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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 Tuscaloosa (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 Tuscaloosa. 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 Tuscaloosa ...

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.

In past government published Postal Guides, Tuscaloosa was referred to as Tuscaloosa Courthouse.

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.

For more information about how community names might have been affected by the Board of Geographic Names (BGN), see our page about Placename Rules.

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 and doctors 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.

Tuscaloosa is located in Tuscaloosa County and is the County Seat.

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 Tuscaloosa County: Bibb, Fayette, Greene, Hale, Jefferson & Pickens.

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

  • Tuscaloosa County     (The home county of Tuscaloosa)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Tuscaloosa, with the one closest to Tuscaloosa listed first.
    • Ingleside Village
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Ingleside Village is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ingleside Village
    • University
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Sahama Village
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Sahama Village is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sahama Village
    • Alberta City
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Alberta City is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alberta City
    • Northport
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Holt
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Holt is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holt
    • Wood Village
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Wood Village is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wood Village
    • Cottondale
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Peterson
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Lake Front Village
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Lake Front Village is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Front Village
    • Coker
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Coker is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coker
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 953 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Coker <1>
    • Foster's
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Coaling
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Coaling is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coaling
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,633 people
  • Bibb County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Tuscaloosa, with the one closest to Tuscaloosa listed first.
    • Egypt ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Egypt is located in Bibb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Egypt
    • North Bibb
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • North Bibb is located in Bibb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Bibb
    • Blocton Junction
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Scottsville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Burmah ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Burmah is located in Bibb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burmah
    • Fikestown ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Fikestown is located in Bibb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fikestown
    • Green Pond
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Woodstock
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Pondville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • West Blocton
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Blocton ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Blocton is located in Bibb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blocton
    • Bucktown ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Bucktown is located in Bibb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bucktown
    • Corinne ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Corinne is located in Bibb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corinne
  • Fayette County
  • Greene County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Tuscaloosa, with the one closest to Tuscaloosa listed first.
    • Knoxville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Knoxville is located in Greene County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knoxville
    • Mantua
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Union
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Union is located in Greene County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 207 people
    • Lewiston
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Hale County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Tuscaloosa, with the one closest to Tuscaloosa listed first.
    • Moundville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Powers
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Phipps ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Akron
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Oak Village
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Oak Village is located in Hale County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Village
  • Jefferson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Tuscaloosa, with the one closest to Tuscaloosa listed first.
    • Kimbrell
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Kimbrell is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kimbrell
    • North Johns
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • North Johns is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Johns
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 143 people
    • Oak Grove
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Oak Grove is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
    • Adger
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Ezra
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Ezra is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ezra
    • Toadvine
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Perry County
  • Pickens County

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

Cemeteries Near Tuscaloosa ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Tuscaloosa.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Tuscaloosa, with the one closest to Tuscaloosa 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 Tuscaloosa had a population of 4,215 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Tuscaloosa had a population of 102,819 people.

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

  • University
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Northport
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Cottondale
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Englewood
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Englewood is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Englewood
  • Coker
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Coker is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coker
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 953 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Coker <1>
  • Foster's
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Hull
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Hull is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hull
  • Coaling
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Coaling is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coaling
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,633 people
  • Romulus
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Romulus is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Romulus
  • Sylvan
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Sylvan is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sylvan
  • Brookwood
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
  • Dudley
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Dudley is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dudley
  • Continue List   (18 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Tuscaloosa ...

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 54 newspapers that have been published in the area around Tuscaloosa.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Tuscaloosa. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Tuscaloosa and those printed in the larger area surrounding Tuscaloosa.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within Less than 2 miles<4> of Tuscaloosa.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These helpful 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 Tuscaloosa:

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 Tuscaloosa, 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' (or 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- Tuscaloosa) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.