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 Big Springs (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 Big Springs. 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 Big Springs ...
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.
Other variations include: Big Spring and Bigsprings.
- A typical abbreviation for Big Springs: Big Spgs. (or less commonly used: Big Spngs. or Big Sprngs.)
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Big Springs. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Big Springs.
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 doctors 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.
Big Springs is located in Troup County.
To see how the shape of Georgia's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Troup County: Chambers (AL), Randolph (AL), Coweta, Harris, Heard & Meriwether.
Below are the counties that are near Big Springs. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Big Springs:
- Troup County (The home county of Big Springs)
- The following are listed by their distance from Big Springs, with the one closest to Big Springs listed first.
- Mountville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Louise
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Louise is located in Troup County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Louise
- Estimated population in 2019: 2,215 people
- Whitfield
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Whitfield is located in Troup County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitfield
- LaGrange
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Sassafrass Hills
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Sassafrass Hills is located in Troup County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sassafrass Hills
- Estimated population in 2019: 255 people
- Pioneer Village
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Pioneer Village is located in Troup County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pioneer Village
- Asta Village
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Asta Village is located in Troup County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Asta Village
- Rockwell Estates
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Rockwell Estates is located in Troup County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockwell Estates
- Brays Lakeview
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Brays Lakeview is located in Troup County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brays Lakeview
- Sunny Point
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Sunny Point is located in Troup County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunny Point
- Population from the 2010 Census: 1,303 people
- Hogansville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- West Lake Village
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- West Lake Village is located in Troup County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Lake Village
- Carroll County
- Bowers Ferry
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Bowers Ferry is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowers Ferry
- Estimated population in 2019: 485 people
- Coweta County
- The following are listed by their distance from Big Springs, with the one closest to Big Springs listed first.
- Grantville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Bexton
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Bexton is located in Coweta County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bexton
- Smith City
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Smith City is located in Coweta County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smith City
- Moreland
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- East Newnan
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- East Newnan is located in Coweta County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Newnan
- Smokey Acres
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Smokey Acres is located in Coweta County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smokey Acres
- Estimated population in 2019: 56,666 people
- Haralson
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Newnan
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Turin
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Jade Lake Village
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Jade Lake Village is located in Coweta County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jade Lake Village
- Sharpsburg
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Senoia
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Harris County
- The following are listed by their distance from Big Springs, with the one closest to Big Springs listed first.
- Mountainbrook
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Mountainbrook is located in Harris County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountainbrook
- Estimated population in 2019: 1,108 people
- Pine Mountain
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Pine Mountain Valley
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Pine Lake
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Pine Lake is located in Harris County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Lake
- Hamilton
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Shiloh
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Mountain Hill
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Mountain Hill is located in Harris County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Hill
- Population from the 2010 Census: 11,554 people
- Cataula
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Waverly Hall
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Ellerslie
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Heard County
- The following are listed by their distance from Big Springs, with the one closest to Big Springs listed first.
- Corinth
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Corinth is located in Heard County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corinth
- Houston
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Houston is located in Heard County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Houston
- Population from the 2010 Census: 110 people
- Glenn
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Franklin
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Riverside
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Riverside is located in Heard County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverside
- O'Neals Crossroad
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- O'Neals Crossroad is located in Heard County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for O'Neals Crossroad
- Centralhatchee
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Centralhatchee is located in Heard County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centralhatchee
- Population from the 2020 Census: 377 people
- Frolona
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Frolona is located in Heard County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frolona
- Meriwether County
- The following are listed by their distance from Big Springs, with the one closest to Big Springs listed first.
- Greenville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Harris City
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Harris City is located in Meriwether County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harris City
- Lone Oak
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Lone Oak is located in Meriwether County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Oak
- Population from the 2020 Census: 89 people
- Warm Springs
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Bullochville ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Bullochville is located in Meriwether County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bullochville
- Luthersville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Rocky Mount
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Rocky Mount is located in Meriwether County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Mount
- Betts
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Betts is located in Meriwether County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Betts
- Estimated population in 2019: 373 people
- Woodbury
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Carrolls
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Carrolls is located in Meriwether County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carrolls
- Estimated population in 2019: 27,259 people
- Edman
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Edman is located in Meriwether County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edman
- Manchester
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Muscogee County
- The following are listed by their distance from Big Springs, with the one closest to Big Springs listed first.
