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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 Royal (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 Royal. 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.

Royal is located in Bleckley 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 Bleckley County: Dodge, Houston, Laurens, Pulaski, Twiggs & Wilkinson.

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

  • Bleckley County     (The home county of Royal)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Royal, with the one closest to Royal listed first.
    • Cochran
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Allentown
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Bibb County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Royal, with the one closest to Royal listed first.
    • Walden
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Walden is located in Bibb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walden
      • Estimated population in 2019: 964 people
    • Rutland
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Rutland is located in Bibb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rutland
      • Estimated population in 2019: 842 people
    • East Macon
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • East Macon is located in Bibb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Macon
    • Wheeler Heights
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Wheeler Heights is located in Bibb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheeler Heights
    • Mogul
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Mogul is located in Bibb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mogul
      • Estimated population in 2019: 400 people
    • Cross Keys
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Cross Keys is located in Bibb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cross Keys
    • Vinson Village
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Vinson Village is located in Bibb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vinson Village
  • Dodge County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Royal, with the one closest to Royal listed first.
    • Empire
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Empire is located in Dodge County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Empire
    • Yonkers
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Yonkers is located in Dodge County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yonkers
    • Chester
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Bryant
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Bryant is located in Dodge County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bryant
    • Plainfield
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Eastman
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Chauncey
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Dooly County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Royal, with the one closest to Royal listed first.
    • Unadilla
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Pinehurst
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Houston County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Royal, with the one closest to Royal listed first.
    • Kathleen
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Bonaire
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Stathams Landing
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Stathams Landing is located in Houston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stathams Landing
      • Estimated population in 2019: 2,839 people
    • Clinchfield
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Woodard Estates
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Woodard Estates is located in Houston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodard Estates
      • Estimated population in 2019: 1,352 people
    • Warner Robins
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Elberta
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Elberta is located in Houston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elberta
      • Estimated population in 2019: 4,329 people
    • Elko
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Perry
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Perry is located in Houston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perry
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 18,845 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Perry <1>
    • Centerville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Jones County
    • Griswoldville ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Griswoldville is located in Jones County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Griswoldville
  • Laurens County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Royal, with the one closest to Royal listed first.
    • Montrose
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Dexter
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Dudley
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Cadwell
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Rentz
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Dublin
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • East Dublin
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Peach County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Royal, with the one closest to Royal listed first.
    • Lakeview
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Lakeview is located in Peach County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview
    • Echeconnee
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Echeconnee is located in Peach County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Echeconnee
    • Miami Valley
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Miami Valley is located in Peach County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Miami Valley
    • Byron
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Fort Valley
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
    • Taylors Mill
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Taylors Mill is located in Peach County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taylors Mill
      • Estimated population in 2019: 224 people
  • Pulaski County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Royal, with the one closest to Royal listed first.
    • Hawkinsville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Finleyson
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Finleyson is located in Pulaski County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Finleyson
  • Twiggs County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Royal, with the one closest to Royal listed first.
    • Danville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Marion
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Marion is located in Twiggs County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marion
    • Jeffersonville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Huber
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Huber is located in Twiggs County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huber
    • Dry Branch
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
  • Wilcox County
    • Pineview
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
  • Wilkinson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Royal, with the one closest to Royal listed first.
    • Irwinton
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Dedrich
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Dedrich is located in Wilkinson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dedrich
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 2,146 people
    • McIntyre
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Gordon
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Gordon is located in Wilkinson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gordon
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,819 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gordon <1>

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

Cemeteries Near Royal ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Royal.

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

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

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

  • Walker Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Cedar Hill Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Simpson Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Jones Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • James Dykes Memorial Park
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • ElSharath MB Church Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for ElSharath MB Church Cemetery
    • The ElSharath MB Church Cemetery has also been known as:
    • El Sharath MB Church Cemetery
  • Lizzy Harold Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Burns Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Pulaski - Bleckley Memorial Gardens
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Hart Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Aires - Meadows Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Walters Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (283 more) ...

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 Royal in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Royal.

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

  • Westlake
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Westlake is located in Twiggs County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westlake
  • Empire
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Empire is located in Dodge County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Empire
  • Carne ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Carne is located in Dodge County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carne
  • Dubois
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Dubois is located in Dodge County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dubois
  • Hawkinsville
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Gresston
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Gresston is located in Dodge County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gresston
  • Chester
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
  • Allentown
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Kathleen
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Hayneville
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Hayneville is located in Houston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hayneville
  • Bonaire
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Dempsey
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Dempsey is located in Dodge County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dempsey
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Grovania
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Grovania is located in Houston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grovania
    • Beehive ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Beehive is located in Dodge County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beehive
    • Nameless
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Nameless is located in Laurens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nameless

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

Newspapers Published in Royal ...

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 24 newspapers that have been published in the area around Royal.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Royal, there are papers which were published within 20 miles [32.2 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Royal.

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 helpful 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 Royal:

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 Royal, 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Royal) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.