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 Missala (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 Missala. 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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.
Missala is located in Jackson 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 Jackson County: Mobile (AL), George, Harrison & Stone.
Below are the counties that are near Missala. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Missala:
- Jackson County (The home county of Missala)
- The following are listed by their distance from Missala, with the one closest to Missala listed first.
- Orange Grove
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Orange Grove is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orange Grove
- Helena
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Helena is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helena
- Escatawpa
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Escatawpa is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Escatawpa
- Moss Point
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Eastside
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Eastside is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastside
- Coll Town
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Coll Town is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coll Town
- Big Point
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Big Point is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Point
- Pascagoula
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Hickory Hills
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Hickory Hills is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Hills
- Martin Bluff
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Martin Bluff is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martin Bluff
- Hurley
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Gautier
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Wade
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Wade is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wade
- George County
- The following are listed by their distance from Missala, with the one closest to Missala listed first.
- Howell
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Howell is located in George County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howell
- Agricola
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Harrison County
- The following are listed by their distance from Missala, with the one closest to Missala listed first.
- Biloxi
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- D'Iberville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Baldwin County (AL)
- The following are listed by their distance from Missala, with the one closest to Missala listed first.
- Fort Morgan ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Point Clear
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Fairhope
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Mobile County (AL)
- The following are listed by their distance from Missala, with the one closest to Missala listed first.
- Grand Bay
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Bayou La Batre
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Saint Elmo
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Saint Elmo is located in Mobile County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Elmo
- Irvington
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Coden
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Theodore
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Tillmans Corner
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Tillmans Corner is located in Mobile County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tillmans Corner
- Bellefontaine
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Bellefontaine is located in Mobile County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellefontaine
- Mon Louis
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Mon Louis is located in Mobile County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mon Louis
- Alabama Port
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Alabama Port is located in Mobile County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alabama Port
- Country Club Village
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Country Club Village is located in Mobile County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Country Club Village
- Dauphin Island
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Dauphin Island is located in Mobile County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dauphin Island
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,366 people
- Semmes
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Missala, see our County-by-County Page for Missala.
Cemeteries Near Missala ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Missala.
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 Missala - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Missala covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Missala, with the one closest to Missala listed first.
- Kivisto Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Dees Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Grand Bay Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Hamilton Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Orange Grove Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Pine Hill Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Piner McGrew Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Forts Lake Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Evergreen Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Tates Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Zion Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Evergreen Memorial Gardens
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Continue List (178 more) ...
- St. Paul Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Macpelah Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Jackson County Memorial Park
(9 miles [14.5 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.<3>
While we didn't find Missala in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Missala.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Missala, with the one closest to Missala listed first.
- Grand Bay
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Orange Grove
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Orange Grove is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orange Grove
- Fernland
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Fernland is located in Mobile County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fernland
- Moss Point
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Bayou La Batre
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Escatawpa
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Escatawpa is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Escatawpa
- Saint Elmo
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Saint Elmo is located in Mobile County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Elmo
- Pascagoula
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Coden
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Fowl River
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Fowl River is located in Mobile County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fowl River
- Three Rivers
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Three Rivers is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Three Rivers
- Theodore
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Mon Louis
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Mon Louis is located in Mobile County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mon Louis
- Vancleave
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Fort Bayou ‑ Historic
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Fort Bayou is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Bayou
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Missala. See our List of 1890's Communities around Missala.
Newspapers Published in Missala ...
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 9 newspapers that have been published in the area around Missala.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Missala, there are papers which were published within 22 miles [35.4 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Missala.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we 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 Missala:
- Websites specific to Mississippi
- Pages specific to Jackson County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- George County
- Harrison County
- Baldwin County
- Mobile 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> | 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 Missala, 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' (or 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- Missala) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |