Our Genealogy Helper
Introduction ...
Although we found mention of Smiths during our research, we have little information about it.<1> Given the context of how Smiths was mentioned, we believe that it was a community rather than a locale or some type of landmark. We have done a cursory search and if it was a community, we haven't been able to find any evidence that it still exists..
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 (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. 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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and 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.
Smiths 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 Smiths. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Smiths:
- Lee County (The home county of Smiths)
- The following are listed by their distance from Smiths, with the one closest to Smiths listed first.
- Smith's Station
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Smith's Station is located in Lee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smith's Station
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,804 people
- Bleecker
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Bleecker is located in Lee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bleecker
- Prince Crossroads
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Prince Crossroads is located in Lee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prince Crossroads
- Salem
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Blanton
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Blanton is located in Lee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blanton
- Chewacla
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Chewacla is located in Lee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chewacla
- Beauregard
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Beauregard is located in Lee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beauregard
- Marvyn
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Marvyn is located in Lee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marvyn
- Opelika
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Gwen Mill
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Gwen Mill is located in Lee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gwen Mill
- Auburn
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- The Bottle
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- The Bottle is located in Lee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Bottle
- Ridgewood Village
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Ridgewood Village is located in Lee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgewood Village
- Chambers County
- The following are listed by their distance from Smiths, with the one closest to Smiths listed first.
- Osanippa
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Osanippa is located in Chambers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osanippa
- River View
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- River View is located in Chambers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River View
- Valley
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Eady City
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Eady City is located in Chambers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eady City
- Cusseta
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Huguley
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Huguley is located in Chambers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huguley
- Plant City
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Plant City is located in Chambers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plant City
- Lanett
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Boyds
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Boyds is located in Chambers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boyds
- LaFayette
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Macon County
- Society Hill
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Society Hill is located in Macon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Society Hill
- Russell County
- The following are listed by their distance from Smiths, with the one closest to Smiths listed first.
- Ladonia
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Ladonia is located in Russell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ladonia
- Phenix City
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Fontaine Village
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Fontaine Village is located in Russell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fontaine Village
- Crawford
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Crawford is located in Russell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crawford
- Hugley
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Hugley is located in Russell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hugley
- Fort Mitchell
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Seale
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Oswichee
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Oswichee is located in Russell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oswichee
- Hatchechubbee
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Hatchechubbee is located in Russell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hatchechubbee
- Holy Trinity
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Holy Trinity is located in Russell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holy Trinity
- Loflin
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Loflin is located in Russell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loflin
- Pittsview
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Cottonton
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Cottonton is located in Russell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottonton
- Chattahoochee County (GA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Smiths, with the one closest to Smiths listed first.
- Fort Benning
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Ochillee
(17 miles [27.4 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
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Central Springs is located in Chattahoochee County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central Springs
- Heineburg Village ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 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
- Halloca ‑ Historic
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Halloca is located in Chattahoochee County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halloca
- Cusseta
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Ida Vesper
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Ida Vesper is located in Chattahoochee County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ida Vesper
- Estimated population in 2019: 439 people
- Harris County (GA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Smiths, with the one closest to Smiths listed first.
- Mountain Hill
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Mountain Hill is located in Harris County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Hill
- Population from the 2010 Census: 11,554 people
- Cataula
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Ellerslie
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Pine Lake
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Pine Lake is located in Harris County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Lake
- Hamilton
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Waverly Hall
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Pine Mountain Valley
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Mountainbrook
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Mountainbrook is located in Harris County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountainbrook
- Estimated population in 2019: 1,108 people
- Pine Mountain
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Shiloh
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Marion County (GA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Smiths, with the one closest to Smiths listed first.
- Juniper
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Juniper is located in Marion County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Juniper
- Glen Alta
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Glen Alta is located in Marion County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Alta
- Muscogee County (GA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Smiths, with the one closest to Smiths listed first.
