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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 Springville (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 Springville. 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 doctors and 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.

Springville is located in Saint Clair 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 Saint Clair County: Blount, Calhoun, Etowah, Jefferson, Shelby & Talladega.

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

  • Saint Clair County     (The home county of Springville)
  • Blount County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Springville, with the one closest to Springville listed first.
    • Remlap
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Highland Lake
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Highland Lake is located in Blount County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland Lake
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 410 people
    • Appalachian
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Straight Mountain
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Straight Mountain is located in Blount County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Straight Mountain
    • Allgood
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Allgood is located in Blount County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allgood
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 638 people
    • Compton
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Oneonta
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Dallas
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Dallas is located in Blount County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dallas
    • Little Warrior
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Selfville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Selfville is located in Blount County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Selfville
    • Adville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Deavers
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Deavers is located in Blount County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deavers
  • Calhoun County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Springville, with the one closest to Springville listed first.
    • Bruner ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Bruner is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bruner
    • Macon
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Boozer ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Boozer is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boozer
    • Ohatchee
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Cochran Springs
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Blue Eye ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Blue Eye is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Eye
    • Cane Creek ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Cane Creek is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cane Creek
    • Southside
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Beasley ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Beasley is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beasley
    • Eastaboga
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Chigger Ridge ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Chigger Ridge is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chigger Ridge
    • Grayton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
  • Cullman County
  • Etowah County
  • Jefferson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Springville, with the one closest to Springville listed first.
    • Ayres
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Clay
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Village Springs
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Village Springs is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Village Springs
    • Palmerdale
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Breakstone Village
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Breakstone Village is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Breakstone Village
    • East Trussville ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • East Trussville is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Trussville
    • Cahaba Village
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Cahaba Village is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cahaba Village
    • Masseyline
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Masseyline is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Masseyline
    • Chalkville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Grayson Valley
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Grayson Valley is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grayson Valley
    • Pinson
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Bradford
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Marshall County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Springville, with the one closest to Springville listed first.
    • Douglas
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Douglas is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Douglas
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 780 people
    • Reedbrake ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Reedbrake is located in Marshall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reedbrake
    • Whitesville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Shelby County
  • Talladega County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Springville, with the one closest to Springville listed first.
    • Colony
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Colony is located in Talladega County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colony
    • Lincoln
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Windsong Island
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Logan Martin Dam
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • East Bend
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • East Bend is located in Talladega County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Bend
  • Walker County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Springville, with the one closest to Springville listed first.
    • Creel
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Creel is located in Walker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Creel
    • Empire
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)

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

Cemeteries Near Springville ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Springville.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Springville, with the one closest to Springville 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 in 1895, Springville had a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Springville had a population of 4,386 people.

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

  • Ayres
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Argo
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Argo is located in Saint Clair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Argo
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,278 people
  • Branchville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Branchville is located in Saint Clair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Branchville
  • Caldwell
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Caldwell is located in Saint Clair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caldwell
  • Odenville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Viola ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Viola is located in Blount County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Viola
  • Remlap
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Chepultepec
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Chepultepec is located in Blount County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chepultepec
  • Clay
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Compton
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Oneonta
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Champion
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Champion is located in Blount County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Champion
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Little Warrior
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Selfville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Selfville is located in Blount County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Selfville
    • Woodward
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Woodward is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodward

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Springville ...

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 20 newspapers that have been published in the area around Springville.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Springville. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Springville and those printed in the larger area surrounding Springville.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 13 miles [20.9 km]<4> of Springville.

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 Springville:

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 Springville, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Springville) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.