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 Sayre (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 Sayre. 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 Sayre ...
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.
For example, a typical abbreviation for West Sayre: W. Sayre
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 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 Sayre 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 West Sayre. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to West Sayre:
- Jefferson County (The home county of West Sayre)
- The following are listed by their distance from West Sayre, with the one closest to West Sayre listed first.
- Sayre
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Sayre is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sayre
- Robbins Crossroads
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Robbins Crossroads is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robbins Crossroads
- Graysville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Media
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Media is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Media
- Alden
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Alden is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alden
- Cardiff
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Cardiff is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cardiff
- Population from the 2020 Census: 55 people
- Corner
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Corner is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corner
- Brookside
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Brookside is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookside
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,323 people
- Pinkney City
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Pinkney City is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinkney City
- West Jefferson
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- West Jefferson is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Jefferson
- Population from the 2020 Census: 415 people
- Daisey City
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Daisey City is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Daisey City
- Mount Olive
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Adamsville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Blount County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Sayre, with the one closest to West Sayre listed first.
- Red Hill
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Red Hill is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Hill
- Warrior
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Reid's
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Reid's is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reid's
- Smoke Rise
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Smoke Rise is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smoke Rise
- County Line
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- County Line is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for County Line
- Population from the 2020 Census: 241 people
- Blount Springs
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Blount Springs is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blount Springs
- Hayden
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Dale ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Dale is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dale
- Dallas
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Dallas is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dallas
- Selfville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Selfville is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Selfville
- Compton
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Compton is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Compton
- Adville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Adville is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adville
- Bangor
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Bangor is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bangor
- Cullman County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Sayre, with the one closest to West Sayre listed first.
- Arkadelphia
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Arkadelphia is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arkadelphia
- Baltimore ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Baltimore is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baltimore
- Colony
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Colony is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colony
- Estimated population in 2015: 273 people
- The Colony
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- The Colony is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Colony
- Population from the 2020 Census: 291 people
- Black Bottom
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Black Bottom is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Bottom
- Bremen
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Damascus
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Damascus is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Damascus
- Ardell
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Ardell is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ardell
- Dodge City
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Dodge City is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dodge City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 621 people
- Garden City
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Garden City is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 506 people
- Crane Hill
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Trimble
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Trimble is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trimble
- Hanceville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Saint Clair County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Sayre, with the one closest to West Sayre listed first.
- Argo
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Argo is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Argo
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,278 people
- Acmar
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Acmar is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acmar
- Parsons
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Parsons is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parsons
- Woodland Village
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Woodland Village is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland Village
- Moody
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Moody is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moody
- Population from the 2020 Census: 13,292 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Moody <1>
- Springville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Turnbough Town
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Turnbough Town is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turnbough Town
- Margaret
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Shelby County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Sayre, with the one closest to West Sayre listed first.
- Bridgeton
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Bridgeton is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bridgeton
- Inverness
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Inverness is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Inverness
- Lake Purdy
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Lake Purdy is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Purdy
- Meadowbrook
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Meadowbrook is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowbrook
- Indian Springs Village
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- 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
- Shoal Creek
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Shoal Creek is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shoal Creek
- Tacoa
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Tacoa is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tacoa
- Dunavant
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Dunavant is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunavant
- Dunnavant
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Dunnavant is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunnavant
- Bamford
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Bamford is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bamford
- Falliston
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Falliston is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falliston
- Helena
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Pelham
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Tuscaloosa County
- Bull City
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Bull City is located in Tuscaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bull City
- Walker County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Sayre, with the one closest to West Sayre listed first.
- Sumiton
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- 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>
- Quinton
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Burnwell
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Burnwell is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burnwell
- Dora
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Oakahalla
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Oakahalla is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakahalla
- Wyatt
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Wyatt is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyatt
- Yerkwood
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Yerkwood is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yerkwood
- Creel
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Creel is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Creel
- Empire
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Empire is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Empire
- Twilley Town
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Twilley Town is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twilley Town
- Black Warrior Town ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Black Warrior Town is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Warrior Town
- Red Star
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Red Star is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Star
- Reeds Ferry
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Reeds Ferry is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reeds Ferry
- Winston County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Sayre, with the one closest to West Sayre listed first.
- Falls City ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Falls City is located in Winston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falls City
- Arley
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Slick Ford
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Slick Ford is located in Winston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slick Ford
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to West Sayre, see our County-by-County Page for West Sayre.
Cemeteries Near West Sayre ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of West Sayre.
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 Sayre - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for West Sayre covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from West Sayre, with the one closest to West Sayre listed first.
- Good Hope Baptist Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Lawler Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Union Grove Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Adams Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Linns Crossing Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- New Horizon Memorial Gardens
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Bagley Bend Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Linn Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Maben Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Cardiff Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Narl Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Shanghai Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (347 more) ...
- St. Michaels Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Bibb Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Crooked Creek Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
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 Sayre in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of West Sayre.
These communities are listed based on their distance from West Sayre, with the one closest to West Sayre listed first.
- Robbins Crossroads
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Robbins Crossroads is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robbins Crossroads
- Linn Crossing
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Linn Crossing is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Linn Crossing
- Cardiff
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Cardiff is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cardiff
- Population from the 2020 Census: 55 people
- Dora
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Blossburg
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Blossburg is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blossburg
- Brookside
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Brookside is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookside
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,323 people
- Porter
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Porter is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Porter
- Adamsville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Sloan
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Sloan is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sloan
- Morris
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Morris is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morris
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,182 people
- Coalburg
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Coalburg is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coalburg
- Former name for Coalburg:
- Coalburgh
- Warrior
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Continue List (16 more) ...
- Cordova
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Sandusky
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Sandusky is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandusky
- Cunningham
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Cunningham is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cunningham
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around West Sayre. See our List of 1890's Communities around West Sayre.
Newspapers Published in West Sayre ...
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 9 newspapers that have been published in the area around West Sayre.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of West Sayre, there are papers which were published within 11 miles [17.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for West Sayre.
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 Sayre:
- Websites specific to Alabama
- Pages specific to Jefferson County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Blount County
- Cullman County
- Saint Clair County
- Shelby County
- Tuscaloosa County
- Walker County
- Winston 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 Sayre, 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- West Sayre) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |