RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Mississippi >> Jefferson Davis County >> Oak Vale >> Genealogy HelperIndex...










Learn About
The Commemorative
Quarter for
Mississippi

The Commemorative Quarter for Mississippi





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 Vale (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 Vale. 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 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 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.

Oak Vale is primarily located in Jefferson Davis County. A portion of Oak Vale extends into Jefferson County and Lawrence 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 Jefferson Davis County: Covington, Lamar, Lawrence, Marion & Simpson.

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

  • Jefferson Davis County     (The home county of Oak Vale)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oak Vale, with the one closest to Oak Vale listed first.
    • Prentiss
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Bassfield
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bassfield have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bassfield
      • Bassfield is located in Jefferson Davis County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 206 people
  • Covington County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oak Vale, with the one closest to Oak Vale listed first.
    • Williamsburg
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Arbo
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Arbo. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arbo
      • Arbo is located in Covington County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Arbo
      • From Oak Vale to Arbo
    • Collins
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Collins have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Collins
      • Collins is located in Covington County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,417 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Collins <1>
    • Seminary
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Seminary have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seminary
      • Seminary is located in Covington County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 284 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Seminary <1>
    • Kola
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Mount Olive
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Olive have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Olive
      • Mount Olive is located in Covington County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 896 people
  • Lamar County
  • Lawrence County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oak Vale, with the one closest to Oak Vale listed first.
    • Tilton
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Tilton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tilton
      • Tilton is located in Lawrence County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Tilton
      • From Oak Vale to Tilton
    • Arm
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Silver Creek
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Silver Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Creek
      • Silver Creek is located in Lawrence County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 197 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Silver Creek <1>
    • Monticello
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Monticello have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monticello
      • Monticello is located in Lawrence County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,447 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Monticello <1>
    • Hooker
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hooker. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hooker
      • Hooker is located in Lawrence County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Hooker
      • From Oak Vale to Hooker
    • Rosella
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Grange ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Grange. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grange
      • Grange is located in Lawrence County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Grange
      • From Oak Vale to Grange
    • Verna
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Verna. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Verna
      • Verna is located in Lawrence County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Verna
      • From Oak Vale to Verna
    • New Hebron
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Hebron have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Hebron
      • New Hebron is located in Lawrence County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 413 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for New Hebron <1>
    • Nola
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Tryus
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Tryus. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tryus
      • Tryus is located in Lawrence County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Tryus
      • From Oak Vale to Tryus
  • Lincoln County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oak Vale, with the one closest to Oak Vale listed first.
    • Wellman
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Wellman. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellman
      • Wellman is located in Lincoln County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Wellman
      • From Oak Vale to Wellman
    • Brookhaven
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Norfield
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Norfield. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norfield
      • Norfield is located in Lincoln County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Norfield
      • From Oak Vale to Norfield
    • Montgomery
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Montgomery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montgomery
      • Montgomery is located in Lincoln County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Montgomery
      • From Oak Vale to Montgomery
  • Marion County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oak Vale, with the one closest to Oak Vale listed first.
    • Goss
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • 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.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goss
      • Goss is located in Marion County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Goss
      • From Oak Vale to Goss
    • Expose
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • 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.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Expose
      • Expose is located in Marion County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Expose
      • From Oak Vale to Expose
    • Columbia
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Kokomo
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Pinebur
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Pike County
  • Simpson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oak Vale, with the one closest to Oak Vale listed first.
    • Shivers
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Jaynesville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Westville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Westville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westville
      • Westville is located in Simpson County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Westville
      • From Oak Vale to Westville
  • Walthall County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oak Vale, with the one closest to Oak Vale listed first.
    • Sartinville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Tylertown
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • 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 <1>

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

Cemeteries Near Oak Vale ...

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

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 Oak Vale covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Parkman Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Parkman Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Parkman Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bass Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bass Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bass Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Oglesby Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oglesby Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oglesby Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hepzibah Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hepzibah Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hepzibah Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Branton Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Branton Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Branton Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Sauls Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sauls Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sauls Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hayes Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hayes Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hayes Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Williamson Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Williamson Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Williamson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Nelson Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Nelson Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Nelson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bourne Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bourne Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bourne Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Society Hill Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Society Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Society Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Buckley Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Buckley Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Buckley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (561 more) ...
    • Palestine Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Palestine Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Palestine Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Taylor Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Taylor Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Taylor Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Bozeman Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bozeman Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bozeman 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.<4>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Oak Vale had a population of 12 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Tilton
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Tilton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tilton
    • Tilton is located in Lawrence County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Tilton
    • From Oak Vale to Tilton
  • Goss
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • 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.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goss
    • Goss is located in Marion County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Goss
    • From Oak Vale to Goss
  • Silver Creek
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Silver Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Creek
    • Silver Creek is located in Lawrence County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 197 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Silver Creek <1>
  • Monticello
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Monticello have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monticello
    • Monticello is located in Lawrence County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,447 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Monticello <1>
  • Hooker
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hooker. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hooker
    • Hooker is located in Lawrence County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Hooker
    • From Oak Vale to Hooker
  • Columbia
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Grange ‑ Historic
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Grange. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grange
    • Grange is located in Lawrence County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Grange
    • From Oak Vale to Grange
  • Fair River
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fair River have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fair River
    • Fair River is located in Lincoln County
  • Topisaw
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Ruth
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ruth have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruth
    • Ruth is located in Lincoln County
  • Pickwick
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • 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
  • Tryus
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Tryus. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tryus
    • Tryus is located in Lawrence County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Tryus
    • From Oak Vale to Tryus
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Wellman
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Wellman. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellman
      • Wellman is located in Lincoln County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Wellman
      • From Oak Vale to Wellman
    • Williamsburg
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Shivers
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)

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

Newspapers Published in Oak Vale ...

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 21 newspapers that have been published in the area around Oak Vale.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Oak Vale, there are papers which were published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Oak Vale.

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 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 Vale:

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

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

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 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>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.
<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 Oak Vale, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<5>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 Vale) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Oak Vale. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.4398, Longitude: -89.9640    









 

Copyright 2025
All Rights Reserved

Thank you for visiting our website.

In closing, please keep in mind that we can not guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of the information on this website, so use with care. We encourage you to double-check the information that is critical to you.

If you've found an error or have additional information that you would like to share, please don't hesitate to write: Click here to contact us.

This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025