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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 Brighton (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 Brighton. 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 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.

Brighton is located in Tift County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Tift County: Berrien, Colquitt, Cook, Irwin, Turner & Worth.

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

  • Tift County     (The home county of Brighton)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brighton, with the one closest to Brighton listed first.
    • Tifton
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Abac
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Phillipsburg
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Phillipsburg have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Phillipsburg
      • Phillipsburg is located in Tift County
    • Unionville
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unionville
      • Unionville is located in Tift County
    • Chula
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Brookfield
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Ty Ty
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Omega
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Atkinson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brighton, with the one closest to Brighton listed first.
    • Willacoochee
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Willacoochee have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willacoochee
      • Willacoochee is located in Atkinson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,389 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Willacoochee <1>
    • Leliaton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Leliaton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leliaton
      • Leliaton is located in Atkinson County
  • Ben Hill County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brighton, with the one closest to Brighton listed first.
    • Abba
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abba
      • Abba is located in Ben Hill County
    • Fitzgerald
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
  • Berrien County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brighton, with the one closest to Brighton listed first.
    • Enigma
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Alapaha
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Nashville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nashville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nashville
      • Nashville is located in Berrien County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,811 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Nashville <1>
  • Coffee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brighton, with the one closest to Brighton listed first.
    • Ambrose
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Mora
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mora have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mora
      • Mora is located in Coffee County
      • Estimated population in 2019: 444 people
  • Colquitt County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brighton, with the one closest to Brighton listed first.
    • Norman Park
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Norman Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norman Park
      • Norman Park is located in Colquitt County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 958 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Norman Park <1>
    • Ellenton
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Doerun
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Minnesota
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Minnesota have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minnesota
      • Minnesota is located in Colquitt County
    • Moultrie
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Riverside
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Riverside have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverside
      • Riverside is located in Colquitt County
  • Cook County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brighton, with the one closest to Brighton listed first.
    • Lenox
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Staunton
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Staunton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Staunton
      • Staunton is located in Cook County
    • Sparks
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Adel
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
  • Crisp County
    • Arabi
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Irwin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brighton, with the one closest to Brighton listed first.
    • Irwinville
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Irwinville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irwinville
      • Irwinville is located in Irwin County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Irwinville <1>
    • Mystic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mystic have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mystic
      • Mystic is located in Irwin County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mystic <1>
    • Ocilla
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ocilla have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ocilla
      • Ocilla is located in Irwin County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,722 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ocilla <1>
    • Arp
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arp
      • Arp is located in Irwin County
    • Wray
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
  • Turner County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brighton, with the one closest to Brighton listed first.
    • Sycamore
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Ashburn
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Hobby
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hobby have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hobby
      • Hobby is located in Turner County
      • Estimated population in 2019: 536 people
    • Rebecca
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
  • Wilcox County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brighton, with the one closest to Brighton listed first.
    • Pitts
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
    • Rochelle
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rochelle have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rochelle
      • Rochelle is located in Wilcox County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,081 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rochelle <1>
  • Worth County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brighton, with the one closest to Brighton listed first.
    • Sumner
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Poulan
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Poulan have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poulan
      • Poulan is located in Worth County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 770 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Poulan <1>
    • Sylvester
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sylvester have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sylvester
      • Sylvester is located in Worth County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,690 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sylvester <1>
    • Anderson City
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Anderson City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anderson City
      • Anderson City is located in Worth County
    • Cuffietown
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cuffietown have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cuffietown
      • Cuffietown is located in Worth County
      • Estimated population in 2019: 186 people
    • Alfords
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alfords have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alfords
      • Alfords is located in Worth County
    • Liberty Hill
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty Hill
      • Liberty Hill is located in Worth County

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

Newspapers Published in Brighton ...

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 31 newspapers that have been published in the area around Brighton.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Brighton, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Brighton.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we 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 Brighton:

Cemeteries Near Brighton ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Brighton.

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.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

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

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

  • Harding Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Harding Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Harding Cemetery
  • Tift Memorial Gardens
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Tift Memorial Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Tift Memorial Gardens
  • Oak Ridge Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oak Ridge Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oak Ridge Cemetery
  • Greenwood Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Greenwood Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Greenwood Cemetery
  • Lawrence Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lawrence Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lawrence Cemetery
  • Macedonia Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Macedonia Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Macedonia Cemetery
  • Fletcher Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fletcher Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fletcher Cemetery
  • Zion Hope Baptist Church Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Fletcher Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fletcher Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fletcher Cemetery
  • Waterloo Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Waterloo Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Waterloo Cemetery
  • Waterloo Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Waterloo Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Waterloo Cemetery
  • Pinetta Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pinetta Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pinetta Cemetery
  • Continue List   (247 more) ...
    • Eureka Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Eureka Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Eureka Cemetery
    • Smith Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Smith Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Smith Cemetery
    • Paulks Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Paulks Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Paulks Cemetery

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.<5>

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

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

  • Brookfield
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Enigma
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Irwinville
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Irwinville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irwinville
    • Irwinville is located in Irwin County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Irwinville <1>
  • Lenox
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
  • Alapaha
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Sumner
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
  • Abba
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abba
    • Abba is located in Ben Hill County
  • Lax
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lax have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lax
    • Lax is located in Coffee County
  • Poulan
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Poulan have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poulan
    • Poulan is located in Worth County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 770 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Poulan <1>
  • Sylvester
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sylvester have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sylvester
    • Sylvester is located in Worth County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,690 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sylvester <1>
  • Minton
    (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Minton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minton
    • Minton is located in Worth County
  • Nashville
    (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nashville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nashville
    • Nashville is located in Berrien County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,811 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Nashville <1>
  • Continue List   (9 more) ...
    • Isabella
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Isabella have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Isabella
      • Isabella is located in Worth County
    • Bayboro ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bayboro have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayboro
      • Bayboro is located in Colquitt County
    • Adel
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)

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

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Brighton. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Tift County: www.tiftcounty.org/

The official website for State of Georgia: https://georgia.gov/

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 location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<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 from Point A (ie- Brighton) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Brighton. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.5027, Longitude: -83.4560       In this case, the coordinates for Brighton have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>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.
<5>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 Brighton, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024