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Home >> State of Mississippi >> Lamar County >> Oak Forrest >> 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 Oak Forrest (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 Oak Forrest. 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.

Oak Forrest 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 Oak Forrest. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Oak Forrest:

  • Lamar County     (The home county of Oak Forrest)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oak Forrest, with the one closest to Oak Forrest listed first.
    • West Hattiesburg
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • West Hattiesburg is located in Lamar County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Hattiesburg
    • Purvis
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Sumrall
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Wells Town
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Wells Town is located in Lamar County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wells Town
    • Lumberton
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
  • Covington County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oak Forrest, with the one closest to Oak Forrest listed first.
    • Lux
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Lux is located in Covington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lux
    • Sanford
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Sanford is located in Covington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sanford
    • Seminary
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Kola
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Kola is located in Covington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kola
    • Collins
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Williamsburg
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Williamsburg is located in Covington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williamsburg
  • Forrest County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oak Forrest, with the one closest to Oak Forrest listed first.
    • Hattiesburg
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Petal
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • 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>
    • McLaurin
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • McLaurin is located in Forrest County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McLaurin
    • Goodluck
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Goodluck is located in Forrest County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodluck
    • Brooklyn
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Carnes
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Carnes is located in Forrest County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carnes
  • Jefferson Davis County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oak Forrest, with the one closest to Oak Forrest listed first.
    • Melba
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Melba is located in Jefferson Davis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melba
    • Bassfield
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Bassfield is located in Jefferson Davis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bassfield
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 206 people
  • Jones County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oak Forrest, with the one closest to Oak Forrest listed first.
    • Ellisville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Ovett
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Ovett is located in Jones County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ovett
  • Marion County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oak Forrest, with the one closest to Oak Forrest listed first.
    • Pinebur
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Pinebur is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinebur
    • Columbia
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Expose
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Expose is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Expose
    • Goss
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Goss is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goss
    • Twin
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Twin is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin
  • Pearl River County
    • Hillsdale
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Hillsdale is located in Pearl River County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillsdale
  • Perry County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oak Forrest, with the one closest to Oak Forrest 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
    • Richton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Beaumont
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Beaumont is located in Perry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaumont
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 894 people

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

Cemeteries Near Oak Forrest ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Oak Forrest.

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 Oak Forrest - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Grantham Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Oak Grove Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Bellvue Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Bounds Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Hartfield Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Forest Memorial Park
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Old Eaton Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Nelson Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Lee Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Richburg Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Richburg Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Rawles Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (429 more) ...
    • Magnolia Memorial Gardens
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Oral Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Midway Cemetery #1
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)

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

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

  • Hattiesburg
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Eastabuchie
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Eastabuchie is located in Forrest County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastabuchie
  • Moselle
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Moselle is located in Jones County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moselle
  • Moscos
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Moscos is located in Covington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moscos
  • Columbia
    (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
  • Spring Cottage
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Spring Cottage is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Cottage
  • Hillsdale
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Hillsdale is located in Pearl River County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillsdale
  • Williamsburg
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Williamsburg is located in Covington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williamsburg
  • Ellisville
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Pickwick
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Pickwick is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pickwick
  • Orvisburg
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Orvisburg is located in Pearl River County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orvisburg
  • Ora
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Ora is located in Covington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ora
  • Goss
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Goss is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goss

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

Newspapers Published in Oak Forrest ...

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 31 newspapers that have been published in the area around Oak Forrest.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Oak Forrest, there are papers which were published within 23 miles [37 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Oak Forrest.

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 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 Oak Forrest:

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 Oak Forrest, 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Oak Forrest) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.