Our Genealogy Helper
Introduction ...
So far, we found very little information about Smiths Bridge. The little that we've found leads us believe that the community is historic.<1>
We've added Smiths Bridge to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Smiths Bridge, please Contact Us.
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 Smiths Bridge (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 Smiths Bridge. 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 Smiths Bridge ...
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.
- A typical abbreviation for Smiths Bridge: Smiths Brg. (or less commonly used: Smiths Brdg. or Smiths Brdge.)
- While the name of this community is Smiths Bridge, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<2>. So Smiths Bridge may originally have been Smith's Bridge.
Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Smiths Bridge might be written as Smith Bridge.
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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.
Although our information shows that the community of Smiths Bridge is historic, it would have been located within present day Etowah 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 Etowah County: Blount, Calhoun, Cherokee, DeKalb, Marshall & Saint Clair.
Below are the counties that are near Smiths Bridge. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Smiths Bridge:
- Etowah County (The home county of Smiths Bridge)
- The following are listed by their distance from Smiths Bridge, with the one closest to Smiths Bridge listed first.
- Duck Springs
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Duck Springs is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duck Springs
- Yancy
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Yancy is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yancy
- Keener
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Keener is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keener
- Crudup
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Crudup is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crudup
- Haworth ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Haworth is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haworth
- Whitesboro
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Whitesboro is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitesboro
- Reece City
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Reece City is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reece City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 624 people
- Anderson
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Anderson is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anderson
- Turkeytown
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Turkeytown is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turkeytown
- Wilsonia
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Wilsonia is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilsonia
- Coat's Bend
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Coat's Bend is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coat's Bend
- Carlisle
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Carlisle is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carlisle
- Blount County
- The following are listed by their distance from Smiths Bridge, with the one closest to Smiths Bridge listed first.
- Highmound
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Highmound is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highmound
- McLarty
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- McLarty is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McLarty
- Snead
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Wynnville
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Wynnville is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wynnville
- Bird ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Bird is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bird
- Bright Star
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Bright Star is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bright Star
- Clarence
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Clarence is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarence
- Craig
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Craig is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Craig
- Fowler ‑ Historic
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Fowler is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fowler
- Susan Moore
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Susan Moore is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Susan Moore
- Population from the 2020 Census: 797 people
- Taits Gap
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Taits Gap is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taits Gap
- Fridays Crossing
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Fridays Crossing is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fridays Crossing
- Calhoun County
- The following are listed by their distance from Smiths Bridge, with the one closest to Smiths Bridge listed first.
- Oak Level
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Oak Level is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Level
- Southside
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Colvins Gap
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Colvins Gap is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colvins Gap
- Douthrittville ‑ Historic
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Douthrittville is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Douthrittville
- Adelia ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Adelia is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adelia
- Cochran Springs
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Cochran Springs is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cochran Springs
- Hebron ‑ Historic
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Hebron is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hebron
- Mack ‑ Historic
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Mack is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mack
- Collins ‑ Historic
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Collins is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Collins
- Angel
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Angel is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Angel
- Wellington
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Wellington is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellington
- Germania Springs ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Germania Springs is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Germania Springs
- Cherokee County
- The following are listed by their distance from Smiths Bridge, with the one closest to Smiths Bridge listed first.
- Leesburg
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Sand Rock
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Sand Rock is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sand Rock
- Population from the 2020 Census: 674 people
- Anderson
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Turkey Town ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Turkey Town is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turkey Town
- Centre
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Ball Flat
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Ball Flat is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ball Flat
- Ricks ‑ Historic
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Ricks is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ricks
- Moshat
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Moshat is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moshat
- Coloma ‑ Historic
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Coloma is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coloma
- Cedar Bluff
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Tucker Crossroads
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Tucker Crossroads is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tucker Crossroads
- Noah
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Noah is located in Cherokee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Noah
- DeKalb County
- The following are listed by their distance from Smiths Bridge, with the one closest to Smiths Bridge listed first.
- Marcus ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Marcus is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marcus
- Rodentown
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Rodentown is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rodentown
- Mount Zion ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Mount Zion is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Zion
- Cotnam
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Cotnam is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cotnam
- Crossville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Rains ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Rains is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rains
- Collinsville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Dawson
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Dawson is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dawson
- Geraldine
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Whiton
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Whiton is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whiton
- Mount Vernon
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Mount Vernon is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Vernon
- Rogers
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Rogers is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rogers
- Jackson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Smiths Bridge, with the one closest to Smiths Bridge listed first.
- Rock City
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Rock City is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock City
- Langston
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Section
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Dodsonville ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Dodsonville is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dodsonville
- Marshall County
- The following are listed by their distance from Smiths Bridge, with the one closest to Smiths Bridge listed first.
- Boaz
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Albertville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Whitesville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Whitesville is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitesville
- Hustleville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Hustleville is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hustleville
- Bartlett ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Bartlett is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bartlett
- Peters ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Peters is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peters
- Minorville ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Minorville is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minorville
- Rabbit Town
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Rabbit Town is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rabbit Town
- Horton
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Horton is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horton
- Reedbrake ‑ Historic
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Reedbrake is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reedbrake
- Gregory
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Gregory is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gregory
- Douglas
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Douglas is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Douglas
- Population from the 2020 Census: 780 people
- Saint Clair County
- The following are listed by their distance from Smiths Bridge, with the one closest to Smiths Bridge listed first.
- Steele
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Whitney Junction
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Whitney Junction is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitney Junction
- Ashville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Ragland
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Smiths Bridge, see our County-by-County Page for Smiths Bridge.
Cemeteries Near Smiths Bridge ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Smiths Bridge.
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 Smiths Bridge - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Smiths Bridge covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Smiths Bridge, with the one closest to Smiths Bridge listed first.
- Duck Springs Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Greenwood Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Scott Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Belchers Chapel Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Mt. Pisgah Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Lipscomb Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Bristow Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Leath Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Pleasant Hill Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Patrick Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Whitesboro Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Hibbs Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Continue List (431 more) ...
- Cox Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Cave Spring Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Black Creek Baptist Church 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.
While we didn't find Smiths Bridge in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Smiths Bridge.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Smiths Bridge, with the one closest to Smiths Bridge listed first.
- Duck Springs
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Duck Springs is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duck Springs
- Yancy
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Yancy is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yancy
- Keener
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Keener is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keener
- Haworth ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Haworth is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haworth
- Crudup
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Crudup is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crudup
- Tabor
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Tabor is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tabor
- Avery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Avery is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avery
- Brice
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Brice is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brice
- Chumley
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Chumley is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chumley
- Marcus ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Marcus is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marcus
- Rodentown
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Rodentown is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rodentown
- Upton
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Upton is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Upton
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Pulltight
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Pulltight is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pulltight
- Turkeytown
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Turkeytown is located in Etowah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turkeytown
- Mount Zion ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Mount Zion is located in DeKalb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Zion
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Smiths Bridge. See our List of 1890's Communities around Smiths Bridge.
Newspapers Published in Smiths Bridge ...
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 45 newspapers that have been published in the area around Smiths Bridge.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Smiths Bridge, there are papers which were published within 13 miles [20.9 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Smiths Bridge.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we begin 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 Smiths Bridge:
- Websites specific to Alabama
- Pages specific to Etowah County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Blount County
- Calhoun County
- Cherokee County
- DeKalb County
- Jackson County
- Marshall County
- Saint Clair County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Alabama
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Smiths Bridge, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <2> | 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). |
| <3> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Smiths Bridge) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |