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 Providence (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 Providence. 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 southeast 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 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 east 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.
Providence 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 Providence. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Providence:
- Jefferson County (The home county of Providence)
- The following are listed by their distance from Providence, with the one closest to Providence listed first.
- Oak Grove
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Oak Grove is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
- Toadvine
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Toadvine is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toadvine
- Ezra
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Ezra is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ezra
- Rock Creek
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Rock Creek is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Creek
- Black Creek
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Black Creek is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Creek
- North Johns
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- North Johns is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Johns
- Population from the 2020 Census: 143 people
- Short Creek
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Short Creek is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Short Creek
- Adger
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Concord
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Concord is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Concord
- Hueytown
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Bullard Shoals ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Bullard Shoals is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bullard Shoals
- Sylvan Springs
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Bibb County
- The following are listed by their distance from Providence, with the one closest to Providence listed first.
- Green Pond
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Blocton Junction
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Blocton Junction is located in Bibb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blocton Junction
- Blocton Junction has also been known as:
- Blockton Junc
- North Bibb
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- North Bibb is located in Bibb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Bibb
- Woodstock
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Burmah ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Burmah is located in Bibb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burmah
- Corinne ‑ Historic
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Corinne is located in Bibb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corinne
- Italian Town
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Italian Town is located in Bibb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Italian Town
- West Blocton
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Belle Ellen
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Belle Ellen is located in Bibb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belle Ellen
- Blocton ‑ Historic
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Blocton is located in Bibb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blocton
- Bucktown ‑ Historic
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Bucktown is located in Bibb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bucktown
- Cane Creek ‑ Historic
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Cane Creek is located in Bibb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cane Creek
- Fayette County
- The following are listed by their distance from Providence, with the one closest to Providence listed first.
- Alta
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Alta is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alta
- Berry
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Bankston
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Bankston is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bankston
- Shelby County
- The following are listed by their distance from Providence, with the one closest to Providence listed first.
- Bamford
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Bamford is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bamford
- Aden
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Aden is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aden
- Tacoa
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Tacoa is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tacoa
- Falliston
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Falliston is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falliston
- Helena
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Sawmill Town
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Sawmill Town is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sawmill Town
- Tulse
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Tulse is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tulse
- Alabaster
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Brantleyville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Brantleyville is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brantleyville
- Maylene
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Tuscaloosa County
- The following are listed by their distance from Providence, with the one closest to Providence listed first.
- Bull City
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Bull City is located in Tuscaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bull City
- Kellerman
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Kellerman is located in Tuscaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kellerman
- Abernant
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Abernant is located in Tuscaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abernant
- Brookwood
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Lake View
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Lake View is located in Tuscaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake View
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,732 people
- Peterson
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Peterson is located in Tuscaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peterson
- Samantha
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Samantha is located in Tuscaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Samantha
- Tannehill
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Tannehill is located in Tuscaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tannehill
- Holt
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Holt is located in Tuscaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holt
- Lake Front Village
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Lake Front Village is located in Tuscaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Front Village
- Wood Village
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Wood Village is located in Tuscaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wood Village
- Alberta City
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Alberta City is located in Tuscaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alberta City
- Walker County
- The following are listed by their distance from Providence, with the one closest to Providence listed first.
- Goodsprings
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Goodsprings is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodsprings
- Reeds Ferry
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Reeds Ferry is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reeds Ferry
- Oakman
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Oakman is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakman
- Population from the 2020 Census: 713 people
- Former names for Oakman:
- Day's Gap
- Marietta
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oakman <1>
- Twilley Town
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Twilley Town is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twilley Town
- America
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- America is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for America
- Parrish
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Parrish is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parrish
- Population from the 2020 Census: 929 people
- Barney
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Barney is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barney
- Patton Junction ‑ Historic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Patton Junction is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Patton Junction
- Patton
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Patton is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Patton
- Quinton
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Red Star
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Red Star is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Star
- Corona
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Corona is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corona
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Providence, see our County-by-County Page for Providence.
Cemeteries Near Providence ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Providence.
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 Providence - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Providence covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Providence, with the one closest to Providence listed first.
- Providence Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Patton Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Warrior Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Prudes Creek Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Spencer Hill Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Antioch Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Heard Shoal Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Pleasant Ridge Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Pine Grove Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Dug Hill Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Piney Wood Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Friendship Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Continue List (433 more) ...
- Liberty Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Toadvine Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Weaver Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
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.<2>
While we didn't find Providence in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Providence.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Providence, with the one closest to Providence listed first.
- Toadvine
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Toadvine is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toadvine
- Ezra
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Ezra is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ezra
- Wiley
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Wiley is located in Tuscaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wiley
- Yolande
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Yolande is located in Tuscaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yolande
- Sumter
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Sumter is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sumter
- Adger
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Short Creek
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Short Creek is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Short Creek
- Brookwood
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Chinn
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Chinn is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chinn
- Chamblee
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Chamblee is located in Tuscaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chamblee
- Bullard Shoals ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Bullard Shoals is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bullard Shoals
- Giles
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Giles is located in Bibb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Giles
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- McCalla
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- McAdory
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- McAdory is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McAdory
- Samantha
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Samantha is located in Tuscaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Samantha
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Providence. See our List of 1890's Communities around Providence.
Newspapers Published in Providence ...
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 6 newspapers that have been published in the area around Providence.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Providence, there are papers which were published within 18 miles [29 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Providence.
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 Providence:
- Websites specific to Alabama
- Pages specific to Jefferson County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Bibb County
- Fayette County
- Shelby 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> | 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 Providence, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Providence) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |