RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Tennessee >> Lauderdale County >> Gates >> Genealogy HelperIndex...

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 Gates (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 Gates. 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.

Gates is located in Lauderdale 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 Lauderdale County: Mississippi (AR), Crockett, Dyer, Haywood & Tipton.

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

  • Lauderdale County     (The home county of Gates)
  • Crockett County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Gates, with the one closest to Gates listed first.
    • Chestnut Bluff
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Maury City
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Maury City is located in Crockett County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maury City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 653 people
    • Friendship
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Maury Junction
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Maury Junction is located in Crockett County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maury Junction
      • Estimated population in 2014: 679 people
    • Johnsons Grove
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Crockett Mills
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Elizabeth
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Elizabeth is located in Crockett County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elizabeth
      • Estimated population in 2014: 14,271 people
    • Alamo
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Bells
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Fruitvale
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Gadsden
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Gadsden is located in Crockett County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gadsden
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 468 people
  • Dyer County
  • Gibson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Gates, with the one closest to Gates listed first.
    • Brazil
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Yorkville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Yorkville is located in Gibson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yorkville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 252 people
    • Humboldt
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Trenton
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Dyer
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Tilghman
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Rutherford
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Hancock County
  • Haywood County
  • Lake County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Gates, with the one closest to Gates listed first.
    • Ridgely
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Powells Ferry
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Powells Ferry is located in Lake County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powells Ferry
      • Estimated population in 2014: 1,319 people
  • Madison County
  • Tipton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Gates, with the one closest to Gates listed first.
    • Gift
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Gift is located in Tipton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gift
      • Estimated population in 2014: 378 people
    • Covington
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Charleston
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Charleston is located in Tipton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charleston
      • Estimated population in 2014: 671 people
    • Bride
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Garland
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Garland is located in Tipton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garland
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 300 people
    • Mount Carmel
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Mount Carmel is located in Tipton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Carmel
      • Estimated population in 2014: 5,453 people
    • Walnut Grove
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Walnut Grove is located in Tipton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Grove
    • Gailor
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Gailor is located in Tipton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gailor
      • Estimated population in 2014: 468 people
    • Burlison
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Detroit
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Brighton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Clopton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Clopton is located in Tipton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clopton
      • Estimated population in 2014: 9,889 people
  • Mississippi County (AR)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Gates, with the one closest to Gates listed first.
    • Barfield
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Armorel
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Armorel is located in Mississippi County (AR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Armorel
    • Blytheville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Burdette
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Luxora
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Luxora is located in Mississippi County (AR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Luxora
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,007 people
  • Pemiscot County (MO)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Gates, with the one closest to Gates listed first.
    • Cooter
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Cooter is located in Pemiscot County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooter
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 397 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cooter <1>
    • Caruthersville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Holland
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Holland is located in Pemiscot County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holland
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 193 people
    • Steele
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Steele is located in Pemiscot County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Steele
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,853 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Steele <1>

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

Cemeteries Near Gates ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Gates.

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 Gates - one of the links might be able to help.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Gates, with the one closest to Gates 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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Gates had a population of 204 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Gates had a population of 598 people.

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

  • Halls
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Curve
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Curve is located in Lauderdale County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Curve
  • Abernathy ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Abernathy is located in Lauderdale County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abernathy
  • Forked Deer
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Forked Deer is located in Haywood County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forked Deer
  • Chestnut Bluff
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Dry Hill
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Dry Hill is located in Lauderdale County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dry Hill
  • Flippin
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Woodville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Double Bridges
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Double Bridges is located in Lauderdale County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Double Bridges
  • Nankipoo
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Nankipoo is located in Lauderdale County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nankipoo
  • Toulon
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Edith
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in Gates ...

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 41 newspapers that have been published in the area around Gates.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Gates, there are papers which were published within 20 miles [32.2 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Gates.

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 websites either 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 Gates:

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>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Gates) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Gates, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.