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 Virginia (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 Virginia. 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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals 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.
Virginia 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 Virginia. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Virginia:
- Jefferson County (The home county of Virginia)
- The following are listed by their distance from Virginia, with the one closest to Virginia listed first.
- Hueytown
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Bullard Shoals ‑ Historic
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Bullard Shoals is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bullard Shoals
- Adger
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Blue Creek Junction
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Blue Creek Junction is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Creek Junction
- Old Jonesboro
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Old Jonesboro is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Jonesboro
- Concord
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Concord is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Concord
- Industrial City
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Industrial City is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Industrial City
- McCalla
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- North Johns
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- North Johns is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Johns
- Population from the 2020 Census: 143 people
- Bessemer
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Rock Creek
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Rock Creek is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Creek
- Ezra
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Ezra is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ezra
- Mobile Junction
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Mobile Junction is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mobile Junction
- Bibb County
- The following are listed by their distance from Virginia, with the one closest to Virginia listed first.
- Green Pond
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Blocton Junction
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Blocton Junction is located in Bibb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blocton Junction
- Blocton Junction has also been known as:
- Blockton Junc
- Woodstock
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- North Bibb
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- North Bibb is located in Bibb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Bibb
- Cane Creek ‑ Historic
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Cane Creek is located in Bibb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cane Creek
- Belle Ellen
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Belle Ellen is located in Bibb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belle Ellen
- Burmah ‑ Historic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Burmah is located in Bibb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burmah
- Eddings
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Eddings is located in Bibb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eddings
- Blocton ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Blocton is located in Bibb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blocton
- Bucktown ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Bucktown is located in Bibb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bucktown
- Corinne ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Corinne is located in Bibb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corinne
- Italian Town
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Italian Town is located in Bibb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Italian Town
- Nash Town ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Nash Town is located in Bibb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nash Town
- Blount County
- The following are listed by their distance from Virginia, with the one closest to Virginia listed first.
- Dale ‑ Historic
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Dale is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dale
- Red Hill
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Red Hill is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Hill
- Warrior
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Shelby County
- The following are listed by their distance from Virginia, with the one closest to Virginia listed first.
- Bamford
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Bamford is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bamford
- Falliston
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Falliston is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falliston
- Helena
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Tacoa
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Tacoa is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tacoa
- Tulse
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Tulse is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tulse
- Sawmill Town
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Sawmill Town is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sawmill Town
- Alabaster
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Brantleyville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Brantleyville is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brantleyville
- Indian Springs Village
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- 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
- Aden
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Aden is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aden
- Maylene
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Siluria
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Siluria is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Siluria
- Pelham
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Tuscaloosa County
- The following are listed by their distance from Virginia, with the one closest to Virginia listed first.
- Tannehill
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Tannehill is located in Tuscaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tannehill
- Lake View
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Lake View is located in Tuscaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake View
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,732 people
- Abernant
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Abernant is located in Tuscaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abernant
- Bull City
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Bull City is located in Tuscaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bull City
- Kellerman
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Kellerman is located in Tuscaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kellerman
- Brookwood
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Vance
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Coaling
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Coaling is located in Tuscaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coaling
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,633 people
- Peterson
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Peterson is located in Tuscaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peterson
- Cottondale
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Holt
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Holt is located in Tuscaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holt
- Wood Village
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Wood Village is located in Tuscaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wood Village
- Alberta City
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Alberta City is located in Tuscaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alberta City
- Walker County
- The following are listed by their distance from Virginia, with the one closest to Virginia listed first.
- Twilley Town
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Twilley Town is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twilley Town
- Quinton
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Reeds Ferry
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Reeds Ferry is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reeds Ferry
- Yerkwood
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Yerkwood is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yerkwood
- Burnwell
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Burnwell is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burnwell
- Wyatt
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Wyatt is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyatt
- Goodsprings
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Goodsprings is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodsprings
- Oakahalla
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Oakahalla is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakahalla
- Red Star
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Red Star is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Star
- Barney
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Barney is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barney
- Dora
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Dovertown
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Dovertown is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dovertown
- Sumiton
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- 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>
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Virginia, see our County-by-County Page for Virginia.
Cemeteries Near Virginia ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Virginia.
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 Virginia - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Virginia covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Virginia, with the one closest to Virginia listed first.
- Valley Creek Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Virginia Mines Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Adger Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adger Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Adger Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the northeast of Adger.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #21198 <2>
- Beth-El Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Lincoln Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Cedar Hill Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Pine Hill Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Highland Memorial Gardens
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Sadlers Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Brighton Memorial Gardens
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brighton Memorial Gardens
- The Brighton Memorial Gardens has also been known as:
- Brighton Cemetery
- Oakdale Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Continue List (375 more) ...
- Joley Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Union Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Mason Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 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 Virginia in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Virginia.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Virginia, with the one closest to Virginia listed first.
- Bullard Shoals ‑ Historic
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Bullard Shoals is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bullard Shoals
- Chinn
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Chinn is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chinn
- McAdory
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- McAdory is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McAdory
- Adger
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- McCalla
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Old Jonesboro
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Old Jonesboro is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Jonesboro
- Blue Creek Junction
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Blue Creek Junction is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Creek Junction
- Sumter
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Sumter is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sumter
- Bessemer
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Collins
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Collins is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Collins
- Ezra
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Ezra is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ezra
- Sloss
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Sloss is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sloss
- Continue List (17 more) ...
- Brickyard Junction
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Brickyard Junction is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brickyard Junction
- Woodward Junction
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Woodward Junction is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodward Junction
- Dolomite
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Virginia. See our List of 1890's Communities around Virginia.
Newspapers Published in Virginia ...
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 25 newspapers that have been published in the area around Virginia.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Virginia, there are papers which were published within 9 miles [14.5 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Virginia.
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 professional and volunteer 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 Virginia:
- Websites specific to Alabama
- Pages specific to Jefferson County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Bibb County
- Blount County
- Shelby 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 Virginia, 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 from Point A (ie- Virginia) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |