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 Plain View (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 Plain View. 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 Plain View ...
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.
Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might occur.
For example, a typical abbreviation for Plain View: Plain Vw.
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Plain View. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Plain View.
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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors 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.
Plain View is located in Jefferson 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 Jefferson County: Bibb, Blount, Saint Clair, Shelby, Tuscaloosa & Walker.
Below are the counties that are near Plain View. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Plain View:
- Jefferson County (The home county of Plain View)
- The following are listed by their distance from Plain View, with the one closest to Plain View listed first.
- Tarrant
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Tarrant is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tarrant
- Population from the 2020 Census: 6,081 people
- Tarrant has also been known as:
- Tarrant City
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tarrant <1>
- Bartonville
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Bartonville is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bartonville
- Vulcan City
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Vulcan City is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vulcan City
- Zion City
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Zion City is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zion City
- East Birmingham
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- East Birmingham is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Birmingham
- Fultondale
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Avondale
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Avondale is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avondale
- Gate City
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Gate City is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gate City
- Marks Village
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Marks Village is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marks Village
- Birmingham
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Huffman
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Huffman is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huffman
- Hooper City
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Hooper City is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hooper City
- English Village
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- English Village is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for English Village
- Blount County
- The following are listed by their distance from Plain View, with the one closest to Plain View listed first.
- Dale ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Dale is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dale
- Warrior
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- County Line
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- County Line is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for County Line
- Population from the 2020 Census: 241 people
- Selfville
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Selfville is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Selfville
- Compton
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Compton is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Compton
- Remlap
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Dallas
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Dallas is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dallas
- Red Hill
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Red Hill is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Hill
- Hayden
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Adville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Adville is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adville
- Locust Fork
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Reid's
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Reid's is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reid's
- Smoke Rise
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Smoke Rise is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smoke Rise
- Cullman County
- The following are listed by their distance from Plain View, with the one closest to Plain View listed first.
- Baltimore ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Baltimore is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baltimore
- Arkadelphia
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Arkadelphia is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arkadelphia
- Black Bottom
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Black Bottom is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Bottom
- Colony
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Colony is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colony
- Estimated population in 2015: 273 people
- The Colony
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- The Colony is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Colony
- Population from the 2020 Census: 291 people
- Damascus
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Damascus is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Damascus
- Garden City
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Garden City is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 506 people
- Saint Clair County
- The following are listed by their distance from Plain View, with the one closest to Plain View listed first.
- Woodland Village
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Woodland Village is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland Village
- Moody
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Moody is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moody
- Population from the 2020 Census: 13,292 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Moody <1>
- Parsons
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Parsons is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parsons
- Acmar
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Acmar is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acmar
- Brompton
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Brompton is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brompton
- Argo
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Argo is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Argo
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,278 people
- Margaret
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Turnbough Town
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Turnbough Town is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turnbough Town
- Cook's Springs
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Cook's Springs is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cook's Springs
- Odenville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Springville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Branchville
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Branchville is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Branchville
- Saint Clair Springs
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Saint Clair Springs is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Clair Springs
- Shelby County
- The following are listed by their distance from Plain View, with the one closest to Plain View listed first.
- Bridgeton
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Bridgeton is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bridgeton
- Lake Purdy
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Lake Purdy is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Purdy
- Inverness
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Inverness is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Inverness
- Meadowbrook
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Meadowbrook is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowbrook
- Shoal Creek
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Shoal Creek is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shoal Creek
- Dunnavant
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Dunnavant is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunnavant
- Indian Springs Village
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Indian Springs Village is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Springs Village
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,628 people
- Dunavant
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Dunavant is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunavant
- Vandiver
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Pelham
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Chelsea
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Sterrett
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Tacoa
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Tacoa is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tacoa
- Talladega County
- The following are listed by their distance from Plain View, with the one closest to Plain View listed first.
- Logan Martin Dam
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Logan Martin Dam is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Logan Martin Dam
- East Bend
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- East Bend is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Bend
- Tuscaloosa County
- The following are listed by their distance from Plain View, with the one closest to Plain View listed first.
- Tannehill
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Tannehill is located in Tuscaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tannehill
- Lake View
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Lake View is located in Tuscaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake View
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,732 people
- Bull City
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Bull City is located in Tuscaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bull City
- Walker County
- The following are listed by their distance from Plain View, with the one closest to Plain View listed first.
- Quinton
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Wyatt
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Wyatt is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyatt
- Yerkwood
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Yerkwood is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yerkwood
- Twilley Town
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Twilley Town is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twilley Town
- Burnwell
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Burnwell is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burnwell
- Creel
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Creel is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Creel
- Oakahalla
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Oakahalla is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakahalla
- Sumiton
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Sumiton is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sumiton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,330 people
- Former names for Sumiton:
- Commercial
- Democrat
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sumiton <1>
- Dora
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Empire
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Empire is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Empire
- Reeds Ferry
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Reeds Ferry is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reeds Ferry
- Red Star
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Red Star is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Star
- Black Warrior Town ‑ Historic
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Black Warrior Town is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Warrior Town
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Plain View, see our County-by-County Page for Plain View.
Cemeteries Near Plain View ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Plain View.
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 Plain View - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Plain View covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Plain View, with the one closest to Plain View listed first.
- Inglenook Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Sheritt Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Greenwood Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwood Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Greenwood Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Birmingham.
- The Greenwood Cemetery has also been known as:
- Woodlawn Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #23140 <2>
- Forest Hill Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- East Lake Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Mt. Zion Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Higgins Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Walkers Chapel Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Enon Ridge Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Knesses Israel Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Oak Hill Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- McElwain Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Continue List (335 more) ...
- Bush Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Emanuel Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Bass 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.<3>
While we didn't find Plain View in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Plain View.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Plain View, with the one closest to Plain View listed first.
- Bartonville
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Bartonville is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bartonville
- Vanderbilt
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Vanderbilt is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vanderbilt
- East Birmingham
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- East Birmingham is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Birmingham
- Woodlawn
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Woodlawn is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodlawn
- East Lake
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- East Lake is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Lake
- Lewisburg
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Lewisburg is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lewisburg
- North Birmingham
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- North Birmingham is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Birmingham
- Birmingham
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Avondale
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Avondale is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avondale
- Gate City
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Gate City is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gate City
- Ruffner
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Ruffner is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruffner
- Huffman
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Huffman is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huffman
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Thomas
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Thomas is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thomas
- New Castle
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- New Castle is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Castle
- Coalburg
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Coalburg is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coalburg
- Former name for Coalburg:
- Coalburgh
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Plain View. See our List of 1890's Communities around Plain View.
Newspapers Published in Plain View ...
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 199 newspapers that have been published in the area around Plain View.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Plain View, there are papers which were published within 6 miles [9.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Plain View.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 Plain View:
- Websites specific to Alabama
- Pages specific to Jefferson County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Blount County
- Cullman County
- Saint Clair County
- Shelby County
- Talladega County
- Tuscaloosa County
- Walker 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 Plain View, 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Plain View) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |