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 Sweetwater (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 Sweetwater. 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 Sweetwater ...
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.
Another variation: Sweet Water.
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Sweetwater. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Sweetwater.
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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the west. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the county to the south.
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 south 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.
Sweetwater is located in Lewis 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 Lewis County: Hickman, Lawrence, Maury, Perry & Wayne.
Below are the counties that are near Sweetwater. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Sweetwater:
- Lewis County (The home county of Sweetwater)
- The following are listed by their distance from Sweetwater, with the one closest to Sweetwater listed first.
- Hohenwald
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Voorhies
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Voorhies is located in Lewis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Voorhies
- Estimated population in 2014: 1,476 people
- Kimmins
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Kimmins is located in Lewis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kimmins
- Decatur County
- The following are listed by their distance from Sweetwater, with the one closest to Sweetwater listed first.
- Mount Lebanon
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Mount Lebanon is located in Decatur County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Lebanon
- Estimated population in 2014: 29,387 people
- Decaturville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Dunbar
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Dunbar is located in Decatur County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunbar
- Oakview ‑ Historic
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Oakview is located in Decatur County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakview
- Parsons
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Pleasant Hill
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Pleasant Hill is located in Decatur County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Hill
- Estimated population in 2014: 566 people
- Giles County
- The following are listed by their distance from Sweetwater, with the one closest to Sweetwater listed first.
- Liberty Hill
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Liberty Hill is located in Giles County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty Hill
- Weakley
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Weakley is located in Giles County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weakley
- Campbellsville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Campbellsville is located in Giles County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Campbellsville
- Hardin County
- The following are listed by their distance from Sweetwater, with the one closest to Sweetwater listed first.
- Johnson Ford
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Johnson Ford is located in Hardin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnson Ford
- Estimated population in 2014: 65,813 people
- Smiths Fork ‑ Historic
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Smiths Fork is located in Hardin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smiths Fork
- Swift
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Swift is located in Hardin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swift
- Estimated population in 2014: 5,874 people
- Hickman County
- The following are listed by their distance from Sweetwater, with the one closest to Sweetwater listed first.
- Hornertown
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Hornertown is located in Hickman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hornertown
- Estimated population in 2014: 412 people
- Pleasantville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Pleasantville is located in Hickman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasantville
- Aetna
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Aetna is located in Hickman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aetna
- Swan Bluff
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Swan Bluff is located in Hickman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swan Bluff
- Whitfield
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Whitfield is located in Hickman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitfield
- Centerville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Graytown
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Graytown is located in Hickman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graytown
- Estimated population in 2014: 1,528 people
- Tottys Bend
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Tottys Bend is located in Hickman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tottys Bend
- Only
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Duck River
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Duck River is located in Hickman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duck River
- Nunnelly
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Nunnelly is located in Hickman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nunnelly
- Littlelot
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Littlelot is located in Hickman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Littlelot
- Graham
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Graham is located in Hickman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graham
- Humphreys County
- The following are listed by their distance from Sweetwater, with the one closest to Sweetwater listed first.
- Grandmother Ford
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Grandmother Ford is located in Humphreys County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grandmother Ford
- Estimated population in 2014: 307 people
- Buffalo
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Buffalo is located in Humphreys County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo
- Lawrence County
- The following are listed by their distance from Sweetwater, with the one closest to Sweetwater listed first.
- Henryville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Henryville is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henryville
- Park Grove
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Park Grove is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park Grove
- Flatwoods
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Flatwoods is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flatwoods
- Ethridge
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Webber City
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Webber City is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Webber City
- Lawrenceburg
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Westpoint
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Westpoint is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westpoint
- Leoma
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- New Prospect
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- New Prospect is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Prospect
- Estimated population in 2014: 6,880 people
- Busby
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Busby is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Busby
- Loretto
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Maury County
- The following are listed by their distance from Sweetwater, with the one closest to Sweetwater listed first.
- Hampshire
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Jonesboro ‑ Historic
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Jonesboro is located in Maury County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jonesboro
- Estimated population in 2014: 5,238 people
- Chapel Hill
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Chapel Hill is located in Maury County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chapel Hill
- Estimated population in 2014: 1,461 people
- Greenfield Bend
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Greenfield Bend is located in Maury County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenfield Bend
- Estimated population in 2014: 15,035 people
- Mount Pleasant
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Enterprise
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Enterprise is located in Maury County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Enterprise
- Frierson Town
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Frierson Town is located in Maury County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frierson Town
- Estimated population in 2014: 923 people
- Screamer
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Screamer is located in Maury County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Screamer
- Chartersville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Chartersville is located in Maury County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chartersville
- Estimated population in 2014: 1,494 people
- Williamsport
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Williamsport is located in Maury County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williamsport
- Ashwood
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Ashwood is located in Maury County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashwood
- Arkland
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Arkland is located in Maury County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arkland
- Sawdust
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Sawdust is located in Maury County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sawdust
- Estimated population in 2014: 7,053 people
- Perry County
- The following are listed by their distance from Sweetwater, with the one closest to Sweetwater listed first.
- Flatwoods
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Linden
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Beardstown
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Beardstown is located in Perry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beardstown
- Lobelville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Mousetail ‑ Historic
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Mousetail is located in Perry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mousetail
- Wayne County
- The following are listed by their distance from Sweetwater, with the one closest to Sweetwater listed first.
- Ashland Ford
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Ashland Ford is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashland Ford
- Estimated population in 2014: 4,674 people
- Slickrock Ford
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Slickrock Ford is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slickrock Ford
- Estimated population in 2014: 179 people
- Waynesboro
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Sorby ‑ Historic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Sorby is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sorby
- Clifton
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Collinwood
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Collinwood is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Collinwood
- Population from the 2020 Census: 932 people
- Corning ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Corning is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corning
- Estimated population in 2014: 1,210 people
- Lutts
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Whittens Stand ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Whittens Stand is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whittens Stand
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Sweetwater, see our County-by-County Page for Sweetwater.
Cemeteries Near Sweetwater ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Sweetwater.
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 Sweetwater - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Sweetwater covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Sweetwater, with the one closest to Sweetwater listed first.
- Beatty Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Trace Creek Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Wilson Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Dabbs Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Melton Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Turnbow Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Odam Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Dabbs Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Churchwell Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Banks Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Voorhies Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Crowell Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Continue List (916 more) ...
- Grassy Valley Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Walker Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Burns Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
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>
While we didn't find Sweetwater in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Sweetwater.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Sweetwater, with the one closest to Sweetwater listed first.
- Nancy ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Nancy is located in Lewis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nancy
- Voorhies
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Voorhies is located in Lewis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Voorhies
- Estimated population in 2014: 1,476 people
- Hohenwald
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Strathmore ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Strathmore is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Strathmore
- Napier
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Napier is located in Lewis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Napier
- Kimmins
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Kimmins is located in Lewis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kimmins
- Pleasantville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Pleasantville is located in Hickman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasantville
- Newburg ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Newburg is located in Lewis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newburg
- Palestine ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Palestine is located in Lewis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palestine
- Waynesboro
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Aetna
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Aetna is located in Hickman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aetna
- Linden
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Continue List (16 more) ...
- Henryville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Henryville is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henryville
- Horner
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Horner is located in Perry County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horner
- Sunrise
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Sunrise is located in Hickman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunrise
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Sweetwater. See our List of 1890's Communities around Sweetwater.
Newspapers Published in Sweetwater ...
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 29 newspapers that have been published in the area around Sweetwater.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Sweetwater, there are papers which were published within 23 miles [37 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Sweetwater.
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 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 Sweetwater:
- Websites specific to Tennessee
- Pages specific to Lewis County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Decatur County
- Giles County
- Hardin County
- Hickman County
- Humphreys County
- Lawrence County
- Maury County
- Perry County
- Wayne 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> | 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 Sweetwater, 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- Sweetwater) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |