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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 Lonaconing (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 Lonaconing. 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 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.

Lonaconing is located in Allegany 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 Allegany County: Garrett, Washington, Bedford (PA), Fulton (PA), Somerset (PA), Hampshire (WV), Mineral (WV) & Morgan (WV).

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

  • Allegany County     (The home county of Lonaconing)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lonaconing, with the one closest to Lonaconing listed first.
    • Gilmore
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Nikep
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Midland
      (2 miles [3.2 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
    • Moscow
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Klondike
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Ocean
      (3 miles [4.8 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.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ocean
      • Ocean is located in Allegany County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Ocean
      • From Lonaconing to Ocean
    • Woodland
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Barton
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Midlothian
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Midlothian have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midlothian
      • Midlothian is located in Allegany County
    • Borden Shaft
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Rawlings
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Loarville
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Garrett County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lonaconing, with the one closest to Lonaconing listed first.
    • Bloomington
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Grantsville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Bittinger
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Swanton
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Kitzmiller
      (16 miles [25.7 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 <3>
    • Altamont
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • 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.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Altamont
      • Altamont is located in Garrett County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Altamont
      • From Lonaconing to Altamont
    • Accident
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • McHenry
      (19 miles [30.6 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 <3>
    • Deer Park
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • 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 <3>
    • Schell
      (21 miles [33.8 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.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Schell
      • Schell is located in Garrett County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Schell
      • From Lonaconing to Schell
    • Friendsville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Friendsville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friendsville
      • Friendsville is located in Garrett County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 477 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Friendsville <3>
    • Loch Lynn Heights
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • 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
  • Bedford County (PA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lonaconing, with the one closest to Lonaconing listed first.
    • Cooks Mills
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Stringtown
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Hyndman
      (22 miles [35.4 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 <3>
    • Beans Cove
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Beans Cove. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beans Cove
      • Beans Cove is located in Bedford County (PA)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Beans Cove
      • From Lonaconing to Beans Cove
  • Fayette County (PA)
  • Somerset County (PA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lonaconing, with the one closest to Lonaconing listed first.
    • Wellersburg
      (13 miles [20.9 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.<2>
      • 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 Lonaconing to Wellersburg
    • Salisbury
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Boynton
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • West Salisbury
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Wittenberg
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Callimont
      (16 miles [25.7 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
      (17 miles [27.4 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
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Summit Mills
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • West Meyersdale
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Hays Mill
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Garrett
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Garrett have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garrett
      • Garrett is located in Somerset County (PA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 429 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Garrett <3>
  • Grant County (WV)
  • Hampshire County (WV)
  • Mineral County (WV)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lonaconing, with the one closest to Lonaconing listed first.
    • Piedmont
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Keyser
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Short Gap
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Wiley Ford
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wiley Ford have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wiley Ford
      • Wiley Ford is located in Mineral County (WV)
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wiley Ford <3>
    • Carpendale
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Carpendale have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carpendale
      • Carpendale is located in Mineral County (WV)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 900 people
    • Fort Ashby
      (12 miles [19.3 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 <3>
    • Ridgeley
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • New Creek
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Headsville
      (13 miles [20.9 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.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Headsville
      • Headsville is located in Mineral County (WV)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Headsville
      • From Lonaconing to Headsville
    • Elk Garden
      (15 miles [24.1 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 <3>
    • Burlington
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Harrison
      (17 miles [27.4 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.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrison
      • Harrison is located in Mineral County (WV)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Harrison
      • From Lonaconing to Harrison
  • Morgan County (WV)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lonaconing, with the one closest to Lonaconing listed first.
    • Paw Paw
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Magnolia
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Hansrote
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hansrote. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hansrote
      • Hansrote is located in Morgan County (WV)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Hansrote
      • From Lonaconing to Hansrote
  • Preston County (WV)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lonaconing, with the one closest to Lonaconing listed first.
    • Hazelton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Orr
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Orr. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orr
      • Orr is located in Preston County (WV)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Orr
      • From Lonaconing to Orr

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

Cemeteries Near Lonaconing ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Lonaconing.

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 Lonaconing covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Lonaconing, with the one closest to Lonaconing 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.<7>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Lonaconing had a population of 3,897 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Lonaconing had a population of 1,096 people.

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

  • Midland
    (2 miles [3.2 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
  • Barton
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Ocean
    (3 miles [4.8 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.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ocean
    • Ocean is located in Allegany County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Ocean
    • From Lonaconing to Ocean
  • Borden Shaft
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Carlos
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Carlos have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carlos
    • Carlos is located in Allegany County
  • Black Oak
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Black Oak have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Oak
    • Black Oak is located in Allegany County
  • Rawlings
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Bier
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bier have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bier
    • Bier is located in Allegany County
  • Vale Summit
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vale Summit have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vale Summit
    • Vale Summit is located in Allegany County
  • Westernport
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Piedmont
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Dawson
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • 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   (15 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Lonaconing ...

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 70 newspapers that have been published in the area around Lonaconing.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Lonaconing. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Lonaconing and those printed in the larger area surrounding Lonaconing.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 15 miles [24.1 km]<6> of Lonaconing.

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 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 Lonaconing:

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

The official website for Allegany County: www.gov.allconet.org/

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>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.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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>The Maryland Historical Trust (MHT) has created and maintains a database of historic properties that is called MIHP (for the Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties). More information about the MHT and MIHP can be found on their website: mht.maryland.gov.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Lonaconing) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Lonaconing. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.5675, Longitude: -78.9795    
<7>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 Lonaconing, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Mar 2025