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 Rollins (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 Rollins. 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 Rollins ...
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.
While the name of this community is Rollins, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Rollins may originally have been Rollin's.
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Rollins. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Rollins.
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 northeast 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 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 east 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.
Rollins is located in Chambers 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 Chambers County: Lee, Randolph, Tallapoosa, Harris (GA) & Troup (GA).
Below are the counties that are near Rollins. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Rollins:
- Chambers County (The home county of Rollins)
- The following are listed by their distance from Rollins, with the one closest to Rollins listed first.
- Chapel Hill
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Chapel Hill is located in Chambers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chapel Hill
- LaFayette
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Penton
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Penton is located in Chambers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Penton
- Five Points
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Five Points is located in Chambers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Points
- Population from the 2020 Census: 137 people
- Blackman
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Blackman is located in Chambers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackman
- Fredonia
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Fredonia is located in Chambers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fredonia
- Milltown
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Milltown is located in Chambers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milltown
- Clackville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Clackville is located in Chambers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clackville
- Stroud
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Stroud is located in Chambers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stroud
- Boyds
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Boyds is located in Chambers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boyds
- Doublehead
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Doublehead is located in Chambers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doublehead
- Red Level
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Red Level is located in Chambers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Level
- Clay County
- The following are listed by their distance from Rollins, with the one closest to Rollins listed first.
- Motley
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Motley is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Motley
- Mellow Valley
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Mellow Valley is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mellow Valley
- Cragford
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Hale County
- Erie ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Erie is located in Hale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erie
- Lee County
- The following are listed by their distance from Rollins, with the one closest to Rollins listed first.
- The Bottle
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- The Bottle is located in Lee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Bottle
- Gwen Mill
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Gwen Mill is located in Lee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gwen Mill
- Opelika
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Chewacla
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Chewacla is located in Lee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chewacla
- Blanton
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Blanton is located in Lee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blanton
- Roxana
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Roxana is located in Lee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roxana
- Auburn
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Ridgewood Village
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Ridgewood Village is located in Lee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgewood Village
- Loachapoka
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Salem
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Beauregard
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Beauregard is located in Lee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beauregard
- Bleecker
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Bleecker is located in Lee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bleecker
- Macon County
- Notasulga
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Randolph County
- The following are listed by their distance from Rollins, with the one closest to Rollins listed first.
- Peavy
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Peavy is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peavy
- Roanoke
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Wadley
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Rock Mills
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Rock Mills is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Mills
- Forester Chapel
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Forester Chapel is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forester Chapel
- Almond
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Almond is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Almond
- Malone Ferry
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Malone Ferry is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Malone Ferry
- High Shoals
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- High Shoals is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Shoals
- West
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- West is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West
- Corbin
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Corbin is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corbin
- Wedowee
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Ofelia
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Ofelia is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ofelia
- Tallapoosa County
- The following are listed by their distance from Rollins, with the one closest to Rollins listed first.
- Dudleyville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Dudleyville is located in Tallapoosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dudleyville
- Frog Eye
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Frog Eye is located in Tallapoosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frog Eye
- Daviston
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Truett
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Truett is located in Tallapoosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Truett
- Matilda
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Matilda is located in Tallapoosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Matilda
- Camp Hill
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Slaughters ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Slaughters is located in Tallapoosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slaughters
- Emuckfaw
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Emuckfaw is located in Tallapoosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emuckfaw
- Agricola
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Agricola is located in Tallapoosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Agricola
- Dadeville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- New Site
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- New Site is located in Tallapoosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Site
- Population from the 2020 Census: 755 people
- Goldville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Goldville is located in Tallapoosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goldville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 54 people
- Harris County (GA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Rollins, with the one closest to Rollins listed first.
- Pine Lake
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Pine Lake is located in Harris County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Lake
- Mountain Hill
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Mountain Hill is located in Harris County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Hill
- Population from the 2010 Census: 11,554 people
- Heard County (GA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Rollins, with the one closest to Rollins listed first.
- Glenn
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- O'Neals Crossroad
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- O'Neals Crossroad is located in Heard County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for O'Neals Crossroad
- Houston
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Houston is located in Heard County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Houston
- Population from the 2010 Census: 110 people
- Frolona
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Frolona is located in Heard County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frolona
- Riverside
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Riverside is located in Heard County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverside
- Franklin
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Troup County (GA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Rollins, with the one closest to Rollins listed first.
- West Point
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Evansville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Evansville is located in Troup County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evansville
- North West Point
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- North West Point is located in Troup County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North West Point
- Abbottsford
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Abbottsford is located in Troup County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abbottsford
- West Lake Village
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- West Lake Village is located in Troup County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Lake Village
- Vernon ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Vernon is located in Troup County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vernon
- Rockwell Estates
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Rockwell Estates is located in Troup County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockwell Estates
- LaGrange
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Pioneer Village
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Pioneer Village is located in Troup County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pioneer Village
- Sassafrass Hills
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Sassafrass Hills is located in Troup County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sassafrass Hills
- Estimated population in 2019: 255 people
- Sunny Point
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Sunny Point is located in Troup County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunny Point
- Population from the 2010 Census: 1,303 people
- Graysons Landing
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Graysons Landing is located in Troup County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graysons Landing
- Estimated population in 2019: 4,452 people
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Rollins, see our County-by-County Page for Rollins.
Cemeteries Near Rollins ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Rollins.
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 Rollins - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Rollins covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Rollins, with the one closest to Rollins listed first.
- Sandy Ridge Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Old Rock Springs Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Lebanon Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Poplar Springs Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Lafayette Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Hill - Thompson Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Macedonia Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Finley Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Handy Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Emory Chapel Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Sharps Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Stamps Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Continue List (400 more) ...
- Chappell Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- St. John UMC Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Holstum Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
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 Rollins in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Rollins.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Rollins, with the one closest to Rollins listed first.
- Buffalo
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Buffalo is located in Chambers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo
- LaFayette
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Marcoot
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Marcoot is located in Chambers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marcoot
- Chapel Hill
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Chapel Hill is located in Chambers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chapel Hill
- Five Points
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Five Points is located in Chambers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Points
- Population from the 2020 Census: 137 people
- Blackman
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Blackman is located in Chambers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackman
- Moorefield
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Moorefield is located in Chambers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moorefield
- Milltown
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Milltown is located in Chambers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milltown
- Fredonia
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Fredonia is located in Chambers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fredonia
- Boyds
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Boyds is located in Chambers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boyds
- Stroud
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Stroud is located in Chambers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stroud
- Bosworth
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Bosworth is located in Chambers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bosworth
- Continue List (16 more) ...
- Dudleyville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Dudleyville is located in Tallapoosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dudleyville
- Doublehead
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Doublehead is located in Chambers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doublehead
- Finley
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Finley is located in Chambers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Finley
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Rollins. See our List of 1890's Communities around Rollins.
Newspapers Published in Rollins ...
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 28 newspapers that have been published in the area around Rollins.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Rollins, there are papers which were published within 16 miles [25.7 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Rollins.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to 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 Rollins:
- Websites specific to Alabama
- Pages specific to Chambers County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Clay County
- Hale County
- Lee County
- Macon County
- Randolph County
- Tallapoosa County
- Harris County
- Heard County
- Troup 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 Rollins, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <5> | 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- Rollins) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |