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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 Pickens (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 Pickens. 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 hospitals 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.

Pickens is located in Holmes 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 Holmes County: Attala, Carroll, Humphreys, Leflore, Madison & Yazoo.

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

  • Holmes County     (The home county of Pickens)
  • Attala County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pickens, with the one closest to Pickens listed first.
    • Newport
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Newport have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newport
      • Newport is located in Attala County
    • Zemuly
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Zemuly. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zemuly
      • Zemuly is located in Attala County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Zemuly
      • From Pickens to Zemuly
    • Sallis
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sallis have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sallis
      • Sallis is located in Attala County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 128 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sallis <2>
    • Possumneck
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Rocky Point
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Rocky Point. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Point
      • Rocky Point is located in Attala County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Rocky Point
      • From Pickens to Rocky Point
    • Kosciusko
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Hesterville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hesterville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hesterville
      • Hesterville is located in Attala County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Hesterville
      • From Pickens to Hesterville
    • Auris ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Auris have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Auris
      • Auris is located in Attala County
  • Humphreys County
    • Lake City
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Lake City. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake City
      • Lake City is located in Humphreys County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Lake City
      • From Pickens to Lake City
  • Leake County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pickens, with the one closest to Pickens listed first.
    • Saint Ann
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Redwater
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Redwater have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redwater
      • Redwater is located in Leake County
    • Carthage
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Lena
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Madison County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pickens, with the one closest to Pickens listed first.
    • Sharpsburg
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Sharpsburg. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sharpsburg
      • Sharpsburg is located in Madison County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Sharpsburg
      • From Pickens to Sharpsburg
    • Camden
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Davis
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Davis. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Davis
      • Davis is located in Madison County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Davis
      • From Pickens to Davis
    • Cobbville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Cobbville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cobbville
      • Cobbville is located in Madison County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Cobbville
      • From Pickens to Cobbville
    • Sharon
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Mill Town
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mill Town have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mill Town
      • Mill Town is located in Madison County
    • Maris Town
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maris Town have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maris Town
      • Maris Town is located in Madison County
    • Canton
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Madisonville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Kearney Park
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Mannsdale
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Mannsdale. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mannsdale
      • Mannsdale is located in Madison County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Mannsdale
      • From Pickens to Mannsdale
    • Flora
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Rankin County
  • Scott County
  • Yazoo County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pickens, with the one closest to Pickens listed first.
    • Vaughan
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Vaughan. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vaughan
      • Vaughan is located in Yazoo County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Vaughan
      • From Pickens to Vaughan
    • Fordyke
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Fordyke. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fordyke
      • Fordyke is located in Yazoo County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Fordyke
      • From Pickens to Fordyke
    • Evans
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Evans. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evans
      • Evans is located in Yazoo County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Evans
      • From Pickens to Evans
    • Nod
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Nod. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nod
      • Nod is located in Yazoo County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Nod
      • From Pickens to Nod
    • Eden
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eden have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eden
      • Eden is located in Yazoo County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 128 people
    • Pearce ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pearce have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pearce
      • Pearce is located in Yazoo County
    • Dover ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dover have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dover
      • Dover is located in Yazoo County
    • Yazoo City
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Crump
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Crump. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crump
      • Crump is located in Yazoo County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Crump
      • From Pickens to Crump
    • Jonestown
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Anding
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Bentonia
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bentonia have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bentonia
      • Bentonia is located in Yazoo County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 410 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bentonia <2>

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

Cemeteries Near Pickens ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Pickens.

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

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

  • Quiet Ridge Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Quiet Ridge Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Quiet Ridge Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Pickens Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pickens Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pickens Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hart Town Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hart Town Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hart Town Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Strangers Home Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Strangers Home Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Strangers Home Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bethel Church Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bethel Church Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bethel Church Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Free Union Church Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Free Union Church Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Free Union Church Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bethlehem Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bethlehem Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bethlehem Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Central Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Central Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Central Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Falls Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Falls Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Falls Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • New Zion Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the New Zion Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the New Zion Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Old Truelight Church Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Truelight Church Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Truelight Church Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mitchell Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mitchell Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mitchell Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (388 more) ...
    • Anderson Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Peaster Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Peaster Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Peaster Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Soule Chapel Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Soule Chapel Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Soule Chapel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 Pickens had a population of 600 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Pickens had a population of 976 people.

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

  • Shrock ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shrock have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shrock
    • Shrock is located in Attala County
  • Vaughan
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Vaughan. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vaughan
    • Vaughan is located in Yazoo County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Vaughan
    • From Pickens to Vaughan
  • Oaks
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oaks have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oaks
    • Oaks is located in Madison County
  • Cameron
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cameron have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cameron
    • Cameron is located in Madison County
  • Goodman
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Goodman have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodman
    • Goodman is located in Holmes County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,152 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Goodman <2>
  • Richland
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Deasonville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Deasonville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deasonville
    • Deasonville is located in Yazoo County
  • Sharpsburg
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Sharpsburg. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sharpsburg
    • Sharpsburg is located in Madison County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Sharpsburg
    • From Pickens to Sharpsburg
  • Ebenezer
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ebenezer have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ebenezer
    • Ebenezer is located in Holmes County
  • Fordyke
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Fordyke. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fordyke
    • Fordyke is located in Yazoo County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Fordyke
    • From Pickens to Fordyke
  • Camden
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Franklin
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Franklin have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin
    • Franklin is located in Holmes County
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Evans
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Evans. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evans
      • Evans is located in Yazoo County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Evans
      • From Pickens to Evans
    • Newport
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Newport have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newport
      • Newport is located in Attala County
    • Zeiglerville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Zeiglerville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zeiglerville
      • Zeiglerville is located in Holmes County

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Pickens ...

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 51 newspapers that have been published in the area around Pickens.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Pickens. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Pickens and those printed in the larger area surrounding Pickens.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 25 miles [40.2 km]<5> of Pickens.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 Pickens:

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

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Pickens, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<5>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- Pickens) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Pickens. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 32.8869, Longitude: -89.9707    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025