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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 Poplar Springs (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 Poplar Springs. 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 Poplar Springs ...

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 Poplar Springs: Poplar Spgs. (or less commonly used: Poplar Spngs. or Poplar Sprngs.)

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Poplar Springs. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Poplar Springs.

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 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.

Poplar Springs is located in Winston 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 Winston County: Cullman, Franklin, Lawrence, Marion & Walker.

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

  • Winston County     (The home county of Poplar Springs)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Poplar Springs, with the one closest to Poplar Springs listed first.
    • Falls City ‑ Historic
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Falls City is located in Winston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falls City
    • Double Springs
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Slick Ford
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Slick Ford is located in Winston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slick Ford
    • Lynn
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Lynn is located in Winston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lynn
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 632 people
    • Arley
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Houston
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Farriss
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Farriss is located in Winston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farriss
    • Natural Bridge
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Ashridge
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Ashridge is located in Winston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashridge
    • Glen Mary
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Glen Mary is located in Winston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Mary
    • Delmar
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Delmar is located in Winston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delmar
    • Addison
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Boar Tush
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • 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
  • Blount County
    • Red Hill
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Red Hill is located in Blount County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Hill
  • Cullman County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Poplar Springs, with the one closest to Poplar Springs listed first.
    • Ardell
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Ardell is located in Cullman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ardell
    • Crane Hill
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Chances Crossroad
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Chances Crossroad is located in Cullman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chances Crossroad
    • Logan
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Jones' Chapel
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Jones' Chapel is located in Cullman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jones' Chapel
    • Bremen
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Trimble
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Trimble is located in Cullman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trimble
    • Central
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Central is located in Cullman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central
    • Arkadelphia
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Arkadelphia is located in Cullman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arkadelphia
    • The Colony
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • The Colony is located in Cullman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Colony
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 291 people
    • West Point
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • West Point is located in Cullman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Point
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 604 people
    • Colony
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Colony is located in Cullman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colony
      • Estimated population in 2015: 273 people
    • Dodge City
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Dodge City is located in Cullman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dodge City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 621 people
  • Fayette County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Poplar Springs, with the one closest to Poplar Springs listed first.
    • Bazemore
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Bazemore is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bazemore
    • Glen Allen
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Glen Allen is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Allen
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 480 people
    • Alta
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Alta is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alta
    • Gu - Win
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Gu - Win is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gu - Win
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 173 people
    • Berry
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Berry is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berry
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,086 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Berry <1>
    • Bankston
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Bankston is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bankston
  • Franklin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Poplar Springs, with the one closest to Poplar Springs listed first.
    • Phil Campbell
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Churntown
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Churntown is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Churntown
  • Jefferson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Poplar Springs, with the one closest to Poplar Springs listed first.
    • Corner
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Corner is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corner
    • Robbins Crossroads
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Robbins Crossroads is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robbins Crossroads
  • Lawrence County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Poplar Springs, with the one closest to Poplar Springs listed first.
    • Camp Spring ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Camp Spring is located in Lawrence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camp Spring
    • Wren
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Wren is located in Lawrence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wren
    • Mount Hope
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Mount Hope is located in Lawrence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Hope
  • Marion County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Poplar Springs, with the one closest to Poplar Springs listed first.
    • Thornhill
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Thornhill is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thornhill
    • Rock City
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Rock City is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock City
    • Brilliant
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Bear Creek
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Winfield
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Twin
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Twin is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 386 people
    • Yampertown
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Yampertown is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yampertown
    • Hackleburg
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Hackleburg is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hackleburg
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,249 people
    • Guin
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Guin is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guin
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,250 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Guin <1>
    • Stinson
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Stinson is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stinson
  • Walker County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Poplar Springs, with the one closest to Poplar Springs listed first.
    • Nauvoo
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Slicklizzard
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Slicklizzard is located in Walker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slicklizzard
    • Prospect
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Prospect is located in Walker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prospect
    • Edgil
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Edgil is located in Walker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgil
    • Saragossa
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Saragossa is located in Walker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saragossa
    • Camak Mills ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Camak Mills is located in Walker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camak Mills
    • Gamble
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Gamble is located in Walker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gamble
    • South Lowell
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • South Lowell is located in Walker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Lowell
    • Marylee
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Marylee is located in Walker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marylee
    • Carbon Hill
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Kansas
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Kansas is located in Walker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kansas
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 214 people
    • Townley
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Townley is located in Walker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Townley
    • Eldridge
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Poplar Springs ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Poplar Springs.

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 Poplar Springs - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Wint Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Poplar Springs Freewill Baptist Church Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Harper Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Old Union MB Church Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • King Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Kelly Mill Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Williams Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Pine Tucky MB Church Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Rocky Plains Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Old Bethel Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Bennett Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Old Oak Grove Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (614 more) ...

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

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

  • Ashbank
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Ashbank is located in Winston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashbank
  • Nauvoo
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Prospect
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Prospect is located in Walker County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prospect
  • Double Springs
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Lynn
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Lynn is located in Winston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lynn
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 632 people
  • Saragossa
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Saragossa is located in Walker County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saragossa
  • Edgil
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Edgil is located in Walker County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgil
  • Houston
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Gamble
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Gamble is located in Walker County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gamble
  • South Lowell
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • South Lowell is located in Walker County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Lowell
  • Kansas
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Kansas is located in Walker County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kansas
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 214 people
  • Carbon Hill
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...
    • Marylee
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Marylee is located in Walker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marylee
    • Natural Bridge
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Eldridge
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)

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

Newspapers Published in Poplar Springs ...

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 59 newspapers that have been published in the area around Poplar Springs.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Poplar Springs, there are papers which were published within 22 miles [35.4 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Poplar Springs.

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 Poplar Springs:

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 Poplar Springs, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Poplar Springs) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.