RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Alabama >> Tuscaloosa County >> Pearson >> Genealogy HelperIndex...

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 Pearson (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 Pearson. 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 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 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.

Pearson is located in Tuscaloosa 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 Tuscaloosa County: Bibb, Fayette, Greene, Hale, Jefferson & Pickens.

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

  • Tuscaloosa County     (The home county of Pearson)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pearson, with the one closest to Pearson listed first.
    • Hagler
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Duncanville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Duncanville is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duncanville
    • Coaling
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Coaling is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coaling
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,633 people
    • Vance
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Vance is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vance
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,807 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Vance <1>
    • Cottondale
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Brookwood
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Peterson
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Alberta City
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Alberta City is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alberta City
    • Holt
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Holt is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holt
    • Sahama Village
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Sahama Village is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sahama Village
    • University
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Ingleside Village
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Ingleside Village is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ingleside Village
    • Tuscaloosa
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
  • Bibb County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pearson, with the one closest to Pearson listed first.
    • Egypt ‑ Historic
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Egypt is located in Bibb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Egypt
    • Scottsville
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Pondville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Fikestown ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Fikestown is located in Bibb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fikestown
    • Brent
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Centreville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • West Blocton
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • East Town
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • East Town is located in Bibb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Town
    • Blocton ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Blocton is located in Bibb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blocton
    • Bucktown ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Bucktown is located in Bibb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bucktown
    • Burmah ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Burmah is located in Bibb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burmah
    • Corinne ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Corinne is located in Bibb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corinne
    • Italian Town
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Italian Town is located in Bibb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Italian Town
  • Chilton County
  • Greene County
    • Knoxville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Knoxville is located in Greene County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knoxville
  • Hale County
  • Jefferson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pearson, with the one closest to Pearson listed first.
    • Kimbrell
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Kimbrell is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kimbrell
    • North Johns
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • North Johns is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Johns
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 143 people
    • Adger
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • McCalla
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Ezra
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Ezra is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ezra
    • Bullard Shoals ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Bullard Shoals is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bullard Shoals
    • Greenwood
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Mobile Junction
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Perry County
  • Shelby County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pearson, with the one closest to Pearson listed first.
    • Aden
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Sawmill Town
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Sawmill Town is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sawmill Town
    • Wilton
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Wilton is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 684 people
      • Former names for Wilton:
      • Birmingham Junction
      • Bismarck
      • Catoosa
      • Woods
      • Woodsborough
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Wilton
      • From Pearson to Wilton
    • Montevallo
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Bamford
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Bamford is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bamford
    • Tulse
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Tulse is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tulse
    • Brantleyville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Maylene
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)

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

Cemeteries Near Pearson ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Pearson.

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

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

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

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 Pearson in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Pearson.

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

  • Hagler
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Scottsville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Pondville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Coaling
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Coaling is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coaling
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,633 people
  • Dudley
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Dudley is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dudley
  • Vance
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Vance is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vance
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,807 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Vance <1>
  • Harrisburg
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Harrisburg is located in Bibb County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrisburg
  • Centreville
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Phipps ‑ Historic
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Blocton ‑ Historic
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Blocton is located in Bibb County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blocton
  • Cottondale
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Brookwood
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Bibbville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Bibbville is located in Bibb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bibbville
    • Hull
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Hull is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hull
    • Ironville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Ironville is located in Perry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ironville

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

Newspapers Published in Pearson ...

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 12 newspapers that have been published in the area around Pearson.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Pearson, there are papers which were published within 13 miles [20.9 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Pearson.

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 helpful 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 Pearson:

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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Pearson) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<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 Pearson, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.