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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 Memphis (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 Memphis. 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 doctors and hospitals 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.

Memphis is located in Shelby County and is the County Seat.

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 Shelby County: Crittenden (AR), DeSoto (MS), Marshall (MS), Fayette & Tipton.

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

  • Shelby County     (The home county of Memphis)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Memphis, with the one closest to Memphis listed first.
    • Hunt Village
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Hunt Village is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunt Village
      • Estimated population in 2014: 1,234 people
    • Binghampton
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • The Village
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • The Village is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Village
    • Oakville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Woodstock
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Parkway Village
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Parkway Village is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkway Village
    • Ramsey
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Giles Town
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Giles Town is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Giles Town
    • Spring Lake
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Spring Lake is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Lake
      • Estimated population in 2014: 34,269 people
    • Lucy
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Capleville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Capleville is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Capleville
    • Bartlett
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Fayette County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Memphis, with the one closest to Memphis listed first.
    • Canadaville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Piperton
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Piperton is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Piperton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,128 people
    • Elba
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Hickory Withe
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Hickory Withe is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Withe
    • Gallaway
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • New Bethel
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • New Bethel is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Bethel
      • Estimated population in 2014: 3,324 people
    • Rossville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Macon
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
    • Oakland
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
    • Braden
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Tipton County
  • Crittenden County (AR)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Memphis, with the one closest to Memphis listed first.
    • Mound City
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Mound City is located in Crittenden County (AR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mound City
    • Hulbert
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • West Memphis
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Marion
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Sunset
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Sunset is located in Crittenden County (AR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 199 people
    • Amanca
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • James Mill
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Jericho
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Clarkedale
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Edmondson
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Edmondson is located in Crittenden County (AR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edmondson
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 378 people
    • Crawfordsville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Anthonyville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Anthonyville is located in Crittenden County (AR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anthonyville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 148 people
  • Cross County (AR)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Memphis, with the one closest to Memphis listed first.
    • Twist
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Twist is located in Cross County (AR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twist
    • Parkin
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Mississippi County (AR)
  • Poinsett County (AR)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Memphis, with the one closest to Memphis listed first.
    • Black Oak
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Black Oak is located in Poinsett County (AR)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Oak
    • Tyronza
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Saint Francis County (AR)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Memphis, with the one closest to Memphis listed first.
    • Heth
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Hughes
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
  • DeSoto County (MS)
  • Marshall County (MS)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Memphis, with the one closest to Memphis listed first.
    • Barton
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Byhalia
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Byhalia is located in Marshall County (MS)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Byhalia
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,213 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Byhalia <1>
    • Cayce
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Tunica County (MS)

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

Cemeteries Near Memphis ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Memphis.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Memphis, with the one closest to Memphis 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.<3>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Memphis had a population of 64,495 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Memphis had a population of 649,705 people.

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

  • Hopefield ‑ Historic
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Hopefield is located in Crittenden County (AR)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopefield
  • Buntyn
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Buntyn is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buntyn
  • Frayser
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Frayser is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frayser
  • Mound City
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Mound City is located in Crittenden County (AR)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mound City
  • Bellevue
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Bellevue is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellevue
  • Almont ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Almont is located in Crittenden County (AR)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Almont
  • Berclair
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Berclair is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berclair
  • Whitehaven
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Whitehaven is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitehaven
  • Oakville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Raleigh
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Raleigh is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raleigh
  • West Memphis
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Hulbert
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Memphis ...

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 223 newspapers that have been published in the area around Memphis.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Memphis. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Memphis and those printed in the larger area surrounding Memphis.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 17 miles [27.4 km]<4> of Memphis.

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 professional and volunteer 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 Memphis:

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 Memphis, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Memphis) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.