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A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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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 Royal (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 Royal. 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 doctors and hospitals 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.

Royal is located in Blount 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 Blount County: Cullman, Etowah, Jefferson, Marshall, Saint Clair, Walker & Winston.

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

  • Blount County     (The home county of Royal)
  • Calhoun County
    • Southside
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Cullman County
  • DeKalb County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Royal, with the one closest to Royal listed first.
    • Mount Zion ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Rains ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Rains is located in DeKalb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rains
    • Rodentown
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Rogers
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Etowah County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Royal, with the one closest to Royal listed first.
    • Altoona
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Walnut Grove
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Nix ‑ Historic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Nix is located in Etowah County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nix
    • Clear Springs ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Clear Springs is located in Etowah County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clear Springs
    • Gallant
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Aurora
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Greer ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Greer is located in Etowah County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greer
    • Howelton
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Benson ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Benson is located in Etowah County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benson
    • Egypt
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Ivalee
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Mountainboro
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Mountainboro is located in Etowah County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountainboro
    • Carlisle
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
  • Jefferson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Royal, with the one closest to Royal listed first.
    • Masseyline
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Masseyline is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Masseyline
    • Trafford
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Ayres
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Village Springs
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Village Springs is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Village Springs
    • Palmerdale
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Bradford
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Clay
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Majestic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Majestic is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Majestic
    • Crosston
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Crosston is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crosston
    • Kimberly
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Pinson
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Morris
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Breakstone Village
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Breakstone Village is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Breakstone Village
  • Marshall County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Royal, with the one closest to Royal listed first.
    • Big Spring ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Big Spring is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Spring
    • Bowen ‑ Historic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Bowen is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowen
    • Douglas
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Douglas is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Douglas
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 780 people
    • Reedbrake ‑ Historic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Reedbrake is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reedbrake
    • Askea Grove
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Horton
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Hyatt
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Arab
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Bartlett ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Bartlett is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bartlett
    • Whitesville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Street ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Street is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Street
    • Hog Jaw
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Pine Lake Village
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Pine Lake Village is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Lake Village
  • Morgan County
  • Saint Clair County

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

Cemeteries Near Royal ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Royal.

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 Royal - one of the links might be able to help.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Royal, with the one closest to Royal 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.<4>

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

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

  • Huldah ‑ Historic
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Huldah is located in Blount County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huldah
  • Liberty
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Tappan ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Tappan is located in Blount County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tappan
  • Clarence
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Blountsville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Cleveland
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Wynnville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Brooksville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Joy
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Joy is located in Blount County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joy
  • Bird ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Bird is located in Blount County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bird
  • Snead
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Bright Star
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in Royal ...

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 16 newspapers that have been published in the area around Royal.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Royal, there are papers which were published within 16 miles [25.7 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Royal.

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 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 Royal:

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>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- Royal) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Royal, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.