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 South Highlands (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 South Highlands. 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 South Highlands ...
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.
For example, a typical abbreviation for South Highlands: S. Highlands
You might be interested in other communities that are also named South Highlands. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for South Highlands.
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 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.
South Highlands 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 South Highlands. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to South Highlands:
- Jefferson County (The home county of South Highlands)
- The following are listed by their distance from South Highlands, with the one closest to South Highlands listed first.
- Zion City
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Zion City is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zion City
- Marks Village
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Marks Village is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marks Village
- Gate City
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Gate City is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gate City
- Huffman
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Huffman is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huffman
- Rock Ridge
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Rock Ridge is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Ridge
- Weems
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Weems is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weems
- Irondale
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Bartonville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Bartonville is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bartonville
- Tarrant
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Tarrant is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tarrant
- Population from the 2020 Census: 6,081 people
- Tarrant has also been known as:
- Tarrant City
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tarrant <1>
- Alton
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Cahaba Landing
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Cahaba Landing is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cahaba Landing
- East Birmingham
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- 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 South Highlands, with the one closest to South Highlands listed first.
- Dale ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Dale is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dale
- Compton
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Compton is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Compton
- County Line
(17 miles [27.4 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
- Warrior
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Remlap
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Selfville
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Selfville is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Selfville
- Dallas
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Dallas is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dallas
- Locust Fork
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Adville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Adville is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adville
- Hayden
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Red Hill
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Red Hill is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Hill
- Reid's
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Reid's is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reid's
- Cullman County
- The following are listed by their distance from South Highlands, with the one closest to South Highlands listed first.
- Baltimore ‑ Historic
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Baltimore is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baltimore
- Black Bottom
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Black Bottom is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Bottom
- Arkadelphia
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Arkadelphia is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arkadelphia
- Colony
(27 miles [43.5 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
(28 miles [45.1 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
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Damascus is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Damascus
- Garden City
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Garden City is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 506 people
- Saint Clair County
- The following are listed by their distance from South Highlands, with the one closest to South Highlands listed first.
- Woodland Village
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Woodland Village is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland Village
- Acmar
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Acmar is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acmar
- 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>
- Parsons
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Parsons is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parsons
- Brompton
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Brompton is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brompton
- Argo
(14 miles [22.5 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
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Turnbough Town
(15 miles [24.1 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)
- Springville
(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
- Shelby County
- The following are listed by their distance from South Highlands, with the one closest to South Highlands listed first.
- Bridgeton
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Bridgeton is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bridgeton
- Lake Purdy
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Lake Purdy is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Purdy
- Dunnavant
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Dunnavant is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunnavant
- Shoal Creek
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Shoal Creek is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shoal Creek
- Inverness
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Inverness is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Inverness
- Meadowbrook
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Meadowbrook is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowbrook
- Dunavant
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Dunavant is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunavant
- Vandiver
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Indian Springs Village
(14 miles [22.5 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
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Chelsea
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Pelham
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Talladega County
- The following are listed by their distance from South Highlands, with the one closest to South Highlands listed first.
- East Bend
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- East Bend is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Bend
- Logan Martin Dam
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Logan Martin Dam is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Logan Martin Dam
- Childersburg
(28 miles [45.1 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
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Windsong Island is located in Talladega County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windsong Island
- Bon Air
(30 miles [48.3 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
- Tuscaloosa County
- Tannehill
(30 miles [48.3 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 South Highlands, with the one closest to South Highlands listed first.
- Quinton
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Wyatt
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Wyatt is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyatt
- Twilley Town
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Twilley Town is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twilley Town
- Yerkwood
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Yerkwood is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yerkwood
- Burnwell
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Burnwell is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burnwell
- Creel
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Creel is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Creel
- Empire
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Empire is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Empire
- Oakahalla
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Oakahalla is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakahalla
- Sumiton
(23 miles [37 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
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Reeds Ferry
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Reeds Ferry is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reeds Ferry
- Black Warrior Town ‑ Historic
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Black Warrior Town is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Warrior Town
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to South Highlands, see our County-by-County Page for South Highlands.
Cemeteries Near South Highlands ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of South Highlands.
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 South Highlands - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for South Highlands covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from South Highlands, with the one closest to South Highlands listed first.
- East Lake Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Mt. Zion Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Higgins Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Greenwood Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- 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 southwest)
- Bush Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Earltown Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Bass Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- McElwain Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Bass Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Sheritt Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Inglenook Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Continue List (332 more) ...
- Forest Crest Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Alton Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Jefferson Memorial Gardens
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
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>
While we didn't find South Highlands in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of South Highlands.
These communities are listed based on their distance from South Highlands, with the one closest to South Highlands listed first.
- East Lake
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- East Lake is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Lake
- Gate City
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Gate City is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gate City
- Ruffner
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Ruffner is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruffner
- Woodlawn
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Woodlawn is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodlawn
- Huffman
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Huffman is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huffman
- Irondale
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Rock Ridge
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Rock Ridge is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Ridge
- Weems
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Weems is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weems
- Bartonville
(3 miles [4.8 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 southwest)
- East Birmingham is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Birmingham
- Avondale
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Avondale is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avondale
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- McCombs
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- McCombs is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McCombs
- Lewisburg
(5 miles [8 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 South Highlands. See our List of 1890's Communities around South Highlands.
Newspapers Published in South Highlands ...
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 189 newspapers that have been published in the area around South Highlands.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of South Highlands, there are papers which were published within 6 miles [9.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for South Highlands.
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 South Highlands:
- 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 South Highlands, 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 drawn from Point A (ie- South Highlands) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |