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 Ruffner (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 Ruffner. 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.
Ruffner 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 Ruffner. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Ruffner:
- Jefferson County (The home county of Ruffner)
- The following are listed by their distance from Ruffner, with the one closest to Ruffner listed first.
- Irondale
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Gate City
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Gate City is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gate City
- Marks Village
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Marks Village is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marks Village
- Rock Ridge
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Rock Ridge is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Ridge
- Weems
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Weems is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weems
- Zion City
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Zion City is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zion City
- Huffman
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Huffman is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huffman
- Cahaba Landing
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Cahaba Landing is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cahaba Landing
- Alton
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Avondale
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Avondale is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avondale
- Mountain Brook
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Bartonville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Bartonville is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bartonville
- East Birmingham
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- East Birmingham is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Birmingham
- Blount County
- The following are listed by their distance from Ruffner, with the one closest to Ruffner listed first.
- Dale ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Dale is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dale
- Compton
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Compton is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Compton
- County Line
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- County Line is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for County Line
- Population from the 2020 Census: 241 people
- Remlap
(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
- Warrior
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Dallas
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Dallas is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dallas
- Adville
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Adville is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adville
- Hayden
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Locust Fork
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Red Hill
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Red Hill is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Hill
- Reid's
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Reid's is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reid's
- Smoke Rise
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Smoke Rise is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smoke Rise
- Cullman County
- The following are listed by their distance from Ruffner, with the one closest to Ruffner listed first.
- Baltimore ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Baltimore is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baltimore
- Arkadelphia
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Arkadelphia is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arkadelphia
- Black Bottom
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Black Bottom is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Bottom
- Colony
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Colony is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colony
- Estimated population in 2015: 273 people
- The Colony
(29 miles [46.7 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
- Damascus
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Damascus is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Damascus
- Saint Clair County
- The following are listed by their distance from Ruffner, with the one closest to Ruffner listed first.
- Woodland Village
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Woodland Village is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland Village
- Moody
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Moody is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moody
- Population from the 2020 Census: 13,292 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Moody <1>
- Acmar
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Acmar is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acmar
- Parsons
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Parsons is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parsons
- Brompton
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Brompton is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brompton
- Argo
(15 miles [24.1 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
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Turnbough Town
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Turnbough Town is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turnbough Town
- Cook's Springs
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Cook's Springs is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cook's Springs
- Odenville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Branchville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Branchville is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Branchville
- Springville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Vincent
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Shelby County
- The following are listed by their distance from Ruffner, with the one closest to Ruffner listed first.
- Bridgeton
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Bridgeton is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bridgeton
- Lake Purdy
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Lake Purdy is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Purdy
- Dunnavant
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Dunnavant is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunnavant
- Inverness
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Inverness is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Inverness
- Dunavant
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Dunavant is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunavant
- Shoal Creek
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Shoal Creek is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shoal Creek
- Meadowbrook
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Meadowbrook is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowbrook
- Vandiver
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Indian Springs Village
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Indian Springs Village is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Springs Village
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,628 people
- Sterrett
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Chelsea
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Pelham
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Westover
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Westover is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westover
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,769 people
- Talladega County
- The following are listed by their distance from Ruffner, with the one closest to Ruffner listed first.
- Logan Martin Dam
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Logan Martin Dam is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Logan Martin Dam
- East Bend
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- East Bend is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Bend
- Childersburg
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Colony
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Colony is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colony
- Windsong Island
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Windsong Island is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windsong Island
- Bon Air
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Bon Air is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bon Air
- Population from the 2020 Census: 109 people
- Alpine
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Nottingham ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Nottingham is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nottingham
- Former name for Nottingham:
- Jones Camp Ground
- Tuscaloosa County
- Tannehill
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Tannehill is located in Tuscaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tannehill
- Walker County
- The following are listed by their distance from Ruffner, with the one closest to Ruffner listed first.
- Quinton
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Wyatt
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Wyatt is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyatt
- Yerkwood
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Yerkwood is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yerkwood
- Twilley Town
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Twilley Town is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twilley Town
- Burnwell
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Burnwell is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burnwell
- Creel
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Creel is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Creel
- Oakahalla
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Oakahalla is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakahalla
- Sumiton
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Sumiton is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sumiton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,330 people
- Former names for Sumiton:
- Commercial
- Democrat
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sumiton <1>
- Dora
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Empire
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Empire is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Empire
- Reeds Ferry
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Reeds Ferry is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reeds Ferry
- Black Warrior Town ‑ Historic
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Black Warrior Town is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Warrior Town
- Red Star
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Red Star is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Star
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Ruffner, see our County-by-County Page for Ruffner.
Cemeteries Near Ruffner ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Ruffner.
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 Ruffner - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Ruffner covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Ruffner, with the one closest to Ruffner listed first.
- Bush Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Earltown Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- East Lake Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- McElwain Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Bass Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Mt. Zion Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Higgins Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Bass Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Greenwood Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwood Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Greenwood Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Birmingham.
- The Greenwood Cemetery has also been known as:
- Woodlawn Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #23140 <2>
- Forest Hill Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Forest Crest Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- McCombs Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Continue List (336 more) ...
- Alton Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Inglenook Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Cahaba Heights Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
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, Ruffner had railroad service and no post office.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Ruffner, with the one closest to Ruffner listed first.
- Irondale
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- East Lake
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- East Lake is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Lake
- Gate City
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Gate City is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gate City
- Woodlawn
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Woodlawn is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodlawn
- Rock Ridge
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Rock Ridge is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Ridge
- Weems
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Weems is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weems
- Huffman
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Huffman is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huffman
- Avondale
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Avondale is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avondale
- Bartonville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Bartonville is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bartonville
- Vanderbilt
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Vanderbilt is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vanderbilt
- East Birmingham
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- East Birmingham is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Birmingham
- Birmingham
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- McCombs
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- McCombs is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McCombs
- Lewisburg
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Lewisburg is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lewisburg
- North Birmingham
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- North Birmingham is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Birmingham
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Ruffner. See our List of 1890's Communities around Ruffner.
Newspapers Published in Ruffner ...
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 186 newspapers that have been published in the area around Ruffner.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Ruffner, there are papers which were published within 5 miles [8 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Ruffner.
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 Ruffner:
- Websites specific to Alabama
- Pages specific to Jefferson County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Blount County
- Cullman County
- Saint Clair County
- Shelby County
- Talladega 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> | 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 Ruffner, 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' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Ruffner) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |