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 West Decatur (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 West Decatur. 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 West Decatur ...
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 West Decatur: W. Decatur
You might be interested in other communities that are also named West Decatur. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for West Decatur.
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 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.
West Decatur is located in Morgan 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 Morgan County: Cullman, Lawrence, Limestone, Madison, Marshall & Winston.
Below are the counties that are near West Decatur. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to West Decatur:
- Morgan County (The home county of West Decatur)
- The following are listed by their distance from West Decatur, with the one closest to West Decatur listed first.
- Simpson
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Simpson is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Simpson
- Decatur
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Decatur is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Decatur
- Population from the 2020 Census: 54,381 people
- Former names for Decatur:
- Albany
- New Decatur
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Decatur <1>
- Moulton Heights
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Moulton Heights is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moulton Heights
- Austinville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Austinville is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Austinville
- Russell Village
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Russell Village is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Russell Village
- Flint City
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Flint City is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flint City
- Trinity
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Burningtree Mountain
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Burningtree Mountain is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burningtree Mountain
- Priceville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Hartselle
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Bluff City ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Bluff City is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluff City
- Danville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Somerville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Somerville is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Somerville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 782 people
- Colbert County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Decatur, with the one closest to West Decatur listed first.
- Garner ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Garner is located in Colbert County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garner
- Leighton
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Cullman County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Decatur, with the one closest to West Decatur listed first.
- West Point
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- West Point is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Point
- Population from the 2020 Census: 604 people
- Central
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Central is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central
- South Vinemont
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- South Vinemont is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Vinemont
- Population from the 2020 Census: 636 people
- Vinemont
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Jones' Chapel
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Jones' Chapel is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jones' Chapel
- Chances Crossroad
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Chances Crossroad is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chances Crossroad
- Cullman
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Fairview
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Fairview is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairview
- Population from the 2020 Census: 463 people
- Simcoe
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Simcoe is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Simcoe
- Lauderdale County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Decatur, with the one closest to West Decatur listed first.
- Dells Vista Shores
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Dells Vista Shores is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dells Vista Shores
- Confluence
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Confluence is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Confluence
- Rogersville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Rogersville is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rogersville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,293 people
- Former name for Rogersville:
- Rodgersville
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rogersville <1>
- Estep ‑ Historic
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Estep is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Estep
- Anderson
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Anderson is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anderson
- Population from the 2020 Census: 268 people
- Cedar Hill
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Cedar Hill is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Hill
- Belleview ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Belleview is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belleview
- Bethel
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Bethel is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bethel
- Corum ‑ Historic
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Corum is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corum
- Elgin
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Elgin is located in Lauderdale County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elgin
- Lawrence County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Decatur, with the one closest to West Decatur listed first.
- Hillsboro
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Chalybeate Springs
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Chalybeate Springs is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chalybeate Springs
- Oakville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Oakville is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakville
- Mountain Home
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Mountain Home is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Home
- Moulton
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Courtland
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- North Courtland
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- North Courtland is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Courtland
- Population from the 2020 Census: 621 people
- Wren
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Wren is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wren
- Muck City
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Muck City is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Muck City
- Red Bank
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Red Bank is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Bank
- Town Creek
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Hatton
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Hatton is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hatton
- Wheeler Dam Village
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Wheeler Dam Village is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheeler Dam Village
- Limestone County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Decatur, with the one closest to West Decatur listed first.
- Harris Station
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Harris Station is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harris Station
- Orrville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Orrville is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orrville
- Mooresville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Belle Mina
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Belle Mina is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belle Mina
- Tanner
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Westlake
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Westlake is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westlake
- Swancott
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Swancott is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swancott
- Country Village
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Country Village is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Country Village
- Athens
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Ripley
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Ripley is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ripley
- Fairmount
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Fairmount is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairmount
- Poplar Creek
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Poplar Creek is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poplar Creek
- Capshaw
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Capshaw is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Capshaw
- Madison County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Decatur, with the one closest to West Decatur listed first.
- Triana
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Triana is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Triana
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,327 people
- Madison
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Slaughter Landing ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Slaughter Landing is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slaughter Landing
- Slaughter Landing has also been known as:
- Slaughter Ferry
- Monrovia
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Monrovia is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monrovia
- Jeff
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Jeff is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jeff
- Rideout Village
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Rideout Village is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rideout Village
- Chelsea
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Chelsea is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chelsea
- Harvest
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- English Village
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- English Village is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for English Village
- Huntsville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Whitesburg
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Whitesburg is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitesburg
- Lincoln
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Lincoln is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln
- Toney
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Marshall County
- Ruth
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Ruth is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruth
- Winston County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Decatur, with the one closest to West Decatur listed first.
- Upshaw
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Upshaw is located in Winston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Upshaw
- Addison
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Grayson
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Grayson is located in Winston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grayson
- Ellaville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Ellaville is located in Winston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellaville
- Giles County (TN)
- The following are listed by their distance from West Decatur, with the one closest to West Decatur listed first.
- Ardmore
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Elkmont Springs
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Elkmont Springs is located in Giles County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkmont Springs
- Prospect
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Stella
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Stella is located in Giles County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stella
- Lincoln County (TN)
- Cash Point
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Cash Point is located in Lincoln County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cash Point
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to West Decatur, see our County-by-County Page for West Decatur.
Cemeteries Near West Decatur ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of West Decatur.
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 West Decatur - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for West Decatur covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from West Decatur, with the one closest to West Decatur listed first.
- Sykes Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Roselawn Memorial Gardens
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Dancy Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Decatur Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Adkins Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Mitchell Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Mosley Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Crow Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Burleson Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Stroup Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Blackwell Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Oakland Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Continue List (915 more) ...
- Macklin Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Nebo Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Bell - Nebo Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
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 West Decatur in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of West Decatur.
These communities are listed based on their distance from West Decatur, with the one closest to West Decatur listed first.
- Simpson
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Simpson is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Simpson
- Decatur
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Decatur is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Decatur
- Population from the 2020 Census: 54,381 people
- Former names for Decatur:
- Albany
- New Decatur
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Decatur <1>
- Decatur Junction
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Decatur Junction is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Decatur Junction
- Harris Station
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Harris Station is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harris Station
- Mooresville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Priceville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Greenbrier
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Greenbrier is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenbrier
- Neel
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Neel is located in Morgan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Neel
- Hillsboro
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Hartselle
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Swancott
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Swancott is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swancott
- Blackburn
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Blackburn is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackburn
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- Ripley
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Ripley is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ripley
- Athens
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Oakville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Oakville is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakville
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around West Decatur. See our List of 1890's Communities around West Decatur.
Newspapers Published in West Decatur ...
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 44 newspapers that have been published in the area around West Decatur.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of West Decatur, there are papers which were published within 15 miles [24.1 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for West Decatur.
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 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 West Decatur:
- Websites specific to Alabama
- Pages specific to Morgan County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Colbert County
- Cullman County
- Lauderdale County
- Lawrence County
- Limestone County
- Madison County
- Marshall County
- Winston County
- Giles County
- Lincoln 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 West Decatur, 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- West Decatur) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |