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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 Salem (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 Salem. 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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals 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.

Salem is located in Lee 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 Lee County: Chambers, Macon, Russell, Tallapoosa, Harris (GA) & Muscogee (GA).

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

  • Lee County     (The home county of Salem)
  • Chambers County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Salem, with the one closest to Salem listed first.
    • Osanippa
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Cusseta
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • River View
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Valley
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Eady City
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Eady City is located in Chambers County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eady City
    • Huguley
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Huguley is located in Chambers County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huguley
    • Plant City
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Plant City is located in Chambers County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plant City
    • Boyds
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Lanett
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Waverly
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Waverly is located in Chambers County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waverly
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 143 people
    • LaFayette
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Blackman
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Macon County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Salem, with the one closest to Salem listed first.
    • Society Hill
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Notasulga
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Tuskegee
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Liberty City
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Liberty City is located in Macon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty City
  • Russell County
  • Tallapoosa County
  • Chattahoochee County (GA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Salem, with the one closest to Salem listed first.
    • Fort Benning
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Ochillee
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Ochillee is located in Chattahoochee County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ochillee
      • Estimated population in 2019: 680 people
    • Central Springs
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Heineburg Village ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Heineburg Village is located in Chattahoochee County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heineburg Village
      • Estimated population in 2014: 2,893 people
  • Harris County (GA)
  • Muscogee County (GA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Salem, with the one closest to Salem listed first.
    • Twin Chapel
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Twin Chapel is located in Muscogee County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Chapel
      • Estimated population in 2019: 1,701 people
    • Bibb City
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Bibb City is located in Muscogee County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bibb City
    • Maridale Estates
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Maridale Estates is located in Muscogee County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maridale Estates
      • Estimated population in 2019: 60,867 people
    • City Village
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • City Village is located in Muscogee County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for City Village
    • Columbus
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Fortson
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Glenns
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Glenns is located in Muscogee County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenns
      • Estimated population in 2019: 5,020 people
    • Lincoln Hills
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Lincoln Hills is located in Muscogee County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln Hills
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 833 people
    • Hilton Heights
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Hilton Heights is located in Muscogee County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilton Heights
      • Estimated population in 2018: 324 people
    • Wynnton
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • East Edgewood
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • East Edgewood is located in Muscogee County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Edgewood
      • Estimated population in 2019: 569 people
    • Saint Marys Hills
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Saint Marys Hills is located in Muscogee County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Marys Hills
      • Estimated population in 2019: 18,567 people
  • Troup County (GA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Salem, with the one closest to Salem listed first.
    • West Point
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • North West Point
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Pioneer Village
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Pioneer Village is located in Troup County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pioneer Village
    • West Lake Village
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • West Lake Village is located in Troup County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Lake Village

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

Cemeteries Near Salem ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Salem.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Salem, with the one closest to Salem 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 Salem had a population of 166 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service.

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

  • Chewacla
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Mechanicsville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Mechanicsville is located in Lee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mechanicsville
  • Smith's Station
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Beulah
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Beulah is located in Lee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beulah
  • Opelika
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Crawford
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Ladonia
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Osanippa
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Cusseta
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
  • Acton ‑ Historic
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Acton is located in Harris County (GA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acton
  • Tuckersburg
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Tuckersburg is located in Chambers County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tuckersburg
  • River View
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...
    • Auburn
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Mountain Hill
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Mountain Hill is located in Harris County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Hill
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 11,554 people
    • Oak Bowery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Oak Bowery is located in Chambers County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Bowery

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

Newspapers Published in Salem ...

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 59 newspapers that have been published in the area around Salem.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Salem, there are papers which were published within 16 miles [25.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Salem.

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 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 Salem:

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