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 Powells Crossroads (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 Powells Crossroads. 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 Powells Crossroads ...
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.
- A typical abbreviation for Powells Crossroads: Powells Xrds.
- While the name of this community is Powells Crossroads, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Powells Crossroads may originally have been Powell's Crossroads.
Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Powells Crossroads might be written as Powell Crossroads.
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Powells Crossroads. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Powells Crossroads.
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.
Powells Crossroads is located in DeKalb 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 DeKalb County: Cherokee, Etowah, Jackson, Marshall, Chattooga (GA), Dade (GA) & Walker (GA).
Below are the counties that are near Powells Crossroads. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Powells Crossroads:
- DeKalb County (The home county of Powells Crossroads)
- The following are listed by their distance from Powells Crossroads, with the one closest to Powells Crossroads listed first.
- Powell
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Powell is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powell
- Population from the 2020 Census: 908 people
- Rainsville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Shiloh
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Shiloh is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shiloh
- Population from the 2020 Census: 305 people
- Sylvania
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Sylvania is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sylvania
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,860 people
- Fyffe
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Luttrell
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Luttrell is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Luttrell
- Chavies
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Chavies is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chavies
- Luna ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Luna is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Luna
- Gibson Crossroads
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Gibson Crossroads is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gibson Crossroads
- Hix ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Hix is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hix
- Guest
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Guest is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guest
- Bootsville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Bootsville is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bootsville
- Pine Ridge
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Pine Ridge is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Ridge
- Population from the 2020 Census: 273 people
- Cherokee County
- The following are listed by their distance from Powells Crossroads, with the one closest to Powells Crossroads listed first.
- Blanche
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Blanche is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blanche
- Taft
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Taft is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taft
- Sand Rock
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Sand Rock is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sand Rock
- Population from the 2020 Census: 674 people
- Berry Springs ‑ Historic
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Berry Springs is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berry Springs
- Grover
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Grover is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grover
- New Moon
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- New Moon is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Moon
- Ringgold
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Ringgold is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ringgold
- Anderson
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Broomtown
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Broomtown is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Broomtown
- Starkville ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Starkville is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Starkville
- Leesburg
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Gaylesville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Cedar Bluff
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Etowah County
- The following are listed by their distance from Powells Crossroads, with the one closest to Powells Crossroads listed first.
- Yancy
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Yancy is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yancy
- Keener
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Keener is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keener
- Duck Springs
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Duck Springs is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duck Springs
- Whitesboro
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Whitesboro is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitesboro
- Sardis City
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Sardis City is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sardis City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,776 people
- Haworth ‑ Historic
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Haworth is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haworth
- Wilsonia
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Wilsonia is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilsonia
- Crudup
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Crudup is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crudup
- Hale ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Hale is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hale
- Turkeytown
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Turkeytown is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turkeytown
- Carlisle
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Carlisle is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carlisle
- Mountainboro
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Mountainboro is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountainboro
- Jackson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Powells Crossroads, with the one closest to Powells Crossroads listed first.
- Rock City
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Rock City is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock City
- Dutton
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Dutton is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dutton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 307 people
- Section
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Ferncliff ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Ferncliff is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ferncliff
- Gray ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Gray is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gray
- Pisgah
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Central
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Central is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central
- Langston
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Bellefonte ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Bellefonte is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellefonte
- Scottsboro
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Hollywood
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Dodsonville ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Dodsonville is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dodsonville
- Dry Cove ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Dry Cove is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dry Cove
- Madison County
- The following are listed by their distance from Powells Crossroads, with the one closest to Powells Crossroads listed first.
- New Hope
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Gurley
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Marshall County
- The following are listed by their distance from Powells Crossroads, with the one closest to Powells Crossroads listed first.
- Mid ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Mid is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mid
- Peters ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Peters is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peters
- Columbus City Ferry
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Columbus City Ferry is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Columbus City Ferry
- Columbus City
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Columbus City is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Columbus City
- Grant
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Hustleville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Hustleville is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hustleville
- Minorville ‑ Historic
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Minorville is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minorville
- North ‑ Historic
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- North is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North
- Albertville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Rayburn
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Rayburn is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rayburn
- Wyeth City
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Wyeth City is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyeth City
- Guntersville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Guntersville is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guntersville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 8,676 people
- Former names for Guntersville:
- Gunter's Ferry
- Gunter's Landing
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Guntersville <2>
- Fort Deposit ‑ Historic
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Fort Deposit is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Deposit
- Chattooga County (GA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Powells Crossroads, with the one closest to Powells Crossroads listed first.
- Cloudland
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Menlo
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Menlo is located in Chattooga County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Menlo
- Population from the 2020 Census: 454 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Menlo <2>
- Chattoogaville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Chattoogaville is located in Chattooga County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chattoogaville
- Berryton
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Berryton is located in Chattooga County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berryton
- Euthtilloga ‑ Historic
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Euthtilloga is located in Chattooga County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Euthtilloga
- Population from the 2010 Census: 29,011 people
- Lyerly
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Summerville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Taliaferro ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Taliaferro is located in Chattooga County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taliaferro
- Estimated population in 2019: 71 people
- Dade County (GA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Powells Crossroads, with the one closest to Powells Crossroads listed first.
- Rising Fawn
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Stewart Town
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Stewart Town is located in Dade County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stewart Town
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Powells Crossroads, see our County-by-County Page for Powells Crossroads.
Cemeteries Near Powells Crossroads ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Powells Crossroads.
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 Powells Crossroads - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Powells Crossroads covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Powells Crossroads, with the one closest to Powells Crossroads listed first.
- New Bethel Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Old Sardis Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Warren Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Broadway Baptist Church Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Town Creek Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Corinth Baptist Church Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corinth Baptist Church Cemetery
- The Corinth Baptist Church Cemetery has also been known as:
- Corinth Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery
- Fyffe Cemetery
- Mahan Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Haigwood Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Greens Chapel Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Chaney Chapel Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Unity Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Dean Chapel Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Continue List (526 more) ...
- Samples Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Hill Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Pleasant View Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
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 Powells Crossroads in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Powells Crossroads.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Powells Crossroads, with the one closest to Powells Crossroads listed first.
- Musgrove ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Musgrove is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Musgrove
- Talley ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Talley is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Talley
- Dutton
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Dutton is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dutton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 307 people
- Mahan ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Mahan is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mahan
- Luttrell
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Luttrell is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Luttrell
- Luna ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Luna is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Luna
- Chavies
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Chavies is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chavies
- Index ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Index is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Index
- Lydia
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Lydia is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lydia
- Blake
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Blake is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blake
- Thirtynine ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Thirtynine is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thirtynine
- Ten Broeck
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Ten Broeck is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ten Broeck
- Continue List (16 more) ...
- Henagar
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Floy ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Floy is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Floy
- Snake Creek ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Snake Creek is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Snake Creek
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Powells Crossroads. See our List of 1890's Communities around Powells Crossroads.
Newspapers Published in Powells Crossroads ...
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 33 newspapers that have been published in the area around Powells Crossroads.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Powells Crossroads, there are papers which were published within 15 miles [24.1 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Powells Crossroads.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These professional and volunteer 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 Powells Crossroads:
- Websites specific to Alabama
- Pages specific to DeKalb County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Cherokee County
- Etowah County
- Jackson County
- Madison County
- Marshall County
- Chattooga County
- Dade County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Alabama
Footnotes ...
| <1> | It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties). |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 Powells Crossroads, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <5> | 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 from Point A (ie- Powells Crossroads) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |