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 Wilderness Garden (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 Wilderness Garden. 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 Wilderness Garden ...
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 Wilderness Garden: Wilderness Gdn. (or less commonly used: Wilderness Gardn., Wilderness Grden. or Wilderness Grdn.)
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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most 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.
Wilderness Garden 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 Wilderness Garden. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Wilderness Garden:
- Jefferson County (The home county of Wilderness Garden)
- The following are listed by their distance from Wilderness Garden, with the one closest to Wilderness Garden listed first.
- Black Creek
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Black Creek is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Creek
- Short Creek
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Short Creek is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Short Creek
- Toadvine
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Toadvine is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toadvine
- West Jefferson
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- West Jefferson is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Jefferson
- Population from the 2020 Census: 415 people
- Rock Creek
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Rock Creek is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Creek
- Sylvan Springs
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Maytown
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Maytown is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maytown
- Population from the 2020 Census: 364 people
- Oak Grove
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Oak Grove is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
- Mulga
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Media
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Media is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Media
- Ezra
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Ezra is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ezra
- Concord
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Concord is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Concord
- Adamsville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Bibb County
- The following are listed by their distance from Wilderness Garden, with the one closest to Wilderness Garden listed first.
- Green Pond
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Blocton Junction
(24 miles [38.6 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
- North Bibb
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- North Bibb is located in Bibb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Bibb
- Woodstock
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Burmah ‑ Historic
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Burmah is located in Bibb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burmah
- Cane Creek ‑ Historic
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Cane Creek is located in Bibb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cane Creek
- Belle Ellen
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Belle Ellen is located in Bibb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belle Ellen
- Eddings
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Eddings is located in Bibb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eddings
- Italian Town
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Italian Town is located in Bibb County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Italian Town
- West Blocton
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Blount County
- The following are listed by their distance from Wilderness Garden, with the one closest to Wilderness Garden listed first.
- Red Hill
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Red Hill is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Hill
- Warrior
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Dale ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Dale is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dale
- Reid's
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Reid's is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reid's
- Smoke Rise
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Smoke Rise is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smoke Rise
- County Line
(29 miles [46.7 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
- Cullman County
- The following are listed by their distance from Wilderness Garden, with the one closest to Wilderness Garden listed first.
- Arkadelphia
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Arkadelphia is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arkadelphia
- Baltimore ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Baltimore is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baltimore
- Ardell
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Ardell is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ardell
- Colony
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Colony is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colony
- Estimated population in 2015: 273 people
- The Colony
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- The Colony is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Colony
- Population from the 2020 Census: 291 people
- Black Bottom
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Black Bottom is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Bottom
- Fayette County
- The following are listed by their distance from Wilderness Garden, with the one closest to Wilderness Garden listed first.
- Alta
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Alta is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alta
- Berry
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Shelby County
- The following are listed by their distance from Wilderness Garden, with the one closest to Wilderness Garden listed first.
- Bamford
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Bamford is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bamford
- Falliston
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Falliston is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falliston
- Helena
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Tacoa
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Tacoa is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tacoa
- Tulse
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Tulse is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tulse
- Indian Springs Village
(26 miles [41.8 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
- Inverness
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Inverness is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Inverness
- Lake Purdy
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Lake Purdy is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Purdy
- Alabaster
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Meadowbrook
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Meadowbrook is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowbrook
- Pelham
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Bridgeton
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Bridgeton is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bridgeton
- Brantleyville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Brantleyville is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brantleyville
- Tuscaloosa County
- The following are listed by their distance from Wilderness Garden, with the one closest to Wilderness Garden listed first.
- Bull City
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Bull City is located in Tuscaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bull City
- Kellerman
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Kellerman is located in Tuscaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kellerman
- Abernant
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Abernant is located in Tuscaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abernant
- Lake View
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Lake View is located in Tuscaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake View
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,732 people
- Tannehill
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Tannehill is located in Tuscaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tannehill
- Brookwood
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Vance
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Peterson
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Peterson is located in Tuscaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peterson
- Samantha
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Samantha is located in Tuscaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Samantha
- Coaling
(30 miles [48.3 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
- Holt
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Holt is located in Tuscaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holt
- Wood Village
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Wood Village is located in Tuscaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wood Village
- New Lexington
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- New Lexington is located in Tuscaloosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Lexington
- Walker County
- The following are listed by their distance from Wilderness Garden, with the one closest to Wilderness Garden listed first.
- Reeds Ferry
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Reeds Ferry is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reeds Ferry
- Twilley Town
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Twilley Town is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twilley Town
- Yerkwood
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Yerkwood is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yerkwood
- Quinton
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Wyatt
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Wyatt is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyatt
- Goodsprings
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Goodsprings is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodsprings
- Barney
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Barney is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barney
- Burnwell
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Burnwell is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burnwell
- Oakahalla
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Oakahalla is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakahalla
- Red Star
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Red Star is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Star
- Dora
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Dovertown
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Dovertown is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dovertown
- America
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- America is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for America
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Wilderness Garden, see our County-by-County Page for Wilderness Garden.
Cemeteries Near Wilderness Garden ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Wilderness Garden.
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 Wilderness Garden - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Wilderness Garden covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Wilderness Garden, with the one closest to Wilderness Garden listed first.
- Liberty Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty Cemetery
- The Liberty Cemetery has also been known as:
- Liberty Baptist Church Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2162604 <2>
- Salter Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Atwood Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Dug Hill Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Weaver Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Prescott Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Toadvine Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Waiting Place Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Shady Grove Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Heard Shoal Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Fuller Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Fords Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Continue List (365 more) ...
- Maben Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Shanghai Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Franklin Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 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 Wilderness Garden in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Wilderness Garden.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Wilderness Garden, with the one closest to Wilderness Garden listed first.
- Short Creek
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Short Creek is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Short Creek
- Toadvine
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Toadvine is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toadvine
- Porter
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Porter is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Porter
- Ezra
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Ezra is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ezra
- Adamsville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Dolomite
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Blossburg
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Blossburg is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blossburg
- Dora
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Collins
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Collins is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Collins
- Wylam
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Wylam is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wylam
- Cardiff
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Cardiff is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cardiff
- Population from the 2020 Census: 55 people
- Linn Crossing
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Linn Crossing is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Linn Crossing
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- Cordova
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Adger
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Bullard Shoals ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Bullard Shoals is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bullard Shoals
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Wilderness Garden. See our List of 1890's Communities around Wilderness Garden.
Newspapers Published in Wilderness Garden ...
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 5 newspapers that have been published in the area around Wilderness Garden.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Wilderness Garden, 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 Wilderness Garden.
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 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 Wilderness Garden:
- Websites specific to Alabama
- Pages specific to Jefferson County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Bibb County
- Blount County
- Cullman County
- Fayette 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 Wilderness Garden, 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 from Point A (ie- Wilderness Garden) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |