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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 West Hill (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 Hill. 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 Hill ...

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 Hill: W. Hill

You might be interested in other communities that are also named West Hill. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for West Hill.

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 southwest 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 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 west 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.

West Hill is located in Mobile 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 Mobile County: Baldwin, Washington, George (MS), Greene (MS) & Jackson (MS).

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

  • Mobile County     (The home county of West Hill)
    • The following are listed by their distance from West Hill, with the one closest to West Hill listed first.
    • Country Club Village
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Country Club Village is located in Mobile County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Country Club Village
    • Eight Mile
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Prichard
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Tillmans Corner
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Tillmans Corner is located in Mobile County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tillmans Corner
    • Semmes
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Mobile
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Chickasaw
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Theodore
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Saraland
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Satsuma
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Irvington
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Saint Elmo
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Saint Elmo is located in Mobile County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Elmo
    • Bellefontaine
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Bellefontaine is located in Mobile County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellefontaine
  • Baldwin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from West Hill, with the one closest to West Hill listed first.
    • Spanish Fort
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Park City
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Park City is located in Baldwin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park City
    • Daphne
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Bromley
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Bromley is located in Baldwin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bromley
    • Montrose
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Fairhope
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Point Clear
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Stapleton
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Whitehouse Forks
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Whitehouse Forks is located in Baldwin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitehouse Forks
    • Loxley
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Clay City
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Clay City is located in Baldwin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clay City
    • Bay Minette
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Marlow
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Marlow is located in Baldwin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marlow
  • George County (MS)
    • The following are listed by their distance from West Hill, with the one closest to West Hill listed first.
    • Howell
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Howell is located in George County (MS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howell
    • Agricola
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Lucedale
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Greene County (MS)
    • Brown Town
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Brown Town is located in Greene County (MS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brown Town
  • Jackson County (MS)
    • The following are listed by their distance from West Hill, with the one closest to West Hill listed first.
    • Hurley
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Big Point
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Big Point is located in Jackson County (MS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Point
    • Helena
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Helena is located in Jackson County (MS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helena
    • Wade
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Wade is located in Jackson County (MS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wade
    • Orange Grove
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Orange Grove is located in Jackson County (MS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orange Grove
    • Americus ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Americus is located in Jackson County (MS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Americus
    • Coll Town
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Coll Town is located in Jackson County (MS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coll Town
    • Escatawpa
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Escatawpa is located in Jackson County (MS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Escatawpa
    • Moss Point
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Brewton ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Brewton is located in Jackson County (MS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brewton
      • Brewton has also been known as:
      • Brewer's Bluff
    • Eastside
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Eastside is located in Jackson County (MS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastside

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

Cemeteries Near West Hill ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of West Hill.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from West Hill, with the one closest to West Hill listed first.

  • St. Edwards Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Miller Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • University Baptist Church Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Jesuit Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Old Spring Hill Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Sand Town Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Old Lewis Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Baker Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Noel Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Ebenezer Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Spring Hill Memorial Gardens
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Little Sacred Heart Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (233 more) ...

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 Hill in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of West Hill.

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

  • Spring Hill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Spring Hill is located in Mobile County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Hill
  • Cox
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Cox is located in Mobile County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cox
  • Prichard
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Whistler
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Whistler is located in Mobile County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whistler
  • Plateau
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Plateau is located in Mobile County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plateau
  • Mobile
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Kushla
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Kushla is located in Mobile County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kushla
  • Theodore
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Oak Grove
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Oak Grove is located in Mobile County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
  • Saint Elmo
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Saint Elmo is located in Mobile County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Elmo
  • Fernland
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Fernland is located in Mobile County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fernland
  • Fowl River
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Fowl River is located in Mobile County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fowl River
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Chunchula
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Chunchula is located in Mobile County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chunchula
    • Grand Bay
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Mon Louis
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Mon Louis is located in Mobile County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mon Louis

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

Newspapers Published in West Hill ...

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 139 newspapers that have been published in the area around West Hill.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of West Hill, there are papers which were published within 8 miles [12.9 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for West Hill.

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 Hill:

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 Hill, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- West Hill) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.