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 Old Americus (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 Old Americus. 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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.
Old Americus 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 Old Americus. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Old Americus:
- Jackson County (The home county of Old Americus)
- The following are listed by their distance from Old Americus, with the one closest to Old Americus listed first.
- Americus ‑ Historic
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Americus is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Americus
- Wade
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Wade is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wade
- Hurley
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Brewton ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Brewton is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brewton
- Brewton has also been known as:
- Brewer's Bluff
- Big Point
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Big Point is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Point
- Vancleave
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Coll Town
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Coll Town is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coll Town
- Helena
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Helena is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helena
- Hickory Hills
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Hickory Hills is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Hills
- Martin Bluff
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Martin Bluff is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martin Bluff
- Escatawpa
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Escatawpa is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Escatawpa
- Fort Bayou ‑ Historic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Fort Bayou is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Bayou
- George County
- The following are listed by their distance from Old Americus, with the one closest to Old Americus listed first.
- Agricola
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Howell
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Howell is located in George County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howell
- Lucedale
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Bexley
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Bexley is located in George County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bexley
- Greene County
- The following are listed by their distance from Old Americus, with the one closest to Old Americus listed first.
- Brown Town
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Brown Town is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brown Town
- Hillman
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Hillman is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillman
- Leakesville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- McLain
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- McLain is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McLain
- Population from the 2020 Census: 430 people
- Harrison County
- The following are listed by their distance from Old Americus, with the one closest to Old Americus listed first.
- D'Iberville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Biloxi
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Coalville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Coalville is located in Harrison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coalville
- Wool Market
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Wool Market is located in Harrison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wool Market
- Wool Market has also been known as:
- Woolmarket
- Lorraine Community ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Lorraine Community is located in Harrison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lorraine Community
- Mobile County (AL)
- The following are listed by their distance from Old Americus, with the one closest to Old Americus listed first.
- Wilmer
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Semmes
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Grand Bay
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Saint Elmo
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Saint Elmo is located in Mobile County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Elmo
- Country Club Village
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Country Club Village is located in Mobile County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Country Club Village
- Irvington
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Tillmans Corner
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Tillmans Corner is located in Mobile County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tillmans Corner
- Chunchula
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Chunchula is located in Mobile County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chunchula
- Theodore
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Eight Mile
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Bayou La Batre
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Gulfcrest
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Gulfcrest is located in Mobile County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gulfcrest
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Old Americus, see our County-by-County Page for Old Americus.
Cemeteries Near Old Americus ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Old Americus.
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 Old Americus - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Old Americus covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Old Americus, with the one closest to Old Americus listed first.
- Steede Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Oak Grove Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Carter Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Barton Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Old Mt. Pleasant Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Bethany Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Byrd Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Mt. Pleasant Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Movella Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Cain Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Caswell Springs Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Movella Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Continue List (272 more) ...
- Gibson Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Refuge Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Graham Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 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.<2>
While we didn't find Old Americus in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Old Americus.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Old Americus, with the one closest to Old Americus listed first.
- Americus ‑ Historic
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Americus is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Americus
- Three Rivers
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Three Rivers is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Three Rivers
- Vancleave
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Escatawpa
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Escatawpa is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Escatawpa
- Fort Bayou ‑ Historic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Fort Bayou is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Bayou
- Moss Point
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Orange Grove
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Orange Grove is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orange Grove
- Grand Bay
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Pascagoula
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Fernland
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Fernland is located in Mobile County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fernland
- Ocean Springs
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Saint Elmo
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Saint Elmo is located in Mobile County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Elmo
- Continue List (11 more) ...
- Leaf
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Leaf is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leaf
- Kushla
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Kushla is located in Mobile County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kushla
- Oak Grove
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Oak Grove is located in Mobile County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Old Americus. See our List of 1890's Communities around Old Americus.
Newspapers Published in Old Americus ...
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 18 newspapers that have been published in the area around Old Americus.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Old Americus, there are papers which were published within 24 miles [38.6 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Old Americus.
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 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 Old Americus:
- Websites specific to Mississippi
- Pages specific to Jackson County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- George County
- Greene County
- Harrison 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> | 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 Old Americus, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Old Americus) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |