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 Willow Grove Estates (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 Willow Grove Estates. 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 Willow Grove Estates ...
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.
Another variation: Willowgrove Estates.
- A typical abbreviation for Willow Grove Estates: Willow Grv. Ests.
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 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.
Willow Grove Estates 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 Willow Grove Estates. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Willow Grove Estates:
- Jefferson County (The home county of Willow Grove Estates)
- The following are listed by their distance from Willow Grove Estates, with the one closest to Willow Grove Estates listed first.
- Corner
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Corner is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corner
- Robbins Crossroads
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Robbins Crossroads is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robbins Crossroads
- Sayre
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Sayre is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sayre
- Kimberly
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Morris
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Morris is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morris
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,182 people
- Graysville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Mount Olive
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Majestic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Majestic is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Majestic
- Alden
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Alden is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alden
- Brookside
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Brookside is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookside
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,323 people
- Cardiff
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Cardiff is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cardiff
- Population from the 2020 Census: 55 people
- Media
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Media is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Media
- Blount County
- The following are listed by their distance from Willow Grove Estates, with the one closest to Willow Grove Estates listed first.
- Red Hill
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Red Hill is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Hill
- Warrior
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Reid's
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Reid's is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reid's
- Smoke Rise
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Smoke Rise is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smoke Rise
- County Line
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- County Line is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for County Line
- Population from the 2020 Census: 241 people
- Blount Springs
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Blount Springs is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blount Springs
- Hayden
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Dallas
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Dallas is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dallas
- Selfville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Selfville is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Selfville
- Bangor
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Bangor is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bangor
- Adville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Adville is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adville
- Compton
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Compton is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Compton
- Cullman County
- The following are listed by their distance from Willow Grove Estates, with the one closest to Willow Grove Estates listed first.
- Arkadelphia
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Arkadelphia is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arkadelphia
- Baltimore ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Baltimore is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baltimore
- Colony
(10 miles [16.1 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
(10 miles [16.1 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
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Black Bottom is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Bottom
- Damascus
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Damascus is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Damascus
- Bremen
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Ardell
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Ardell is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ardell
- Dodge City
(17 miles [27.4 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
(18 miles [29 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
- Trimble
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Trimble is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trimble
- Hanceville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Saint Clair County
- The following are listed by their distance from Willow Grove Estates, with the one closest to Willow Grove Estates listed first.
- Argo
(25 miles [40.2 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
- Springville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Margaret
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Turnbough Town
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Turnbough Town is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turnbough Town
- Acmar
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Acmar is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acmar
- Parsons
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Parsons is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parsons
- Moody
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- 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>
- Woodland Village
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Woodland Village is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland Village
- Saint Clair Springs
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Saint Clair Springs is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Clair Springs
- Brompton
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Brompton is located in Saint Clair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brompton
- Shelby County
- The following are listed by their distance from Willow Grove Estates, with the one closest to Willow Grove Estates listed first.
- Bridgeton
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Bridgeton is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bridgeton
- Lake Purdy
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Lake Purdy is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Purdy
- Dunnavant
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Dunnavant is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunnavant
- Inverness
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Inverness is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Inverness
- Dunavant
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Dunavant is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunavant
- Meadowbrook
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Meadowbrook is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowbrook
- Shoal Creek
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Shoal Creek is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shoal Creek
- Walker County
- The following are listed by their distance from Willow Grove Estates, with the one closest to Willow Grove Estates listed first.
- Creel
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Creel is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Creel
- Empire
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Empire is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Empire
- Black Warrior Town ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Black Warrior Town is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Warrior Town
- Sumiton
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- 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>
- Oakahalla
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Oakahalla is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakahalla
- Sipsey
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Sipsey is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sipsey
- Population from the 2020 Census: 396 people
- Burnwell
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Burnwell is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burnwell
- Dora
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Wyatt
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Wyatt is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyatt
- Quinton
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Yerkwood
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Yerkwood is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yerkwood
- Powellville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Powellville is located in Walker County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powellville
- Winston County
- The following are listed by their distance from Willow Grove Estates, with the one closest to Willow Grove Estates listed first.
- Arley
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Falls City ‑ Historic
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Falls City is located in Winston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falls City
- Slick Ford
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Slick Ford is located in Winston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slick Ford
- Houston
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Willow Grove Estates, see our County-by-County Page for Willow Grove Estates.
Cemeteries Near Willow Grove Estates ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Willow Grove Estates.
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 Willow Grove Estates - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Willow Grove Estates covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Willow Grove Estates, with the one closest to Willow Grove Estates listed first.
- Brewer Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Little Vine Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Vine Cemetery
- The Little Vine Cemetery has also been known as:
- Little Vine Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2160589 <2>
- Empire Memorial Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Empire Memorial Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Empire Memorial Cemetery is located in Empire.
- The Empire Memorial Cemetery has also been known as:
- Empire Memorial Gardens
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1442863 <2>
- Harmony Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Narl Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- New Canaan Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Good Hope Baptist Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Bibb Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Crooked Creek Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Cain Creek Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Phillips Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- New Horizon Memorial Gardens
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (374 more) ...
- Lawler Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Enon Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Phillips Freewill Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
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 Willow Grove Estates in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Willow Grove Estates.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Willow Grove Estates, with the one closest to Willow Grove Estates listed first.
- Sloan
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Sloan is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sloan
- Robbins Crossroads
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Robbins Crossroads is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robbins Crossroads
- Warrior
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Arkadelphia
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Arkadelphia is located in Cullman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arkadelphia
- Morris
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Morris is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morris
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,182 people
- Linton
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Linton is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Linton
- Reid's
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Reid's is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reid's
- Linn Crossing
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Linn Crossing is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Linn Crossing
- Coaldale
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Coaldale is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coaldale
- Dora
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Cardiff
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Cardiff is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cardiff
- Population from the 2020 Census: 55 people
- Brookside
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Brookside is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookside
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,323 people
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Blossburg
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Blossburg is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blossburg
- Cunningham
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Cunningham is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cunningham
- Blount Springs
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Blount Springs is located in Blount County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blount Springs
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Willow Grove Estates. See our List of 1890's Communities around Willow Grove Estates.
Newspapers Published in Willow Grove Estates ...
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 Willow Grove Estates.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Willow Grove Estates, there are papers which were published within 14 miles [22.5 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Willow Grove Estates.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we begin with 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 Willow Grove Estates:
- Websites specific to Alabama
- Pages specific to Jefferson County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Blount County
- Cullman County
- Saint Clair County
- Shelby 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 Willow Grove Estates, 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 from Point A (ie- Willow Grove Estates) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |