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 Smyrna (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 Smyrna. 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.
Smyrna is located in Carroll 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 Carroll County: Benton, Decatur, Gibson, Henderson, Henry, Madison & Weakley.
Below are the counties that are near Smyrna. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Smyrna:
- Carroll County (The home county of Smyrna)
- The following are listed by their distance from Smyrna, with the one closest to Smyrna listed first.
- Buena Vista
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Buena Vista is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buena Vista
- Concord
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Concord is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Concord
- Anark
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Anark is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anark
- Hollow Rock
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Huntingdon
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Bruceton
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Clarksburg
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Clarksburg is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarksburg
- Population from the 2020 Census: 376 people
- Hico
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Hico is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hico
- McLemoresville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- McLemoresville is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McLemoresville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 326 people
- McKenzie
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Wingo
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Wingo is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wingo
- Trezevant
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Cedar Grove
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Cedar Grove is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Grove
- Benton County
- The following are listed by their distance from Smyrna, with the one closest to Smyrna listed first.
- Crossroads
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Crossroads is located in Benton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crossroads
- Estimated population in 2014: 1,728 people
- Sandy Point
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Sandy Point is located in Benton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Point
- Chaseville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Chaseville is located in Benton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chaseville
- Camden
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Coxburg
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Coxburg is located in Benton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coxburg
- Wildlife Cove Village
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Brevards Ferry
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Brevards Ferry is located in Benton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brevards Ferry
- Estimated population in 2014: 40,982 people
- Big Sandy
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Faxon
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Faxon is located in Benton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Faxon
- Decatur County
- The following are listed by their distance from Smyrna, with the one closest to Smyrna listed first.
- Sugar Tree
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Sugar Tree is located in Decatur County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Tree
- Jeannette
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Jeannette is located in Decatur County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jeannette
- Sulphur Springs ‑ Historic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Sulphur Springs is located in Decatur County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sulphur Springs
- Oakview ‑ Historic
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Oakview is located in Decatur County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakview
- Parsons
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Decaturville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Scotts Hill
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Mount Lebanon
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Mount Lebanon is located in Decatur County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Lebanon
- Estimated population in 2014: 29,387 people
- Gibson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Smyrna, with the one closest to Smyrna listed first.
- Ledbetter
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Ledbetter is located in Gibson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ledbetter
- Estimated population in 2014: 29,427 people
- Graball
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Graball is located in Gibson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graball
- Population from the 2010 Census: 236 people
- Milan
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Whitway
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Whitway is located in Gibson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitway
- Sitka
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Sitka is located in Gibson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sitka
- Goat City
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Goat City is located in Gibson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goat City
- Union Central
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Union Central is located in Gibson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Central
- Estimated population in 2014: 3,574 people
- Medina
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Bradford
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Concord
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Concord is located in Gibson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Concord
- Gibson
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Gibson is located in Gibson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gibson
- Population from the 2020 Census: 384 people
- Henderson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Smyrna, with the one closest to Smyrna listed first.
- Farmville ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Farmville is located in Henderson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmville
- Parkers Crossroads
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Poplar Springs
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Poplar Springs is located in Henderson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poplar Springs
- Union Cross
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Union Cross is located in Henderson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Cross
- Estimated population in 2014: 10,666 people
- McHaney ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- McHaney is located in Henderson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McHaney
- Atkins ‑ Historic
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Atkins is located in Henderson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atkins
- Estimated population in 2014: 13,664 people
- Lexington
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Chesterfield
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Chesterfield is located in Henderson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chesterfield
- Population from the 2010 Census: 469 people
- Darden
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Darden is located in Henderson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Darden
- Population from the 2010 Census: 399 people
- White Fern
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- White Fern is located in Henderson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Fern
- Huron
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Huron is located in Henderson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huron
- Middle Fork
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Middle Fork is located in Henderson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middle Fork
- Reagan
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Henry County
- The following are listed by their distance from Smyrna, with the one closest to Smyrna listed first.
- Haglerville ‑ Historic
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Haglerville is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haglerville
- Henry
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Spring Creek
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Spring Creek is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Creek
- Estimated population in 2014: 2,009 people
- Manleyville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Manleyville is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manleyville
- Oakland
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Oakland is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakland
- Springville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Paris
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- India
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- India is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for India
- New Boston
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- New Boston is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Boston
- Whitlock
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Whitlock is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitlock
- Cottage Grove
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Mount Vista ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Mount Vista is located in Henry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Vista
- Humphreys County
- The following are listed by their distance from Smyrna, with the one closest to Smyrna listed first.
- Hustburg
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Hustburg is located in Humphreys County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hustburg
- New Johnsonville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Plant
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Plant is located in Humphreys County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plant
- Bakerville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Bakerville is located in Humphreys County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bakerville
- Buffalo
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Buffalo is located in Humphreys County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo
- Hurricane Mills
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Pigeon Roost
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Pigeon Roost is located in Humphreys County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pigeon Roost
- Estimated population in 2014: 6,132 people
- Madison County
- The following are listed by their distance from Smyrna, with the one closest to Smyrna listed first.
- Claybrook
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Claybrook is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Claybrook
- Spring Creek
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Spring Creek is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Creek
- Oakfield
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Oakfield is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakfield
- Perry County
- Mousetail ‑ Historic
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Mousetail is located in Perry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mousetail
- Weakley County
- The following are listed by their distance from Smyrna, with the one closest to Smyrna listed first.
- Pillowville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Pillowville is located in Weakley County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pillowville
- Estimated population in 2014: 1,625 people
- Tumbling
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Tumbling is located in Weakley County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tumbling
- Gleason
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Ore Springs
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Ore Springs is located in Weakley County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ore Springs
- Dresden
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Greenfield
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Smyrna, see our County-by-County Page for Smyrna.
Cemeteries Near Smyrna ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Smyrna.
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 Smyrna - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Smyrna covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Smyrna, with the one closest to Smyrna listed first.
- Cawthon Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Jamison Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Taylor Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Humbles Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Spellings Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- McCallie Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Ray Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Bar Springs Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Eubank Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Birdwell Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Humbles Chapel MB Church Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Hamilton Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Continue List (823 more) ...
- Davis Chapel Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Smith Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Tucker Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
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 Smyrna in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Smyrna.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Smyrna, with the one closest to Smyrna listed first.
- Buena Vista
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Buena Vista is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buena Vista
- Rosser
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Rosser is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosser
- Dollar
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Dollar is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dollar
- Hollow Rock
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Huntingdon
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Clarksburg
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Clarksburg is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarksburg
- Population from the 2020 Census: 376 people
- Maple Creek ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Maple Creek is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Creek
- Leach
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Leach is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leach
- Farmville ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Farmville is located in Henderson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmville
- Carnsville ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Carnsville is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carnsville
- Lipe
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Lipe is located in Benton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lipe
- Holladay
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Morgan ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Morgan is located in Henderson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morgan
- Mixie
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Mixie is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mixie
- Hico
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Hico is located in Carroll County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hico
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Smyrna. See our List of 1890's Communities around Smyrna.
Newspapers Published in Smyrna ...
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 Smyrna.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Smyrna, there are papers which were published within 21 miles [33.8 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Smyrna.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we like to start with 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 Smyrna:
- Websites specific to Tennessee
- Pages specific to Carroll County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Benton County
- Decatur County
- Gibson County
- Henderson County
- Henry County
- Humphreys County
- Madison County
- Perry County
- Weakley County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Tennessee
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 Smyrna, 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Smyrna) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |