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 Wards Mill (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 Wards Mill. 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 Wards Mill ...
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.
Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might occur.
- A typical abbreviation for Wards Mill: Wards Ml. (or less commonly used: Wards Mll.)
- While the name of this community is Wards Mill, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Wards Mill may originally have been Ward's Mill.
Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Wards Mill might be written as Ward Mill.
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Wards Mill. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Wards Mill.
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 southeast 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 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 east 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.
Wards Mill is located in Chambers 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 Chambers County: Lee, Randolph, Tallapoosa, Harris (GA) & Troup (GA).
Below are the counties that are near Wards Mill. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Wards Mill:
- Chambers County (The home county of Wards Mill)
- The following are listed by their distance from Wards Mill, with the one closest to Wards Mill listed first.
- Fredonia
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Fredonia is located in Chambers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fredonia
- Five Points
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Five Points is located in Chambers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Points
- Population from the 2020 Census: 137 people
- Stroud
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Stroud is located in Chambers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stroud
- LaFayette
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Chapel Hill
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Chapel Hill is located in Chambers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chapel Hill
- Penton
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Penton is located in Chambers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Penton
- Doublehead
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Doublehead is located in Chambers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doublehead
- Evansville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Evansville is located in Chambers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evansville
- Standing Rock
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Standing Rock is located in Chambers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Standing Rock
- Milltown
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Milltown is located in Chambers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milltown
- Clackville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Clackville is located in Chambers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clackville
- Boyds
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Boyds is located in Chambers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boyds
- Clay County
- The following are listed by their distance from Wards Mill, with the one closest to Wards Mill listed first.
- Motley
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Motley is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Motley
- Cragford
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Mellow Valley
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Mellow Valley is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mellow Valley
- Lee County
- The following are listed by their distance from Wards Mill, with the one closest to Wards Mill listed first.
- Blanton
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Blanton is located in Lee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blanton
- Gwen Mill
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Gwen Mill is located in Lee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gwen Mill
- Opelika
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- The Bottle
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- The Bottle is located in Lee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Bottle
- Chewacla
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Chewacla is located in Lee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chewacla
- Auburn
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Salem
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Roxana
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Roxana is located in Lee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roxana
- Bleecker
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Bleecker is located in Lee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bleecker
- Ridgewood Village
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Ridgewood Village is located in Lee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgewood Village
- Beauregard
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Beauregard is located in Lee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beauregard
- Loachapoka
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Randolph County
- The following are listed by their distance from Wards Mill, with the one closest to Wards Mill listed first.
- Roanoke
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Rock Mills
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Rock Mills is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Mills
- Peavy
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Peavy is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peavy
- Wadley
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Forester Chapel
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Forester Chapel is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forester Chapel
- High Shoals
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- High Shoals is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Shoals
- West
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- West is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West
- Almond
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Almond is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Almond
- Malone Ferry
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Malone Ferry is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Malone Ferry
- Corbin
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Corbin is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corbin
- Wedowee
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Woodland
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Tallapoosa County
- The following are listed by their distance from Wards Mill, with the one closest to Wards Mill listed first.
- Dudleyville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Dudleyville is located in Tallapoosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dudleyville
- Frog Eye
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Frog Eye is located in Tallapoosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frog Eye
- Truett
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Truett is located in Tallapoosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Truett
- Daviston
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Matilda
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Matilda is located in Tallapoosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Matilda
- Camp Hill
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Slaughters ‑ Historic
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Slaughters is located in Tallapoosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slaughters
- Emuckfaw
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Emuckfaw is located in Tallapoosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emuckfaw
- New Site
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- New Site is located in Tallapoosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Site
- Population from the 2020 Census: 755 people
- Agricola
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Agricola is located in Tallapoosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Agricola
- Dadeville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Goldville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Goldville is located in Tallapoosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goldville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 54 people
- Harris County (GA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Wards Mill, with the one closest to Wards Mill listed first.
