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 Gaston (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 Gaston. 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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors 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 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, we would have missed many valuable sources of information.
If you're in a similar situation, we hope that the following information helps.
Gaston is located in Prentiss 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 Prentiss County: Alcorn, Itawamba, Tippah, Tishomingo & Union.
Below are the counties that are near Gaston. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Gaston:
- Prentiss County (The home county of Gaston)
- The following are listed by their distance from Gaston, with the one closest to Gaston listed first.
- Pisgah
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Pisgah is located in Prentiss County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pisgah
- Booneville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Jumpertown
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Jumpertown is located in Prentiss County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jumpertown
- Population from the 2020 Census: 477 people
- Lake City
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Lake City is located in Prentiss County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake City
- Blackland
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Blackland is located in Prentiss County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackland
- Wheeler
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Wheeler is located in Prentiss County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheeler
- Altitude
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Altitude is located in Prentiss County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Altitude
- Geeville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Geeville is located in Prentiss County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Geeville
- Baldwyn
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- New Site
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- New Site is located in Prentiss County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Site
- Burton
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Burton is located in Prentiss County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burton
- Marietta
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Marietta is located in Prentiss County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marietta
- Population from the 2020 Census: 253 people
- Alcorn County
- The following are listed by their distance from Gaston, with the one closest to Gaston listed first.
- Rienzi
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Rienzi is located in Alcorn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rienzi
- Population from the 2020 Census: 304 people
- Biggersville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Biggersville is located in Alcorn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Biggersville
- Searcy Town
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Searcy Town is located in Alcorn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Searcy Town
- Hightown
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Hightown is located in Alcorn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hightown
- Allentown
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Allentown is located in Alcorn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allentown
- Jacinto
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Jacinto is located in Alcorn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jacinto
- Kossuth
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Glen
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Glen is located in Alcorn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen
- Population from the 2020 Census: 406 people
- Glens
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Glens is located in Alcorn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glens
- Corinth
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Farmington
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Farmington is located in Alcorn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmington
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,160 people
- Itawamba County
- The following are listed by their distance from Gaston, with the one closest to Gaston listed first.
- Kirkville
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Kirkville is located in Itawamba County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kirkville
- Mantachie
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Lee County
- The following are listed by their distance from Gaston, with the one closest to Gaston listed first.
- Guntown
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Corrona
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Corrona is located in Lee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corrona
- Boggan Bend
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Boggan Bend is located in Lee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boggan Bend
- Birmingham
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Birmingham is located in Lee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Birmingham
- Jug Fork
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Jug Fork is located in Lee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jug Fork
- Saltillo
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Indian Hills
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Indian Hills is located in Lee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Hills
- Mooreville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Mooreville is located in Lee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mooreville
- Pontotoc County
- Sherman
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Tippah County
- The following are listed by their distance from Gaston, with the one closest to Gaston listed first.
- Dumas
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Dumas is located in Tippah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dumas
- Population from the 2020 Census: 474 people
- Clarysville
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Clarysville is located in Tippah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarysville
- Ripley
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Falkner
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Tiplersville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Tiplersville is located in Tippah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tiplersville
- Walnut
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Blue Mountain
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Blue Mountain is located in Tippah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Mountain
- Population from the 2020 Census: 933 people
- Lowrey
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Lowrey is located in Tippah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lowrey
- Whitten Town
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Whitten Town is located in Tippah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitten Town
- Gravestown
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Gravestown is located in Tippah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gravestown
- Tishomingo County
- The following are listed by their distance from Gaston, with the one closest to Gaston listed first.
- Holcut
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Holcut is located in Tishomingo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holcut
- Burnsville
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Paden
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Paden is located in Tishomingo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paden
- Population from the 2020 Census: 112 people
- Midway
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Midway is located in Tishomingo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midway
- Tishomingo
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Dennis
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Dennis is located in Tishomingo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dennis
- Iuka
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Iuka is located in Tishomingo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iuka
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,928 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Iuka <1>
- Belmont
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Oldham
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Oldham is located in Tishomingo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oldham
- Short
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Short is located in Tishomingo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Short
- Golden
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Union County
- The following are listed by their distance from Gaston, with the one closest to Gaston listed first.