- Maridale Estates
(6 miles [9.7 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
- Twin Chapel
(6 miles [9.7 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
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Bibb City is located in Muscogee County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bibb City
- City Village
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- City Village is located in Muscogee County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for City Village
- Glenns
(7 miles [11.3 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
- Columbus
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Lincoln Hills
(8 miles [12.9 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
(8 miles [12.9 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
- Fortson
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Wynnton
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Wynnton is located in Muscogee County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wynnton
- East Edgewood
(10 miles [16.1 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
(10 miles [16.1 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
- Baker Village
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Baker Village is located in Muscogee County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baker Village
- Stewart County (GA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Smiths, with the one closest to Smiths listed first.
- Omaha
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Louvale
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Talbot County (GA)
- Box Springs
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Troup County (GA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Smiths, with the one closest to Smiths listed first.
- West Point
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- North West Point
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- North West Point is located in Troup County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North West Point
- Pioneer Village
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Pioneer Village is located in Troup County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pioneer Village
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Smiths, see our County-by-County Page for Smiths.
Cemeteries Near Smiths ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Smiths.
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 - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Smiths covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Smiths, with the one closest to Smiths listed first.
- Philadelphia Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Mt. Zion Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Newsome Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Lakeview Memory Gardens
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview Memory Gardens
- The Lakeview Memory Gardens has also been known as:
- Lake View Memory Gardens
- Bethel Mission Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Evans Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Biggers Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Stroud Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Charnel Garden of Rest Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charnel Garden of Rest Cemetery
- The Charnel Garden of Rest Cemetery has also been known as:
- Good Hope Baptist Church Cemetery
- Pine Grove Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Water Shiloh Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Concord Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Continue List (282 more) ...
- Antioch Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Dudleyville Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Girard Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
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>
While we didn't find Smiths in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Smiths.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Smiths, with the one closest to Smiths listed first.
- Smith's Station
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Smith's Station is located in Lee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smith's Station
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,804 people
- Ladonia
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Ladonia is located in Russell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ladonia
- Girard
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Girard is located in Russell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Girard
- Columbus
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Crawford
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Crawford is located in Russell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crawford
- Mechanicsville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Mechanicsville is located in Lee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mechanicsville
- Muscogee
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Muscogee is located in Muscogee County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Muscogee
- Fortson
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Acton ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Acton is located in Harris County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acton
- Salem
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Mulberry Grove
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Mulberry Grove is located in Harris County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mulberry Grove
- Esquiline ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Esquiline is located in Muscogee County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Esquiline
- Continue List (16 more) ...
- Schatulga
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Schatulga is located in Muscogee County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Schatulga
- Flat Rock
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Flat Rock is located in Muscogee County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flat Rock
- Beulah
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Beulah is located in Lee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beulah
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Smiths. See our List of 1890's Communities around Smiths.
Newspapers Published in Smiths ...
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 Smiths.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Smiths, there are papers which were published within 7 miles [11.3 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Smiths.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we like to 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 Smiths:
- Websites specific to Alabama
- Pages specific to Lee County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Chambers County
- Macon County
- Russell County
- Chattahoochee County
- Harris County
- Marion County
- Muscogee County
- Stewart County
- Talbot County
- Troup County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Alabama
Footnotes ...
| <1> | If we encounter the name of what might be a community, our methodology is to add that name to our Gazetteer. For example, we might find a sentence like "He went south past Smiths and then turned west". While Smiths could be some kind of landmark, we think that it's more likely to be a community. We've added Smiths as a placeholder with the hope that we'll be able to add more information in the future.
Just as a reminder: Our definition of a community is rather broad and includes those places (or areas) where several families lived and had a name which identified that place. For example, you might hear somebody say that they are going over to Miller Creek to see Pete ... Miller Creek is just a gas station and a couple of homes at the crossroads. While it might not be on the map, everybody in the area knows it by that name.
Places of interest include buildings at a crossroad, several families clustered in a hollow or maybe the location of a way station. It also includes places like mines, lumber camps, ferry crossings, etc. The community might still exist, is now gone or only existed for just a short period of time.
Also keep in mind that Smiths could have been on the original document by mistake, misspelled, the original/alternate name of a community that we've listed elsewhere or was placed in the wrong county. Sometimes a post office or train station would have a different name than the community where it's located, so two names might be referring to the same community - we're working to straighten it all out.
Since confusion between counties is common, we searched and weren't able to find another Alabama community named Smiths. |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 Smiths, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <5> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Smiths) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |