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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 Rock Ridge (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 Rock Ridge. 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 Rock Ridge ...

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.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Rock Ridge: Rock Rdg. (or less commonly used: Rock Rdge. or Rock Ridg.)

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

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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most 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.

Rock Ridge 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 Rock Ridge. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Rock Ridge:

  • Jefferson County     (The home county of Rock Ridge)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rock Ridge, with the one closest to Rock Ridge listed first.
    • Weems
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Irondale
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Alton
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • McCombs
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Lola City
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Lola City is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lola City
    • Cahaba Landing
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Scott City
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Scott City is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scott City
    • Huffman
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Zion City
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Zion City is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zion City
    • Cedar Grove ‑ Historic
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Cedar Grove is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Grove
    • Gate City
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Gate City is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gate City
    • Marks Village
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Marks Village is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marks Village
  • Blount County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rock Ridge, with the one closest to Rock Ridge listed first.
    • Dale ‑ Historic
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Dale is located in Blount County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dale
    • Compton
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Remlap
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • County Line
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Selfville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Selfville is located in Blount County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Selfville
    • Dallas
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Dallas is located in Blount County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dallas
    • Warrior
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Locust Fork
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Adville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Hayden
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Little Warrior
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Allgood
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Allgood is located in Blount County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allgood
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 638 people
  • Cullman County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rock Ridge, with the one closest to Rock Ridge listed first.
    • Baltimore ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Baltimore is located in Cullman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baltimore
    • Arkadelphia
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Black Bottom
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Colony
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
    • The Colony
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • The Colony is located in Cullman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Colony
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 291 people
  • Saint Clair County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rock Ridge, with the one closest to Rock Ridge listed first.
    • Woodland Village
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Woodland Village is located in Saint Clair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland Village
    • Moody
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Brompton
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Acmar
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Parsons
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Argo
      (13 miles [20.9 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
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Turnbough Town
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Turnbough Town is located in Saint Clair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turnbough Town
    • Cook's Springs
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Cook's Springs is located in Saint Clair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cook's Springs
    • Branchville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Branchville is located in Saint Clair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Branchville
    • Odenville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Vincent
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Vincent is located in Saint Clair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vincent
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,223 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Vincent <1>
  • Shelby County
  • Talladega County
  • Walker County

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

Cemeteries Near Rock Ridge ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Rock Ridge.

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 Rock Ridge - one of the links might be able to help.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Rock Ridge, with the one closest to Rock Ridge 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.<3>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Rock Ridge had a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Weems
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Irondale
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • McCombs
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Ruffner
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Ruffner is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruffner
  • Huffman
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • East Lake
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • East Lake is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Lake
  • Gate City
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Gate City is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gate City
  • Trussville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Woodlawn
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Woodlawn is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodlawn
  • Leeds
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Woodward
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Woodward is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodward
  • Avondale
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Avondale is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avondale
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in Rock Ridge ...

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 11 newspapers that have been published in the area around Rock Ridge.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Rock Ridge, there are papers which were published within 7 miles [11.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Rock Ridge.

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 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 Rock Ridge:

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