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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 Hillsboro (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 Hillsboro. 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.

Hillsboro is located in Coffee 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 Coffee County: Bedford, Cannon, Franklin, Grundy, Moore, Rutherford & Warren.

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

  • Coffee County     (The home county of Hillsboro)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hillsboro, with the one closest to Hillsboro listed first.
    • Stephenson
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Winton Town
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Winton Town is located in Coffee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winton Town
    • Manchester
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Royal Oaks
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Ruthledge Ford
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Ruthledge Ford is located in Coffee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruthledge Ford
      • Estimated population in 2014: 1,116 people
    • Belmont
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Forest Mill
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • New Union
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • New Union is located in Coffee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Union
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 1,431 people
    • Teal ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Teal is located in Coffee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Teal
    • Busy Corner
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Southgate Park
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Southgate Park is located in Coffee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Southgate Park
      • Estimated population in 2014: 2,284 people
    • Tullahoma
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Homaway Village
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Homaway Village is located in Coffee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homaway Village
  • Bedford County
  • Cannon County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hillsboro, with the one closest to Hillsboro listed first.
    • Hollow Springs
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Hollow Springs is located in Cannon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollow Springs
      • Estimated population in 2014: 706 people
    • Burgen
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Bluewing
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Manus Town ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Manus Town is located in Cannon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manus Town
    • Bradyville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Burt
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Thomas Town ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Thomas Town is located in Cannon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thomas Town
    • Woodbury
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Woods
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
  • Franklin County
  • Grundy County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hillsboro, with the one closest to Hillsboro listed first.
    • Pelham
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Altamont
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Sartain Springs
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Sartain Springs is located in Grundy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sartain Springs
      • Estimated population in 2014: 380 people
    • Monteagle
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Coalmont
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Coalmont is located in Grundy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coalmont
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 842 people
    • Tracy City
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Beersheba Springs
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Beersheba Springs is located in Grundy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beersheba Springs
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 461 people
    • Gruetli
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Gruetli is located in Grundy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gruetli
      • Estimated population in 2014: 1,775 people
    • Lankford Town
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Lankford Town is located in Grundy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lankford Town
    • Gruetli - Laager
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • White City
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • White City is located in Grundy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White City
    • Palmer
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
  • Lincoln County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hillsboro, with the one closest to Hillsboro listed first.
    • Gattistown
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Gattistown is located in Lincoln County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gattistown
      • Estimated population in 2014: 4,158 people
    • Booneville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Marion County
  • Moore County
  • Rutherford County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hillsboro, with the one closest to Hillsboro listed first.
    • Plainview
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Plainview is located in Rutherford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plainview
    • Readyville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
  • Sequatchie County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hillsboro, with the one closest to Hillsboro listed first.
    • Cartwright
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
    • Daus
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Van Buren County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hillsboro, with the one closest to Hillsboro listed first.
    • Chalybeate
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Chalybeate is located in Van Buren County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chalybeate
    • Laurelburg
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Sopha ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Sopha is located in Van Buren County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sopha
      • Estimated population in 2014: 3,104 people
  • Warren County

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

Cemeteries Near Hillsboro ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Hillsboro.

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

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

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

  • Gentry Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Crockett Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Wilder Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Austell Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Cash Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Thomas Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Lambert Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Price Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Cunningham Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Yate Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Nevill Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Mt. Pleasant Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (1004 more) ...
    • Sheid Cemetery
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Womack Cemetery
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Crockett Cemetery
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)

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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Hillsboro had a population of 76 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Prairie Plains
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Prairie Plains is located in Coffee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Plains
  • Manchester
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Belmont
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Pelham
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Alto
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Alto is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alto
  • Viola
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Summitville
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Summitville is located in Coffee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summitville
  • Teal ‑ Historic
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Teal is located in Coffee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Teal
  • Altamont
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
  • Hanlan ‑ Historic
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Hanlan is located in Warren County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hanlan
  • Tullahoma
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Estill Springs
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (19 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in Hillsboro ...

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 34 newspapers that have been published in the area around Hillsboro.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Hillsboro, there are papers which were published within 17 miles [27.4 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Hillsboro.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These 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 Hillsboro:

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 Hillsboro, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>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 from Point A (ie- Hillsboro) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.