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 Forum (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 Forum. 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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals 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.
Forum is located in Madison 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 Madison County: Benton, Carroll, Crawford, Franklin, Johnson, Newton & Washington.
Below are the counties that are near Forum. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Forum:
- Madison County (The home county of Forum)
- The following are listed by their distance from Forum, with the one closest to Forum listed first.
- Huntsville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Marble
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Marble is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marble
- Hindsville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Whitener
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Whitener is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitener
- Kingston
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Georgetown
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Georgetown is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Georgetown
- Japton
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Japton is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Japton
- Wesley
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Wesley is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wesley
- Witter
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Witter is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Witter
- Thompson
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Thompson is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thompson
- Crosses
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Crosses is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crosses
- Boston
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Boston is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boston
- Benton County
- The following are listed by their distance from Forum, with the one closest to Forum listed first.
- War Eagle
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- War Eagle is located in Benton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for War Eagle
- Lost Bridge Village
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Lost Bridge Village is located in Benton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lost Bridge Village
- Silver Springs ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Silver Springs is located in Benton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Springs
- Puckett ‑ Historic
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Puckett is located in Benton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Puckett
- Prairie Creek
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Prairie Creek is located in Benton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Creek
- Bethel Heights
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Bethel Heights is located in Benton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bethel Heights
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,970 people
- Clantonville
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Clantonville is located in Benton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clantonville
- Garfield
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Gateway
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Lowell
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Avoca
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Avoca is located in Benton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avoca
- Population from the 2020 Census: 522 people
- Brightwater
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Brightwater is located in Benton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brightwater
- Boone County
- The following are listed by their distance from Forum, with the one closest to Forum listed first.
- Alpena
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Batavia
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Batavia is located in Boone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Batavia
- Shaver ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Shaver is located in Boone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shaver
- Ridgeway
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Ridgeway is located in Boone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgeway
- Burlington
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Burlington is located in Boone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burlington
- Carroll County
- The following are listed by their distance from Forum, with the one closest to Forum listed first.
- Metalton
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Metalton is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Metalton
- Winona Springs ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Winona Springs is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winona Springs
- Dryfork
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Dryfork is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dryfork
- Rudd
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Rudd is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rudd
- Eureka Springs
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Berryville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Mundell ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Mundell is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mundell
- Osage
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Osage is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osage
- Gaskins ‑ Historic
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Gaskins is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gaskins
- Green Forest
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- New Town ‑ Historic
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- New Town is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Town
- Urbanette
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Urbanette is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Urbanette
- Conway County
- Grandview
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Grandview is located in Conway County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grandview
- Newton County
- The following are listed by their distance from Forum, with the one closest to Forum listed first.
- Boxley
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Boxley is located in Newton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boxley
- Ponca
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Compton
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Mossville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Mossville is located in Newton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mossville
- Murray
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Murray is located in Newton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Murray
- Parthenon
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Washington County
- The following are listed by their distance from Forum, with the one closest to Forum listed first.
- Spring Valley
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Spring Valley is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Valley
- Mayfield
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Mayfield is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayfield
- War Eagle Cove
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- War Eagle Cove is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for War Eagle Cove
- Blue Springs Village
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Blue Springs Village is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Springs Village
- Goshen
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Sonora
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Sonora is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sonora
- Elkins
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Durham
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Durham is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Durham
- Harris
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Harris is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harris
- Sulphur City
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Sulphur City is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sulphur City
- Springdale
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Johnson
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Johnson is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnson
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,771 people
- Barry County (MO)
- The following are listed by their distance from Forum, with the one closest to Forum listed first.
- Golden
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Chain-O-Lakes
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Chain-O-Lakes is located in Barry County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chain-O-Lakes
- Population from the 2020 Census: 127 people
- Arrow Point
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Arrow Point is located in Barry County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arrow Point
- Population from the 2020 Census: 87 people
- Eagle Rock
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Seligman
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Seligman is located in Barry County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seligman
- Population from the 2020 Census: 835 people
- Emerald Beach
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Emerald Beach is located in Barry County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emerald Beach
- Population from the 2020 Census: 244 people
- Shell Knob
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Stone County (MO)
- The following are listed by their distance from Forum, with the one closest to Forum listed first.
- Blue Eye
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Lampe
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Forum, see our County-by-County Page for Forum.
Cemeteries Near Forum ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Forum.
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 Forum - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Forum covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Forum, with the one closest to Forum listed first.
- Marshall Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Fritts Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Alabam Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Cannady Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Carlock Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- White Oak Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Clifty Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Martin Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Bohannan Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Scissom Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Hawkins Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Merl Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Continue List (295 more) ...
- McClain Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Rockhouse Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Farmer Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
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>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Forum had a post office and no railroad service.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Forum, with the one closest to Forum listed first.
- Clifty
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Clifty is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clifty
- Huntsville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Marble
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Marble is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marble
- Rockhouse
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Rockhouse is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockhouse
- Hindsville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Whitener
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Whitener is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitener
- Winona Springs ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Winona Springs is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winona Springs
- Aurora
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Aurora is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aurora
- Dryfork
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Dryfork is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dryfork
- Spring Valley
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Spring Valley is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Valley
- Drakes Creek
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Drakes Creek is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drakes Creek
- Kingston
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- Dinsmore
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Dinsmore is located in Newton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dinsmore
- Wesley
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Wesley is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wesley
- Rule
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Rule is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rule
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Forum. See our List of 1890's Communities around Forum.
Newspapers Published in Forum ...
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 46 newspapers that have been published in the area around Forum.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Forum, there are papers which were published within 21 miles [33.8 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Forum.
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 either 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 Forum:
- Websites specific to Arkansas
- Pages specific to Madison County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Benton County
- Boone County
- Carroll County
- Conway County
- Newton County
- Washington County
- Barry County
- Stone County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Arkansas
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 Forum, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Forum) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |