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 Level (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 Level. 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.
Big Level is located in Stone County.
To see how the shape of Mississippi's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Stone County: Forrest, George, Hancock, Harrison, Jackson, Pearl River & Perry.
Below are the counties that are near Big Level. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Big Level:
- Stone County (The home county of Big Level)
- The following are listed by their distance from Big Level, with the one closest to Big Level listed first.
- Wiggins
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- McHenry
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- McHenry is located in Stone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McHenry
- Smith Town
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Smith Town is located in Stone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smith Town
- Forrest County
- The following are listed by their distance from Big Level, with the one closest to Big Level listed first.
- Carnes
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Carnes is located in Forrest County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carnes
- Brooklyn
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- McLaurin
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- McLaurin is located in Forrest County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McLaurin
- George County
- The following are listed by their distance from Big Level, with the one closest to Big Level listed first.
- Bexley
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Bexley is located in George County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bexley
- Lucedale
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Greene County
- McLain
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- McLain is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McLain
- Population from the 2020 Census: 430 people
- Hancock County
- Necaise
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Necaise is located in Hancock County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Necaise
- Harrison County
- The following are listed by their distance from Big Level, with the one closest to Big Level listed first.
- Howison
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Howison is located in Harrison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howison
- Saucier
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Wortham
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Wortham is located in Harrison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wortham
- Lyman
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Lyman is located in Harrison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyman
- Wool Market
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Wool Market is located in Harrison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wool Market
- Wool Market has also been known as:
- Woolmarket
- Coalville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Coalville is located in Harrison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coalville
- Lorraine Community ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Lorraine Community is located in Harrison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lorraine Community
- D'Iberville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- North Gulfport
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- North Gulfport is located in Harrison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Gulfport
- Beauvoir
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Beauvoir is located in Harrison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beauvoir
- Biloxi
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Mississippi City
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Mississippi City is located in Harrison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mississippi City
- Jackson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Big Level, with the one closest to Big Level listed first.
- Latimer
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Latimer is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Latimer
- Brewton ‑ Historic
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Brewton is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brewton
- Brewton has also been known as:
- Brewer's Bluff
- Americus ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Americus is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Americus
- Gulf Hills
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Gulf Hills is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gulf Hills
- Saint Martin
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Saint Martin is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Martin
- Vancleave
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Wade
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Wade is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wade
- Lamar County
- The following are listed by their distance from Big Level, with the one closest to Big Level listed first.
- Lumberton
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Wells Town
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Wells Town is located in Lamar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wells Town
- Purvis
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Pearl River County
- The following are listed by their distance from Big Level, with the one closest to Big Level listed first.
- Juniper Grove
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Juniper Grove is located in Pearl River County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Juniper Grove
- Hillsdale
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Hillsdale is located in Pearl River County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillsdale
- Poplarville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Perry County
- The following are listed by their distance from Big Level, with the one closest to Big Level listed first.
- Beaumont
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Beaumont is located in Perry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaumont
- Population from the 2020 Census: 894 people
- New Augusta
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Wingate
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Wingate is located in Perry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wingate
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Big Level, see our County-by-County Page for Big Level.
Cemeteries Near Big Level ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Big Level.
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 Level - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Big Level covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Big Level, with the one closest to Big Level listed first.
- Lott Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Whites Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Taylor Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Hickman Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Bond Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Sumrall Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Moore Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Landmark Missionary Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Woodlawn Park Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Welcome Hill Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Green Valley Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Hickman Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Continue List (284 more) ...
- Mt. Avery Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Fairley Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Davis Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 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.<2>
While we didn't find Big Level in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Big Level.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Big Level, with the one closest to Big Level listed first.
- Airey
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Airey is located in Harrison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Airey
- Leaf
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Leaf is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leaf
- Wool Market
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Wool Market is located in Harrison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wool Market
- Wool Market has also been known as:
- Woolmarket
- Americus ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Americus is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Americus
- Hillsdale
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Hillsdale is located in Pearl River County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillsdale
- Handsboro
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Handsboro is located in Harrison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Handsboro
- Vancleave
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Orvisburg
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Orvisburg is located in Pearl River County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orvisburg
- Poplarville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Mississippi City
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Mississippi City is located in Harrison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mississippi City
- De Buys
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- De Buys is located in Harrison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for De Buys
- Beauvoir
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Beauvoir is located in Harrison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beauvoir
- Biloxi
(29 miles [46.7 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 Big Level. See our List of 1890's Communities around Big Level.
Newspapers Published in Big Level ...
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 47 newspapers that have been published in the area around Big Level.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Big Level, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Big Level.
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 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 Big Level:
- Websites specific to Mississippi
- Pages specific to Stone County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Forrest County
- George County
- Greene County
- Hancock County
- Harrison County
- Jackson County
- Lamar County
- Pearl River County
- Perry County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Mississippi
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 Level, 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 from Point A (ie- Big Level) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |