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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 South Pittsburg (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 South Pittsburg. 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 South Pittsburg ...

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.

For example, a typical abbreviation for South Pittsburg: S. Pittsburg

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

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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most 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.

South Pittsburg is located in Marion 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 Marion County: Jackson (AL), Dade (GA), Franklin, Grundy, Hamilton & Sequatchie.

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

  • Marion County     (The home county of South Pittsburg)
  • Coffee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from South Pittsburg, with the one closest to South Pittsburg listed first.
    • Ruthledge Ford
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Ruthledge Ford is located in Coffee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruthledge Ford
      • Estimated population in 2014: 1,116 people
    • Stephenson
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Franklin County
  • Grundy County
    • The following are listed by their distance from South Pittsburg, with the one closest to South Pittsburg listed first.
    • Lankford Town
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Lankford Town is located in Grundy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lankford Town
    • White City
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • White City is located in Grundy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White City
    • Monteagle
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Tracy City
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Sartain Springs
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Sartain Springs is located in Grundy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sartain Springs
      • Estimated population in 2014: 380 people
    • Coalmont
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Coalmont is located in Grundy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coalmont
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 842 people
    • Pelham
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Gruetli
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Gruetli is located in Grundy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gruetli
      • Estimated population in 2014: 1,775 people
    • Gruetli - Laager
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Palmer
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Altamont
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Beersheba Springs
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Beersheba Springs is located in Grundy County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beersheba Springs
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 461 people
  • Hamilton County
  • Sequatchie County
  • DeKalb County (AL)
  • Jackson County (AL)
    • The following are listed by their distance from South Pittsburg, with the one closest to South Pittsburg listed first.
    • Copenhagen ‑ Historic
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Copenhagen is located in Jackson County (AL)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Copenhagen
    • Long Island
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Bridgeport
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Bridgeport is located in Jackson County (AL)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bridgeport
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,272 people
      • Former name for Bridgeport:
      • Jonesville
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bridgeport <1>
    • Bryant
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Browns Valley ‑ Historic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Browns Valley is located in Jackson County (AL)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Browns Valley
    • Haynes Crossing
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Eliza
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • New Town
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • New Town is located in Jackson County (AL)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Town
    • Higdon
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Stevenson
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Rash
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Flat Rock
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Fackler
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Fackler is located in Jackson County (AL)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fackler
  • Catoosa County (GA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from South Pittsburg, with the one closest to South Pittsburg listed first.
    • Fort Oglethorpe
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Lakeview
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Lakeview is located in Catoosa County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview
    • Midway
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Newnan Springs
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Newnan Springs is located in Catoosa County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newnan Springs
      • Estimated population in 2019: 41,581 people
    • Blue Spring
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Dafron
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Dafron is located in Catoosa County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dafron
      • Estimated population in 2019: 7,294 people
    • Boynton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Indian Springs
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Indian Springs is located in Catoosa County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Springs
  • Dade County (GA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from South Pittsburg, with the one closest to South Pittsburg listed first.
    • Cole City
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Cole City is located in Dade County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cole City
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 127 people
    • Trenton
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Morganville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Morganville is located in Dade County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morganville
      • Estimated population in 2019: 1,835 people
    • Stewart Town
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Stewart Town is located in Dade County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stewart Town
    • Wildwood
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Rising Fawn
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Walker County (GA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from South Pittsburg, with the one closest to South Pittsburg listed first.
    • Durham
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Durham is located in Walker County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Durham
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 1,257 people
    • Lookout Mountain
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Thompsonville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Thompsonville is located in Walker County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thompsonville
      • Estimated population in 2019: 6,528 people
    • Chattanooga Valley
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Chattanooga Valley is located in Walker County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chattanooga Valley
    • Rock City
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Rock City is located in Walker County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock City
    • Fantasy Hills
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Fantasy Hills is located in Walker County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fantasy Hills
      • Estimated population in 2019: 316 people
    • Flintstone
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Moons
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Happy Valley
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Happy Valley is located in Walker County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Happy Valley
      • Estimated population in 2019: 192 people
    • Rossville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Cassandra
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Dewberry Town
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Dewberry Town is located in Walker County (GA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dewberry Town
    • Fairview
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)

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

Cemeteries Near South Pittsburg ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of South Pittsburg.

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 South Pittsburg - one of the links might be able to help.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from South Pittsburg, with the one closest to South Pittsburg 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 South Pittsburg had a population of 1,479 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, South Pittsburg had a population of 3,009 people.

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

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of South Pittsburg ...

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 48 newspapers that have been published in the area around South Pittsburg.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

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

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we start with 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 South Pittsburg:

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 South Pittsburg, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- South Pittsburg) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.