Tennessee Gazetteers

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Gazetteers

"Rhea Springs Post Office and Chattin's Store, 1940," Rhea Co., TN

Online Gazetteers

• FamilySearch Places
• Tennessee Place Names and Post Offices: Introduction and Index
• Eastin Morris' Tennessee gazetteer, 1834, and Matthew Rhea's Map of the State of Tennessee, 1832 Eastin Morris' Tennessee gazetteer, 1834, and Matthew Rhea's Map of the State of Tennessee, 1832. Nashville : Gazetteer Press, 1971 [c1834]
• Tennessee state gazetteer and business directory 1876-77 Tennessee state gazetteer and business directory 1876-77. Nashville, Tenn. : R.L. Polk & Co.,
• Adam's directory of points and landings on rivers and bayous in the states of Alabama, ...Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin Louis A Adams. Adam's directory of points and landings on rivers and bayous in the states of Alabama, ...Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin. New Orleans : W. L. Murray 1877
• The Water powers of Tennessee John A Switzer and Albert H Horton. The Water Powers of Tennessee. Nashville, Tenn. 1914
• The Resources of Tennessee, Volumes 5-6 Tennessee State Geological Survey. The Resources of Tennessee, Volumes 5-6. State Geological Survey, 1916
• The Resources of Tennessee, Volumes 7-9 Tennessee State Geological Survey. The Resources of Tennessee, Volumes 7-9. State Geological Survey, 1918
• Place Names of Tennessee Ralph O Fullerton. Place Names of Tennessee 1974. Digital Publisher FamilySearch International

Print Only Gazetteers

• Tennessee atlas & gazetteer DeLorme Mapping Co. Tennessee Atlas & Gazetteer. Yarmouth, Maine : DeLorme, c2004
• Tennessee geographic names : alphabetical listing U S Office of Geographic Research. Tennessee Geographic Names : Alphabetical Llisting. [Reston, Virginia : U.S. Geological Survey, 1985]
• Tennessee atlas and gazetteer : topographic maps of the entire state, back roads and recreational places DeLorme Mapping Co. Tennessee atlas and gazetteer : topographic maps of the entire state, back roads and recreational places. Freeport, Maine : DeLorme, c1992
• Tennessee Place Names Larry L Miller. Tennessee Place Names. Bloomington, Indiana : Indiana University Press, c2001
• Early Roads to the Tennessee Country (Before 1796) Charles A Reeves, East Tennessee Historical Society. Early Roads to the Tennessee Country (Before 1796). Knoxville, Tennessee : East Tennessee Historical Society, c2000
• Tennessee : atlas of historical boundaries John H Long. Tennessee : Atlas of Historical Boundaries. New York, New York : Charles Scribner's Sons, c2000
• What's in a name : Tennessee towns Adrian W. McClaren. What's in a Name : Tennessee Towns. [Tennessee] : A.W. McClaren, 1991

Why Use Gazetteers

A gazetteer is a dictionary of place-names. Gazetteers list or describe towns and villages, parishes, states, populations, rivers and mountains, and other geographical features. They usually include only the names of places that existed at the time the gazetteer was published. Within a specific geographical area, the place-names are listed in alphabetical order, similar to a dictionary. You can use a gazetteer to locate the places where your family lived and to determine the civil and religious jurisdictions over those places.

There are many places within a state with similar or identical place-names. You will need to use a gazetteer to identify the specific town where your ancestor lived, the state the town was or is in, and the jurisdictions where records about the person was kept.

Gazetteer Contents

Gazetteers may also provide additional information about towns, such as:

• Different religious denominations
• Schools, colleges, and universities
• Major manufacturers, canals, docks, and railroad stations
• The population size.
• Boundaries of civil jurisdiction.
• Ecclesiastical jurisdiction(s)
• Longitude and latitude.
• Distances and direction from other from cities.
• Schools, colleges, and universities.
• Denominations and number of churches.
• Historical and biographical information on some individuals (usually high-ranking or famous individuals)