RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Mississippi >> Lamar County >> Hanford >> Genealogy HelperIndex...

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 Hanford (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 Hanford. 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.

Hanford is located in Lamar 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 Lamar County: Covington, Forrest, Jefferson Davis, Marion & Pearl River.

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

  • Lamar County     (The home county of Hanford)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hanford, with the one closest to Hanford listed first.
    • Purvis
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Wells Town
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Wells Town is located in Lamar County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wells Town
    • Lumberton
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • West Hattiesburg
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • West Hattiesburg is located in Lamar County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Hattiesburg
    • Sumrall
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
  • Covington County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hanford, with the one closest to Hanford listed first.
    • Lux
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Lux is located in Covington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lux
    • Sanford
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Sanford is located in Covington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sanford
  • Forrest County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hanford, with the one closest to Hanford listed first.
    • Carnes
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Carnes is located in Forrest County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carnes
    • McLaurin
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • McLaurin is located in Forrest County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McLaurin
    • Brooklyn
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Hattiesburg
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Petal
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Petal is located in Forrest County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Petal
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,692 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Petal <1>
    • Goodluck
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Goodluck is located in Forrest County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodluck
  • Jefferson Davis County
    • Melba
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Melba is located in Jefferson Davis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melba
  • Marion County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hanford, with the one closest to Hanford listed first.
    • Pinebur
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Pinebur is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinebur
    • Twin
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Twin is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin
    • Columbia
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Expose
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Expose is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Expose
  • Pearl River County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hanford, with the one closest to Hanford listed first.
    • Hillsdale
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Hillsdale is located in Pearl River County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillsdale
    • Poplarville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Juniper Grove
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Juniper Grove is located in Pearl River County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Juniper Grove
  • Perry County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hanford, with the one closest to Hanford listed first.
    • New Augusta
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Wingate
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Wingate is located in Perry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wingate
    • Beaumont
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Beaumont is located in Perry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaumont
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 894 people
  • Stone County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hanford, with the one closest to Hanford listed first.
    • Smith Town
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Smith Town is located in Stone County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smith Town
    • Wiggins
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
  • Washington Parish (LA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hanford, with the one closest to Hanford listed first.
    • Angie
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Angie is located in Washington Parish (LA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Angie
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 246 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Angie <1>
    • Varnado
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Varnado is located in Washington Parish (LA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Varnado
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 332 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Varnado <1>

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

Cemeteries Near Hanford ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Hanford.

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

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

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

  • Purvis Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Talowah Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Fillingame Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Coal Town Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Corinth Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Union Grove Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Slade MB Church Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Entrekin Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Little Black Creek Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Seneca Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Slade Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Samuel Slade Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (331 more) ...
    • Pine Grove Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Boone Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Hartfield Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)

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

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

  • Hillsdale
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Hillsdale is located in Pearl River County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillsdale
  • Orvisburg
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Orvisburg is located in Pearl River County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orvisburg
  • Hattiesburg
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Poplarville
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
  • Spring Cottage
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Spring Cottage is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Cottage
  • Eastabuchie
    (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Eastabuchie is located in Forrest County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastabuchie
  • Pickwick
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Pickwick is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pickwick
  • Columbia
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
  • Moselle
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Moselle is located in Jones County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moselle

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

Newspapers Published in Hanford ...

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 37 newspapers that have been published in the area around Hanford.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Hanford, there are papers which were published within 25 miles [40.2 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Hanford.

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 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 Hanford:

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 Hanford, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Hanford) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.