- Pine Lake
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Pine Lake is located in Harris County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Lake
- Mountain Hill
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Mountain Hill is located in Harris County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Hill
- Population from the 2010 Census: 11,554 people
- Mountainbrook
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Mountainbrook is located in Harris County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountainbrook
- Estimated population in 2019: 1,108 people
- Pine Mountain
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Hamilton
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Heard County (GA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Wards Mill, with the one closest to Wards Mill listed first.
- Glenn
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- O'Neals Crossroad
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- O'Neals Crossroad is located in Heard County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for O'Neals Crossroad
- Houston
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Houston is located in Heard County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Houston
- Population from the 2010 Census: 110 people
- Riverside
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Riverside is located in Heard County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverside
- Frolona
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Frolona is located in Heard County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frolona
- Franklin
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Yates Crossroads
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Yates Crossroads is located in Heard County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yates Crossroads
- Estimated population in 2019: 360 people
- Corinth
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Corinth is located in Heard County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corinth
- Ephesus
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Ephesus is located in Heard County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ephesus
- Population from the 2020 Census: 459 people
- Centralhatchee
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Centralhatchee is located in Heard County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centralhatchee
- Population from the 2020 Census: 377 people
- Troup County (GA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Wards Mill, with the one closest to Wards Mill listed first.
- Evansville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Evansville is located in Troup County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evansville
- Abbottsford
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Abbottsford is located in Troup County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abbottsford
- North West Point
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- North West Point is located in Troup County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North West Point
- West Point
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- West Lake Village
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- West Lake Village is located in Troup County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Lake Village
- Vernon ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Vernon is located in Troup County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vernon
- Rockwell Estates
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Rockwell Estates is located in Troup County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockwell Estates
- LaGrange
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Pioneer Village
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Pioneer Village is located in Troup County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pioneer Village
- Sassafrass Hills
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Sassafrass Hills is located in Troup County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sassafrass Hills
- Estimated population in 2019: 255 people
- Sunny Point
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Sunny Point is located in Troup County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunny Point
- Population from the 2010 Census: 1,303 people
- Graysons Landing
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Graysons Landing is located in Troup County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graysons Landing
- Estimated population in 2019: 4,452 people
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Wards Mill, see our County-by-County Page for Wards Mill.
Cemeteries Near Wards Mill ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Wards Mill.
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 Wards Mill - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Wards Mill covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Wards Mill, with the one closest to Wards Mill listed first.
- Lebanon Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Emory Chapel Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Holstum Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- New Hope Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Sharps Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Finney Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Sharon Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Swint - Hammack Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Lafayette Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Stamps Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Holstun Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Higgins Family Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Continue List (426 more) ...
- Old Rock Springs Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Sandy Ridge Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Handy Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
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 Wards Mill in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Wards Mill.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Wards Mill, with the one closest to Wards Mill listed first.
- Buffalo
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Buffalo is located in Chambers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo
- Fredonia
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Fredonia is located in Chambers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fredonia
- Five Points
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Five Points is located in Chambers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Points
- Population from the 2020 Census: 137 people
- LaFayette
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Stroud
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Stroud is located in Chambers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stroud
- Chapel Hill
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Chapel Hill is located in Chambers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chapel Hill
- Finley
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Finley is located in Chambers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Finley
- Marcoot
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Marcoot is located in Chambers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marcoot
- Doublehead
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Doublehead is located in Chambers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doublehead
- Crowder ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Crowder is located in Troup County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crowder
- Evansville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Evansville is located in Troup County (GA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evansville
- Milltown
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Milltown is located in Chambers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milltown
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- Moorefield
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Moorefield is located in Chambers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moorefield
- Boyds
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Boyds is located in Chambers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boyds
- West Point
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Wards Mill. See our List of 1890's Communities around Wards Mill.
Newspapers Published in Wards Mill ...
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 22 newspapers that have been published in the area around Wards Mill.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Wards Mill, there are papers which were published within 12 miles [19.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Wards Mill.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to 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 Wards Mill:
- Websites specific to Alabama
- Pages specific to Chambers County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Clay County
- Lee County
- Randolph County
- Tallapoosa County
- Harris County
- Heard County
- Troup County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Alabama
Footnotes ...
| <1> | It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties). |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 Wards Mill, 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Wards Mill) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |