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 Skirum (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 Skirum. 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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.
Skirum is located in DeKalb 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 DeKalb County: Cherokee, Etowah, Jackson, Marshall, Chattooga (GA), Dade (GA) & Walker (GA).
Below are the counties that are near Skirum. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Skirum:
- DeKalb County (The home county of Skirum)
- The following are listed by their distance from Skirum, with the one closest to Skirum listed first.
- Geraldine
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Dawson
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Dawson is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dawson
- Crossville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Lakeview
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Lakeview is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview
- Population from the 2020 Census: 156 people
- Floy ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Floy is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Floy
- Cotnam
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Cotnam is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cotnam
- Chigger Hill
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Chigger Hill is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chigger Hill
- Clyde ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Clyde is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clyde
- Rodentown
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Rodentown is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rodentown
- Whiton
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Whiton is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whiton
- Marcus ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Marcus is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marcus
- Collinsville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Rogers
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Rogers is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rogers
- Blount County
- The following are listed by their distance from Skirum, with the one closest to Skirum listed first.
- Highmound
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Highmound is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highmound
- McLarty
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- McLarty is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McLarty
- Fowler ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Fowler is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fowler
- Bright Star
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Bright Star is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bright Star
- Snead
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Wynnville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Wynnville is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wynnville
- Craig
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Craig is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Craig
- Calhoun County
- The following are listed by their distance from Skirum, with the one closest to Skirum listed first.
- Colvins Gap
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Colvins Gap is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colvins Gap
- Douthrittville ‑ Historic
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Douthrittville is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Douthrittville
- Oak Level
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Oak Level is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Level
- Southside
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Collins ‑ Historic
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Collins is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Collins
- Adelia ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Adelia is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adelia
- Cherokee County
- The following are listed by their distance from Skirum, with the one closest to Skirum listed first.
- Sand Rock
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Sand Rock is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sand Rock
- Population from the 2020 Census: 674 people
- Anderson
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Leesburg
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Taft
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Taft is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taft
- Blanche
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Blanche is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blanche
- Centre
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Turkey Town ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Turkey Town is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turkey Town
- Cedar Bluff
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Gaylesville
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Ringgold
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Ringgold is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ringgold
- Ball Flat
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Ball Flat is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ball Flat
- Moshat
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Moshat is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moshat
- Ricks ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Ricks is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ricks
- Etowah County
- The following are listed by their distance from Skirum, with the one closest to Skirum listed first.
- Yancy
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Yancy is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yancy
- Keener
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Keener is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keener
- Duck Springs
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Duck Springs is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duck Springs
- Whitesboro
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Whitesboro is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitesboro
- Haworth ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Haworth is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haworth
- Sardis City
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Sardis City is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sardis City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,776 people
- Crudup
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Crudup is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crudup
- Wilsonia
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Wilsonia is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilsonia
- Mountainboro
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Mountainboro is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountainboro
- Turkeytown
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Turkeytown is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turkeytown
- Carlisle
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Carlisle is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carlisle
- Anderson
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Anderson is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anderson
- Coat's Bend
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Coat's Bend is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coat's Bend
- Jackson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Skirum, with the one closest to Skirum listed first.
- Rock City
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Rock City is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock City
- Langston
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Section
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Dutton
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Dutton is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dutton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 307 people
- Dodsonville ‑ Historic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Dodsonville is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dodsonville
- Ferncliff ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Ferncliff is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ferncliff
- Dry Cove ‑ Historic
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Dry Cove is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dry Cove
- Gray ‑ Historic
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Gray is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gray
- Aspel
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Aspel is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aspel
- Scottsboro
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Pisgah
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Central
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Central is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central
- Bellefonte ‑ Historic
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Bellefonte is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellefonte
- Madison County
- New Hope
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Marshall County
- The following are listed by their distance from Skirum, with the one closest to Skirum listed first.
- Peters ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Peters is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peters
- Hustleville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Hustleville is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hustleville
- Boaz
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Mid ‑ Historic
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Mid is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mid
- Albertville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Minorville ‑ Historic
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Minorville is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minorville
- Columbus City Ferry
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Columbus City Ferry is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Columbus City Ferry
- Rabbit Town
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Rabbit Town is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rabbit Town
- Columbus City
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Columbus City is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Columbus City
- Rayburn
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Rayburn is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rayburn
- Whitesville
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Whitesville is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitesville
- Gregory
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Gregory is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gregory
- North ‑ Historic
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- North is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North
- Saint Clair County
- Steele
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Chattooga County (GA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Skirum, with the one closest to Skirum listed first.
- Chattoogaville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Chattoogaville is located in Chattooga County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chattoogaville
- Menlo
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Menlo is located in Chattooga County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Menlo
- Population from the 2020 Census: 454 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Menlo <1>
- Cloudland
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Skirum, see our County-by-County Page for Skirum.
Cemeteries Near Skirum ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Skirum.
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 Skirum - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Skirum covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Skirum, with the one closest to Skirum listed first.
- De Kalb Memorial Gardens
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Union Grove Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Norris Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Turnover Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Gilbreath Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Freeman Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Pleasant Hill Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Nicholson Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Lowrey Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Copeland Bridge Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Nicholson Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Wesson Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Continue List (469 more) ...
- Red Hill Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Dalrymple Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Marvin Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
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.<2>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Skirum had a post office and no railroad service.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Skirum, with the one closest to Skirum listed first.
- Crossville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Dawson
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Dawson is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dawson
- Geraldine
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Wills ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Wills is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wills
- Cotnam
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Cotnam is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cotnam
- Floy ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Floy is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Floy
- Rodentown
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Rodentown is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rodentown
- Whiton
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Whiton is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whiton
- Ten Broeck
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Ten Broeck is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ten Broeck
- Marcus ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Marcus is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marcus
- Chumley
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Chumley is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chumley
- Collinsville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Rogers
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Rogers is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rogers
- Rains ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Rains is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rains
- Portersville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Portersville is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Portersville
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Skirum. See our List of 1890's Communities around Skirum.
Newspapers Published in Skirum ...
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 26 newspapers that have been published in the area around Skirum.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Skirum, there are papers which were published within 14 miles [22.5 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Skirum.
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 Skirum:
- Websites specific to Alabama
- Pages specific to DeKalb County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Blount County
- Calhoun County
- Cherokee County
- Etowah County
- Jackson County
- Madison County
- Marshall County
- Saint Clair County
- Chattooga 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> | 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 Skirum, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | 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- Skirum) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |