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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 Fords Creek (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 Fords Creek. 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 Fords Creek ...

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 have occurred.

  • A typical abbreviation for Fords Creek: Fords Crk. (or less commonly used: Fords Ck. or Fords Cr.)
  • While the name of this community is Fords Creek, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Fords Creek may originally have been Ford's Creek.

    Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Fords Creek might be written as Ford Creek.

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/Parishes ...

When searching for family records, we have frequently made the mistake of not checking the neighboring counties/parishes.

For example, we have great-grandparents who lived in the northeast 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 north.

So when searching for records, we had our best success by looking in neighboring counties/parishes 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 north contained their burial records. If we hadn't included the neighboring counties/parishes, we would have missed many valuable sources of information.

If you're in a similar situation, we hope that the following information helps.

Fords Creek is located in Pearl River County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Pearl River County: Saint Tammany (LA), Washington (LA), Forrest, Hancock, Lamar, Marion & Stone.

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

  • Pearl River County     (The home county of Fords Creek)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fords Creek, with the one closest to Fords Creek listed first.
    • Poplarville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Poplarville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poplarville
      • Poplarville is located in Pearl River County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,780 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Poplarville <3>
    • Juniper Grove
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Juniper Grove
      • Juniper Grove is located in Pearl River County
    • Picayune
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Picayune have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Picayune
      • Picayune is located in Pearl River County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,886 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Picayune <3>
  • Forrest County
    • Carnes
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carnes
      • Carnes is located in Forrest County
  • Hancock County
    • Necaise
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Necaise
      • Necaise is located in Hancock County
  • Lamar County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fords Creek, with the one closest to Fords Creek listed first.
    • Wells Town
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wells Town have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wells Town
      • Wells Town is located in Lamar County
    • Lumberton
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lumberton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lumberton
      • Lumberton is located in Lamar County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,242 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lumberton <3>
    • Purvis
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Purvis have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Purvis
      • Purvis is located in Lamar County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,398 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Purvis <3>
  • Marion County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fords Creek, with the one closest to Fords Creek listed first.
    • Pinebur
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinebur
      • Pinebur is located in Marion County
    • Columbia
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Kokomo
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Expose
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Expose. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Expose
      • Expose is located in Marion County
    • Goss
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Goss. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goss
      • Goss is located in Marion County
  • Stone County
    • Smith Town
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Smith Town have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smith Town
      • Smith Town is located in Stone County
  • Walthall County
    • Tylertown
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tylertown have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tylertown
      • Tylertown is located in Walthall County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,419 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tylertown <3>
  • Saint Tammany Parish (LA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fords Creek, with the one closest to Fords Creek listed first.
    • Sun
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sun have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sun
      • Sun is located in Saint Tammany Parish (LA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 498 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sun <3>
    • Bush
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Talisheek
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Washington Parish (LA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fords Creek, with the one closest to Fords Creek listed first.
    • Angie
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Angie have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Angie
      • Angie is located in Washington Parish (LA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 246 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Angie <3>
    • Varnado
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Varnado have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Varnado
      • Varnado is located in Washington Parish (LA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 332 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Varnado <3>
    • Bogalusa
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bogalusa have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bogalusa
      • Bogalusa is located in Washington Parish (LA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 11,412 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bogalusa <3>
    • Lees Creek
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lees Creek
      • Lees Creek is located in Washington Parish (LA)
    • Pine
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine
      • Pine is located in Washington Parish (LA)
    • Enon
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Enon
      • Enon is located in Washington Parish (LA)
    • Franklinton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)

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

Cemeteries Near Fords Creek ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Fords Creek.

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 Fords Creek covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Ford Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ford Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ford Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • New Hope Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the New Hope Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the New Hope Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Pleasant Valley Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pleasant Valley Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pleasant Valley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Richie Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Richie Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Richie Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Old Live Oak Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Live Oak Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Live Oak Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Old Fornea Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Fornea Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Fornea Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Rose Hill Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rose Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rose Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Howard Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Howard Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Howard Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Ford Chapel Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ford Chapel Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ford Chapel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bonnie Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bonnie Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bonnie Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Fornea Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fornea Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fornea Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Myrtle Grove Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Myrtle Grove Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Myrtle Grove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (365 more) ...
    • Clear Creek Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Clear Creek Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Clear Creek Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Sandy Hook Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sandy Hook Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sandy Hook Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Wesley Ray Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wesley Ray Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wesley Ray Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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

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

  • Spring Cottage
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spring Cottage have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Cottage
    • Spring Cottage is located in Marion County
  • Orvisburg
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Orvisburg have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orvisburg
    • Orvisburg is located in Pearl River County
  • Poplarville
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Poplarville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poplarville
    • Poplarville is located in Pearl River County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,780 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Poplarville <3>
  • Hillsdale
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hillsdale have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillsdale
    • Hillsdale is located in Pearl River County
  • Chinquapin
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chinquapin have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chinquapin
    • Chinquapin is located in Pearl River County
  • Pickwick
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pickwick have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pickwick
    • Pickwick is located in Marion County
  • Lees Creek
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lees Creek
    • Lees Creek is located in Washington Parish (LA)
  • Columbia
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
  • Sun
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sun have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sun
    • Sun is located in Saint Tammany Parish (LA)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 498 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sun <3>
  • Zona
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Zona have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zona
    • Zona is located in Washington Parish (LA)
  • Franklinton
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)

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

Newspapers Published in Fords Creek ...

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 25 newspapers that have been published in the area around Fords Creek.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Fords Creek, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Fords Creek.

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 Fords Creek:

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

The official website for Pearl River County: www.pearlrivercounty.net/

The official website for State of Mississippi: https://www.ms.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties).
<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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<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 Fords Creek, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>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- Fords Creek) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Fords Creek. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 30.9485, Longitude: -89.6898       In this case, the coordinates for Fords Creek have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025