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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 West Portal (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 West Portal. 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 West Portal ...

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.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might have occurred.

For example, a typical abbreviation for West Portal: W. Portal

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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals 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.

West Portal is located in Hunterdon County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Hunterdon County: Mercer, Morris, Somerset, Warren & Bucks (PA).

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

  • Hunterdon County     (The home county of West Portal)
  • Mercer County
    • The following are listed by their distance from West Portal, with the one closest to West Portal listed first.
    • Titusville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Mount Rose
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Bear Tavern
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Ewing
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ewing have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ewing
      • Ewing is located in Mercer County
    • Lawrenceville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • West Trenton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Parkway Village
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Parkway Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkway Village
      • Parkway Village is located in Mercer County
  • Middlesex County
    • The following are listed by their distance from West Portal, with the one closest to West Portal listed first.
    • Kendall Park
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kendall Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kendall Park
      • Kendall Park is located in Middlesex County
    • Kingston
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kingston have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingston
      • Kingston is located in Middlesex County
    • Piscataway
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
    • Franklin Park
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Franklin Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin Park
      • Franklin Park is located in Middlesex County
    • Heathcote
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Heathcote have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heathcote
      • Heathcote is located in Middlesex County
  • Morris County
    • The following are listed by their distance from West Portal, with the one closest to West Portal listed first.
    • Crestmoore
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Long Valley
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Long Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Valley
      • Long Valley is located in Morris County
    • Hacklebarney
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Naughright
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Budd Lake
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Succasunna
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Brookside
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Mine Hill
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mine Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mine Hill
      • Mine Hill is located in Morris County
    • Millbrook
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Dover
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dover have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dover
      • Dover is located in Morris County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 17,619 people
    • Green Village
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Green Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Village
      • Green Village is located in Morris County
    • Morristown
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Somerset County
    • The following are listed by their distance from West Portal, with the one closest to West Portal listed first.
    • Woodfern
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Gladstone
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Bedminster
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bedminster have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bedminster
      • Bedminster is located in Somerset County
    • Somerville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Skillman
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Finderne
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Harlingen
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Blackwells Mills
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Ukrainian Village
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ukrainian Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ukrainian Village
      • Ukrainian Village is located in Somerset County
    • Middlebush
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Somerset
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
    • Union Village
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Union Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Village
      • Union Village is located in Somerset County
  • Sussex County
    • The following are listed by their distance from West Portal, with the one closest to West Portal listed first.
    • Waterloo Village ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Tranquility
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Brighton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Hardwick
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Middleville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Newton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Newton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newton
      • Newton is located in Sussex County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,977 people
  • Warren County
  • Bucks County (PA)
  • Carbon County (PA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from West Portal, with the one closest to West Portal listed first.
    • Little Gap
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Little Gap. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Gap
      • Little Gap is located in Carbon County (PA)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Little Gap
      • From West Portal to Little Gap
    • Jonesville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Lehigh County (PA)
  • Monroe County (PA)
  • Montgomery County (PA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from West Portal, with the one closest to West Portal listed first.
    • Telford
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Pear Tree Village
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pear Tree Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pear Tree Village
      • Pear Tree Village is located in Montgomery County (PA)
    • Souderton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Souderton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Souderton
      • Souderton is located in Montgomery County (PA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,110 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Souderton <3>
    • Tylersport
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Franconia
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Hatfield
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hatfield have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hatfield
      • Hatfield is located in Montgomery County (PA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,323 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hatfield <3>
    • Hoppenville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Montgomeryville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Montgomeryville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montgomeryville
      • Montgomeryville is located in Montgomery County (PA)
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Montgomeryville <3>
    • Cowpath Village
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cowpath Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cowpath Village
      • Cowpath Village is located in Montgomery County (PA)
    • East Greenville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Greenville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Greenville
      • East Greenville is located in Montgomery County (PA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,937 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for East Greenville <3>
    • Palm
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Pennsburg
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pennsburg have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pennsburg
      • Pennsburg is located in Montgomery County (PA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,853 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pennsburg <3>
  • Northampton County (PA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from West Portal, with the one closest to West Portal listed first.
    • Williamsport
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Easton
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Glendon
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Glendon have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glendon
      • Glendon is located in Northampton County (PA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 357 people
    • West Easton
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Easton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Easton
      • West Easton is located in Northampton County (PA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,247 people
    • Wilson
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wilson have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilson
      • Wilson is located in Northampton County (PA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,784 people
    • Chain Bridge ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Old Orchard
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Old Orchard have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Orchard
      • Old Orchard is located in Northampton County (PA)
    • Zucksville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Tatamy
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Palmer Heights
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Palmer Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palmer Heights
      • Palmer Heights is located in Northampton County (PA)
    • Kesslersville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Lower Saucon
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)

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

Cemeteries Near West Portal ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of West Portal.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from West Portal, with the one closest to West Portal 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.<5>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, West Portal had railroad service and no post office.

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

  • Pattenburg
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Norton
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Norton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norton
    • Norton is located in Hunterdon County
  • Asbury
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Broadway
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Broadway have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Broadway
    • Broadway is located in Warren County
  • Little York
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little York have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little York
    • Little York is located in Hunterdon County
  • Jutland
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Jutland. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jutland
    • Jutland is located in Hunterdon County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Jutland
    • From West Portal to Jutland
  • Stewartsville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Mount Pleasant
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • New Hampton
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Everittstown
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Pittstown
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Grandin
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grandin have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grandin
    • Grandin is located in Hunterdon County
  • Continue List   (18 more) ...
    • Clinton
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Springtown
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Springtown have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springtown
      • Springtown is located in Warren County
    • Montana
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)

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

Newspapers Published in West Portal ...

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 104 newspapers that have been published in the area around West Portal.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of West Portal, there are papers which were published within 11 miles [17.7 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for West Portal.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to 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 West Portal:

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>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.
<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>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 West Portal, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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- West Portal) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in West Portal. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.6628, Longitude: -75.0344       In this case, the coordinates for West Portal have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).