulton Heights
- Austinville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Austinville is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Austinville
- Russell Village
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Russell Village is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Russell Village
- Trinity
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Flint City
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Flint City is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flint City
- Burningtree Mountain
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Burningtree Mountain is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burningtree Mountain
- Priceville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Bluff City ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Bluff City was located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluff City
- Hartselle
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Somerville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Somerville is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Somerville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 782 people
- Winton
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Winton is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winton
- Winston County
- Upshaw
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Upshaw is located in Winston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Upshaw
- Giles County (TN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Orrville, with the one closest to Orrville listed first.
- Ardmore
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Elkmont Springs
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Elkmont Springs is located in Giles County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkmont Springs
- Prospect
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Dickson Town
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Dickson Town is located in Giles County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dickson Town
- Stella
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Stella is located in Giles County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stella
- Elkton
(27 miles [43.5 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
- Minor Hill
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Minor Hill is located in Giles County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minor Hill
- Population from the 2020 Census: 533 people
- Wheelerton
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Wheelerton is located in Giles County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheelerton
- Lawrence County (TN)
- Appleton
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Appleton is located in Lawrence County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Appleton
- Lincoln County (TN)
- Cash Point
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Cash Point is located in Lincoln County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cash Point
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Orrville, see our County-by-County Page for Orrville.
Cemeteries Near Orrville ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Orrville.
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 Orrville - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Orrville covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Orrville, with the one closest to Orrville listed first.
- Macklin Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Pryor Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Lucas Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Oakland Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Garrett Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Davis Temple Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Davis Temple Cemetery
- The Davis Temple Cemetery has also been known as:
- Jacob's Well Missioanry Baptist Church Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2647546 <2>
- Bridgeforth Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Decatur Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Stewart Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Nebo Church Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Nebo Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Mosley Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (982 more) ...
- Sykes Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Gamble Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Houston Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
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 Orrville in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Orrville.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Orrville, with the one closest to Orrville listed first.
- Harris Station
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Harris Station is also located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harris Station
- Decatur Junction
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Decatur Junction is also located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Decatur Junction
- Simpson
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Simpson is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Simpson
- Decatur
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Mooresville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Greenbrier
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Greenbrier is also located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenbrier
- Blackburn
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Blackburn is also located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackburn
- Athens
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Athens is also located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Athens
- Population from the 2020 Census: 28,643 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Athens <1>
- Ripley
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Ripley is also located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ripley
- Priceville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Swancott
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Swancott is also located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swancott
- Hillsboro
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Poplar Creek
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Poplar Creek is also located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poplar Creek
- O'Neal
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- O'Neal is also located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for O'Neal
- Neel
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Neel is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Neel
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Orrville. See our List of 1890's Communities around Orrville.
Newspapers Published in Orrville ...
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 40 newspapers that have been published in the area around Orrville.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Orrville, there are papers which were published within 13 miles [20.9 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Orrville.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to 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 Orrville:
- Websites specific to Alabama
- Pages specific to Limestone County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Colbert County
- Cullman County
- Lauderdale County
- Lawrence County
- Madison County
- Morgan County
- Winston 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 Orrville, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Orrville) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |