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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 Bloomington (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 Bloomington. 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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

Bloomington is located in Garrett County.

To see how the shape of Maryland's counties have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Garrett County: Allegany, Fayette (PA), Somerset (PA), Grant (WV), Mineral (WV) & Preston (WV).

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

  • Garrett County     (The home county of Bloomington)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bloomington, with the one closest to Bloomington listed first.
    • Kitzmiller
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kitzmiller have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kitzmiller
      • Kitzmiller is located in Garrett County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 301 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kitzmiller <2>
    • Swanton
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Bittinger
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Altamont
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Altamont. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Altamont
      • Altamont is located in Garrett County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Altamont
      • From Bloomington to Altamont
    • Schell
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Schell. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Schell
      • Schell is located in Garrett County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Schell
      • From Bloomington to Schell
    • Deer Park
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Deer Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Park
      • Deer Park is located in Garrett County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 367 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Deer Park <2>
    • Grantsville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • McHenry
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for McHenry have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McHenry
      • McHenry is located in Garrett County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for McHenry <2>
    • Accident
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Loch Lynn Heights
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Loch Lynn Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loch Lynn Heights
      • Loch Lynn Heights is located in Garrett County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 525 people
    • Mountain Lake Park
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mountain Lake Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Lake Park
      • Mountain Lake Park is located in Garrett County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,065 people
    • Oakland
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
  • Allegany County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bloomington, with the one closest to Bloomington listed first.
    • Luke
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Luke have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Luke
      • Luke is located in Allegany County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 60 people
    • Westernport
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Barton
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Moscow
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Nikep
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Lonaconing
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Gilmore
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Klondike
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Midland
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Midland have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midland
      • Midland is located in Allegany County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 410 people
    • Rawlings
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Ocean
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ocean. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ocean
      • Ocean is located in Allegany County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Ocean
      • From Bloomington to Ocean
    • Woodland
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Bedford County (PA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bloomington, with the one closest to Bloomington listed first.
    • Cooks Mills
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Stringtown
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Hyndman
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hyndman have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hyndman
      • Hyndman is located in Bedford County (PA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 854 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hyndman <2>
  • Fayette County (PA)
  • Somerset County (PA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bloomington, with the one closest to Bloomington listed first.
    • Salisbury
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • West Salisbury
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Boynton
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Wellersburg
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Wellersburg. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellersburg
      • Wellersburg is located in Somerset County (PA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 169 people
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Wellersburg
      • From Bloomington to Wellersburg
    • Summit Mills
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Wittenberg
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Callimont
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Callimont have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Callimont
      • Callimont is located in Somerset County (PA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 38 people
    • Glade City
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Glade City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glade City
      • Glade City is located in Somerset County (PA)
    • Meyersdale
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Addison
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Listonburg
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Listonburg. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Listonburg
      • Listonburg is located in Somerset County (PA)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Listonburg
      • From Bloomington to Listonburg
    • Ursina
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ursina have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ursina
      • Ursina is located in Somerset County (PA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 211 people
  • Grant County (WV)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bloomington, with the one closest to Bloomington listed first.
    • Greenland
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Medley
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Bayard
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Wilson
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Wilson. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilson
      • Wilson is located in Grant County (WV)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Wilson
      • From Bloomington to Wilson
    • Lahmansville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Dobbin
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dobbin have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dobbin
      • Dobbin is located in Grant County (WV)
    • Maysville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Maysville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maysville
      • Maysville is located in Grant County (WV)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Maysville
      • From Bloomington to Maysville
    • Arthur
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Seymourville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
  • Hampshire County (WV)
  • Hardy County (WV)
  • Mineral County (WV)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bloomington, with the one closest to Bloomington listed first.
    • Piedmont
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Keyser
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • New Creek
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Elk Garden
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elk Garden have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elk Garden
      • Elk Garden is located in Mineral County (WV)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 209 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elk Garden <2>
    • Sulphur City
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sulphur City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sulphur City
      • Sulphur City is located in Mineral County (WV)
    • Harrison
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Harrison. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrison
      • Harrison is located in Mineral County (WV)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Harrison
      • From Bloomington to Harrison
    • Hartmansville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Burlington
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Headsville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Headsville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Headsville
      • Headsville is located in Mineral County (WV)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Headsville
      • From Bloomington to Headsville
    • Schell
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Schell. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Schell
      • Schell is located in Mineral County (WV)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Schell
      • From Bloomington to Schell
    • Short Gap
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Fort Ashby
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fort Ashby have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Ashby
      • Fort Ashby is located in Mineral County (WV)
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fort Ashby <2>
  • Preston County (WV)

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

Cemeteries Near Bloomington ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Bloomington.

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.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Bloomington, with the one closest to Bloomington 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.<6>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Bloomington had a population of 295 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service.

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

  • West Virginia Central Junction
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Virginia Central Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Virginia Central Junction
    • West Virginia Central Junction is located in Mineral County (WV)
  • Warnocks
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Warnocks have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warnocks
    • Warnocks is located in Mineral County (WV)
  • Piedmont
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Westernport
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Windom ‑ Historic
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Windom have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windom
    • Windom is located in Mineral County (WV)
  • Barnum
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Barnum have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barnum
    • Barnum is located in Mineral County (WV)
  • Barton
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Floyd
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Floyd have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Floyd
    • Floyd is located in Garrett County
  • Shaw
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shaw have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shaw
    • Shaw is located in Mineral County (WV)
  • Keyser
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Chaffee
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chaffee have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chaffee
    • Chaffee is located in Mineral County (WV)
  • Dawson
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dawson have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dawson
    • Dawson is located in Allegany County
  • Continue List   (19 more) ...
    • Elk Garden
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elk Garden have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elk Garden
      • Elk Garden is located in Mineral County (WV)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 209 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elk Garden <2>
    • Lonaconing
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Blaine
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Blaine have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blaine
      • Blaine is located in Mineral County (WV)

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

Newspapers Published in Bloomington ...

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 26 newspapers that have been published in the area around Bloomington.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Bloomington, there are papers which were published within 14 miles [22.5 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Bloomington.

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 websites either 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 Bloomington:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Bloomington. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Garrett County: www.co.garrett.md.us/

The official website for State of Maryland: https://www.maryland.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<4>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.
<5>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- Bloomington) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Bloomington. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.4770, Longitude: -79.0722    
<6>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 Bloomington, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 14 Jul 2025