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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 Pistol Ridge (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 Pistol Ridge. 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.

Name Variations for Pistol Ridge ...

When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might occur.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Pistol Ridge: Pistol Rdg. (or less commonly used: Pistol Rdge. or Pistol Ridg.)

If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.

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 and 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.

Pistol Ridge is located in Forrest 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 Forrest County: Covington, Jones, Lamar, Perry & Stone.

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

  • Forrest County     (The home county of Pistol Ridge)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pistol Ridge, with the one closest to Pistol Ridge listed first.
    • Carnes
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Carnes is located in Forrest County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carnes
    • Brooklyn
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • McLaurin
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • McLaurin is located in Forrest County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McLaurin
    • Hattiesburg
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Petal
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • 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>
    • Goodluck
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Goodluck is located in Forrest County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goodluck
  • Covington County
    • Lux
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Lux is located in Covington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lux
  • Greene County
    • McLain
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • McLain is located in Greene County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McLain
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 430 people
  • Hancock County
    • Necaise
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Necaise is located in Hancock County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Necaise
  • Harrison County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pistol Ridge, with the one closest to Pistol Ridge listed first.
    • Howison
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Howison is located in Harrison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howison
    • Saucier
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Lamar County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pistol Ridge, with the one closest to Pistol Ridge listed first.
    • Lumberton
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Wells Town
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Wells Town is located in Lamar County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wells Town
    • Purvis
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • West Hattiesburg
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • West Hattiesburg is located in Lamar County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Hattiesburg
  • Marion County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pistol Ridge, with the one closest to Pistol Ridge listed first.
    • Pinebur
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Pinebur is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinebur
    • Twin
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Twin is located in Marion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin
  • Pearl River County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pistol Ridge, with the one closest to Pistol Ridge listed first.
    • Hillsdale
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Hillsdale is located in Pearl River County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillsdale
    • Poplarville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Juniper Grove
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Juniper Grove is located in Pearl River County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Juniper Grove
  • Perry County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pistol Ridge, with the one closest to Pistol Ridge listed first.
    • New Augusta
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Wingate
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Wingate is located in Perry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wingate
    • Beaumont
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Beaumont is located in Perry County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaumont
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 894 people
  • Stone County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pistol Ridge, with the one closest to Pistol Ridge listed first.
    • Smith Town
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Smith Town is located in Stone County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smith Town
    • Wiggins
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • McHenry
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • McHenry is located in Stone County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McHenry
  • Washington Parish (LA)
    • Angie
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Angie is located in Washington Parish (LA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Angie
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 246 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Angie <1>

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

Cemeteries Near Pistol Ridge ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Pistol Ridge.

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 Pistol Ridge - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Entrekin Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Battson Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Landrum Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Davis Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Hickory Grove Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Seal Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • J E Bounds Memorial Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Simmons Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Batson Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Slade MB Church Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Anderson Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Granny Bounds Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (271 more) ...
    • Cameron Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Rock Hill Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Union Grove Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)

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

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

  • Hillsdale
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Hillsdale is located in Pearl River County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillsdale
  • Orvisburg
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Orvisburg is located in Pearl River County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orvisburg
  • Poplarville
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Hattiesburg
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
  • Spring Cottage
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Spring Cottage is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Cottage
  • Airey
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Airey is located in Harrison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Airey
  • Eastabuchie
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Eastabuchie is located in Forrest County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastabuchie

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

Newspapers Published in Pistol Ridge ...

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 36 newspapers that have been published in the area around Pistol Ridge.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Pistol Ridge, there are papers which were published within 25 miles [40.2 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Pistol Ridge.

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 Pistol Ridge:

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 Pistol Ridge, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Pistol Ridge) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.