- Fortson
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Midland
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Twin Chapel
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Twin Chapel is located in Muscogee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Chapel
- Estimated population in 2019: 1,701 people
- Pike County
- The following are listed by their distance from Big Springs, with the one closest to Big Springs listed first.
- Lawrences Mill
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Lawrences Mill is located in Pike County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawrences Mill
- Estimated population in 2019: 30,834 people
- Molena
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Concord
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Hilltop
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Hilltop is located in Pike County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilltop
- Talbot County
- The following are listed by their distance from Big Springs, with the one closest to Big Springs listed first.
- Flint Hill
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Flint Hill is located in Talbot County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flint Hill
- Woodland
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Belleview
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Belleview is located in Talbot County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belleview
- Talbotton
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Upson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Big Springs, with the one closest to Big Springs listed first.
- Barker Spring
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Barker Spring is located in Upson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barker Spring
- Sunset Village
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Sunset Village is located in Upson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset Village
- Chambers County (AL)
- The following are listed by their distance from Big Springs, with the one closest to Big Springs listed first.
- Lanett
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Eady City
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Eady City is located in Chambers County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eady City
- Plant City
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Plant City is located in Chambers County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plant City
- River View
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- River View is located in Chambers County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River View
- Evansville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Evansville is located in Chambers County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evansville
- Valley
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- McCosh Mill ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- McCosh Mill is located in Chambers County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McCosh Mill
- Standing Rock
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Standing Rock is located in Chambers County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Standing Rock
- Huguley
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Huguley is located in Chambers County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huguley
- Osanippa
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Osanippa is located in Chambers County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osanippa
- Fredonia
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Fredonia is located in Chambers County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fredonia
- Five Points
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Five Points is located in Chambers County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Points
- Population from the 2020 Census: 137 people
- Lee County (AL)
- Blanton
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Blanton is located in Lee County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blanton
- Randolph County (AL)
- The following are listed by their distance from Big Springs, with the one closest to Big Springs listed first.
- Rock Mills
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Rock Mills is located in Randolph County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Mills
- Roanoke
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- High Shoals
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- High Shoals is located in Randolph County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Shoals
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Big Springs, see our County-by-County Page for Big Springs.
Cemeteries Near Big Springs ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Big Springs.
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 Big Springs - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Big Springs covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Big Springs, with the one closest to Big Springs listed first.
- Langford Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Herndon Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Hall Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Hamby Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Thrash Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Jones Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Webb Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Traylor Johnson Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- McGee Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Perry Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Wright Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Hardy Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Continue List (505 more) ...
- Ogletree Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Mountville Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Owens Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
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.<2>
While we didn't find Big Springs in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Big Springs.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Big Springs, with the one closest to Big Springs listed first.
- Troup Factory ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Troup Factory is located in Troup County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Troup Factory
- Mountville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Whitfield
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Whitfield is located in Troup County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitfield
- LaGrange
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Wisdoms Store ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Wisdoms Store is located in Harris County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wisdoms Store
- Saint Marks
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Saint Marks is located in Meriwether County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Marks
- Harris City
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Harris City is located in Meriwether County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harris City
- Long Cane
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Long Cane is located in Troup County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Cane
- Gabbettville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Gabbettville is located in Troup County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gabbettville
- Lone Oak
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Lone Oak is located in Meriwether County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Oak
- Population from the 2020 Census: 89 people
- Whitesville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Whitesville is located in Harris County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitesville
- Warm Springs
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- Midway
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Midway is located in Meriwether County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midway
- Vernon ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Vernon is located in Troup County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vernon
- Crowder ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Crowder is located in Troup County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crowder
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Big Springs. See our List of 1890's Communities around Big Springs.
Newspapers Published in Big Springs ...
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 26 newspapers that have been published in the area around Big Springs.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Big Springs, there are papers which were published within 16 miles [25.7 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Big Springs.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we like to start 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 Big Springs:
- Websites specific to Georgia
- Pages specific to Troup County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Carroll County
- Coweta County
- Harris County
- Heard County
- Meriwether County
- Muscogee County
- Pike County
- Talbot County
- Upson County
- Chambers County
- Lee County
- Randolph County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Georgia
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> | 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 Big Springs, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Big Springs) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |