RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Arkansas >> Poinsett County >> Alto >> Genealogy HelperIndex...

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 Alto (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 Alto. 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.

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 hospitals and 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.

Alto is located in Poinsett County.

To see how the shape of Arkansas' counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Poinsett County: Craighead, Crittenden, Cross, Jackson & Mississippi.

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

  • Poinsett County     (The home county of Alto)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alto, with the one closest to Alto listed first.
    • Lepanto
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Tyronza
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Marked Tree
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Rivervale
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Rivervale is located in Poinsett County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rivervale
    • Black Oak
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Black Oak is located in Poinsett County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Oak
    • Hatchie Coon
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Trumann
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Greenfield
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Harrisburg
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
  • Craighead County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alto, with the one closest to Alto listed first.
    • Caraway
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Bay
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Black Oak
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Black Oak is located in Craighead County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Oak
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 259 people
    • Lake City
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Monette
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Lake View
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Lake View is located in Craighead County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake View
    • Jonesboro
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Brookland
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Red Onion
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Philadelphia
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Obear ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Obear is located in Craighead County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Obear
  • Crittenden County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alto, with the one closest to Alto listed first.
    • Gilmore
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Gilmore is located in Crittenden County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilmore
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 244 people
    • Turrell
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Heafer
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Poindexter
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Clarkedale
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Jericho
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Earle
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • James Mill
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Crawfordsville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Sunset
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Sunset is located in Crittenden County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 199 people
    • Marion
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Jennette
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Jennette is located in Crittenden County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jennette
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 117 people
    • Mound City
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Mound City is located in Crittenden County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mound City
  • Cross County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alto, with the one closest to Alto listed first.
    • Twist
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Twist is located in Cross County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twist
    • Bay Village
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Bay Village is located in Cross County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bay Village
    • Parkin
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Cherry Valley
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Vanndale
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Mississippi County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alto, with the one closest to Alto listed first.
    • Whitton
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Dyess
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Dyess is located in Mississippi County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dyess
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 358 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dyess <1>
    • Denwood
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • West Ridge
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • West Ridge is located in Mississippi County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Ridge
    • Birdsong
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Bardstown
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Frenchmans Bayou
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Bassett
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Joiner
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Etowah
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Etowah is located in Mississippi County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Etowah
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 312 people
    • Athelstan
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Carroll's Corner
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Marie
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Marie is located in Mississippi County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marie
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 70 people
  • Dunklin County (MO)
  • Lauderdale County (TN)
  • Shelby County (TN)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alto, with the one closest to Alto listed first.
    • Giles Town
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Giles Town is located in Shelby County (TN)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Giles Town
    • Cuba
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Ramsey
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Woodstock
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Lucy
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Millington
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Tipton County (TN)

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

Cemeteries Near Alto ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Alto.

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

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

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

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.<4>

While we didn't find Alto in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Alto.

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

  • Marked Tree
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Tyronza
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Bardstown
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Hatchie Coon
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Gilmore
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Gilmore is located in Crittenden County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilmore
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 244 people
  • Athelstan
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Saint Thomas ‑ Historic
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Saint Thomas is located in Crittenden County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Thomas
  • Shawnee
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Shawnee is located in Mississippi County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shawnee
  • Poindexter
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Lambethville
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Lambethville is located in Crittenden County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lambethville
  • Mangrum
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Mangrum is located in Craighead County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mangrum
  • Corona
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Golden Lake
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Golden Lake is located in Mississippi County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Golden Lake
    • Carson Lake
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Carson Lake is located in Mississippi County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carson Lake
    • Pecan Point
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Pecan Point is located in Mississippi County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pecan Point

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

Newspapers Published in Alto ...

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 10 newspapers that have been published in the area around Alto.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Alto, there are papers which were published within 13 miles [20.9 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Alto.

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 professional and volunteer 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 Alto:

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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Alto) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<4>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 Alto, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.