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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 Big Springs (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 Big Springs. 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 Big Springs ...

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.

Big Springs has also been known as: Cliff.

Other variations include: Big Spring and Bigsprings.

  • A typical abbreviation for Big Springs: Big Spgs. (or less commonly used: Big Spngs. or Big Sprngs.)

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Big Springs. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Big Springs.

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 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.

Big Springs is located in Blount County.

To see how the shape of Tennessee's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Blount County: Graham (NC), Swain (NC), Knox, Loudon, Monroe & Sevier.

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

  • Blount County     (The home county of Big Springs)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Big Springs, with the one closest to Big Springs listed first.
    • Friendsville
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Binfield
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Cloyd Creek ‑ Historic
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Cloyd Creek is located in Blount County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cloyd Creek
    • Kiser
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Fairway Estates
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Fairway Estates is located in Blount County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairway Estates
      • Estimated population in 2014: 8,224 people
    • Brick Mill
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • McMullens
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • McMullens is located in Blount County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McMullens
      • Estimated population in 2014: 13,620 people
    • Walnut Hill Estates
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Walnut Hill Estates is located in Blount County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Hill Estates
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 2,394 people
    • Maryville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Louisville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Alcoa
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Alcoa is located in Blount County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alcoa
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,382 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Alcoa <1>
    • Rockgardens
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Rockgardens is located in Blount County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockgardens
      • Estimated population in 2014: 861 people
  • Anderson County
  • Knox County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Big Springs, with the one closest to Big Springs listed first.
    • Concord
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Boyd
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Virtue
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Virtue is located in Knox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virtue
      • Estimated population in 2014: 131 people
    • Belle Aire
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Belle Aire is located in Knox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belle Aire
      • Estimated population in 2014: 512 people
    • Farragut
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Ebenezer
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Aldenwood Park
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Aldenwood Park is located in Knox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aldenwood Park
      • Estimated population in 2014: 8,753 people
    • Kingston Woods
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Kingston Woods is located in Knox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingston Woods
      • Estimated population in 2014: 2,790 people
    • Topside
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Topside is located in Knox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Topside
      • Estimated population in 2014: 346 people
    • Middlebrook Acres
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Middlebrook Acres is located in Knox County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middlebrook Acres
      • Estimated population in 2014: 593 people
    • Arrowhead
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Bonny Kate
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Loudon County
  • McMinn County
  • Meigs County
  • Monroe County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Big Springs, with the one closest to Big Springs listed first.
    • Tuskeegee ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Tuskeegee is located in Monroe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tuskeegee
      • Estimated population in 2014: 2,663 people
    • Vonore
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Toqua ‑ Historic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Halfway Town ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Halfway Town is located in Monroe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halfway Town
    • Ipe ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Ipe is located in Monroe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ipe
    • Acorn
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Ballplay
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Madisonville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Belltown
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Sweetwater
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Jacktown
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Jacktown is located in Monroe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jacktown
      • Estimated population in 2014: 67,319 people
    • Tellico Plains
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Morgan County
  • Roane County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Big Springs, with the one closest to Big Springs listed first.
    • Cave Creek
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Bradbury
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Selkirk ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Selkirk is located in Roane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Selkirk
    • Bear ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Bear is located in Roane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear
    • Wheat ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Ethel ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Ethel is located in Roane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ethel
      • Estimated population in 2014: 2,049 people
    • Kries
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Dyllis
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Laddie Village
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Laddie Village is located in Roane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laddie Village
    • Iron Divide ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Iron Divide is located in Roane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iron Divide
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 328 people
    • Kelley Town
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Kelley Town is located in Roane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelley Town
    • Kingston
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Sevier County
  • Graham County (NC)

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

Cemeteries Near Big Springs ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Big Springs.

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 Big Springs - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

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>

While we didn't find Big Springs in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Big Springs.

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

  • Cloyd Creek ‑ Historic
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Cloyd Creek is located in Blount County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cloyd Creek
  • Clover Hill
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Clover Hill is located in Blount County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clover Hill
  • Kiser
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Meadow
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Meadow is located in Loudon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow
  • Brick Mill
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Unitia
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Unitia is located in Loudon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unitia
  • Disco
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Disco is located in Blount County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Disco
  • Greenback
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Mint
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Mint is located in Blount County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mint
  • Ewing ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Ewing is located in Blount County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ewing
  • Griffitts ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Griffitts is located in Loudon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Griffitts
  • Montvale
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Montvale is located in Blount County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montvale
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Maryville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Louisville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Coytee ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Coytee is located in Loudon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coytee

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

Newspapers Published in Big Springs ...

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 35 newspapers that have been published in the area around Big Springs.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Big Springs, there are papers which were published within 7 miles [11.3 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Big Springs.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to 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 Big Springs:

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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Big Springs) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<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 Big Springs, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.