- Graham
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Graham is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graham
- Alpine
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Alpine is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpine
- Molino
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Molino is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Molino
- Ellistown
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Ellistown is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellistown
- Mound City
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Mound City is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mound City
- Blue Springs
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- New Albany
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Glenfield
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Glenfield is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenfield
- Colbert County (AL)
- The following are listed by their distance from Gaston, with the one closest to Gaston listed first.
- Bishop
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Bishop is located in Colbert County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bishop
- Good Springs ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Good Springs is located in Colbert County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Good Springs
- Caryton ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Caryton is located in Colbert County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caryton
- Hardeman County (TN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Gaston, with the one closest to Gaston listed first.
- Essary Springs
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Essary Springs is located in Hardeman County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Essary Springs
- Middleton
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Hardin County (TN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Gaston, with the one closest to Gaston listed first.
- Nash Landing
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Nash Landing is located in Hardin County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nash Landing
- Slab Town ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Slab Town is located in Hardin County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slab Town
- McNairy County (TN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Gaston, with the one closest to Gaston listed first.
- Chewalla
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Chewalla is located in McNairy County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chewalla
- Guys
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Guys is located in McNairy County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guys
- Population from the 2020 Census: 430 people
- Caffey
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Caffey is located in McNairy County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caffey
- Michie
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Ramer
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Eastview
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Eastview is located in McNairy County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastview
- Population from the 2020 Census: 702 people
- Tulu
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Tulu is located in McNairy County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tulu
- Estimated population in 2014: 18,899 people
- Falcon
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Falcon is located in McNairy County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falcon
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Gaston, see our County-by-County Page for Gaston.
Cemeteries Near Gaston ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Gaston.
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 Gaston - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Gaston covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Gaston, with the one closest to Gaston listed first.
- Gaston Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Betts Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Oak Hill Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Carolina Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Oaklawn Memorial Park
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Campground Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Pisgah Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Morton Chapel Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Crossroads Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crossroads Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Crossroads Cemetery is located in Jumpertown.
- The Crossroads Cemetery has also been known as:
- Crossroads Church Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1960154 <3>
- Wolf Creek Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Booneville Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Rienzi Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Continue List (567 more) ...
- Rienzi Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Jumpertown Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Blackland Cemetery
(5 miles [8 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.<4>
While we didn't find Gaston in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Gaston.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Gaston, with the one closest to Gaston listed first.
- Booneville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Blackland
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Blackland is located in Prentiss County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackland
- Rienzi
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Rienzi is located in Alcorn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rienzi
- Population from the 2020 Census: 304 people
- Altitude
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Altitude is located in Prentiss County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Altitude
- Hightown
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Hightown is located in Alcorn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hightown
- Geeville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Geeville is located in Prentiss County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Geeville
- Jacinto
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Jacinto is located in Alcorn County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jacinto
- Kossuth
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Silver Springs
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Silver Springs is located in Tippah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Springs
- Baldwyn
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Mitchell
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Mitchell is located in Tippah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mitchell
- Dumas
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Dumas is located in Tippah County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dumas
- Population from the 2020 Census: 474 people
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- New Site
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- New Site is located in Prentiss County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Site
- Graham
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Graham is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graham
- Bethany
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Bethany is located in Lee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bethany
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Gaston. See our List of 1890's Communities around Gaston.
Newspapers Published in Gaston ...
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 Gaston.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Gaston, there are papers which were published within 25 miles [40.2 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Gaston.
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 professional and volunteer 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 Gaston:
- Websites specific to Mississippi
- Pages specific to Prentiss County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Alcorn County
- Itawamba County
- Lee County
- Pontotoc County
- Tippah County
- Tishomingo County
- Union County
- Colbert County
- Hardeman County
- Hardin County
- McNairy 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> | 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Gaston) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | 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 Gaston, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |