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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 Petrolia (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 Petrolia. 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 and hospitals 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.

Petrolia is located in Allegany County.

To see how the shape of New York'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: Cattaraugus, Livingston, Steuben, Wyoming, McKean (PA) & Potter (PA).

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

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

Cemeteries Near Petrolia ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Petrolia.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Petrolia, with the one closest to Petrolia listed first.

  • Bellamy Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bellamy Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bellamy Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Knights Creek Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Knights Creek Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Knights Creek Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Allentown Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Sacred Heart Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sacred Heart Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sacred Heart Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Woodlawn Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Johnson Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Johnson Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Johnson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Dimmick Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Dimmick Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Dimmick Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Sunnyside Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sunnyside Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sunnyside Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Yorks Corners Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Yorks Corners Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Yorks Corners Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Stannards Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Stannards Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Stannards Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Joseph's Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Joseph's Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Joseph's Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Trapping Brook Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Trapping Brook Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Trapping Brook Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (219 more) ...
    • Fairlawn Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Palmer Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Palmer Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Palmer Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Utopia Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Utopia Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Utopia Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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, Petrolia had a post office and railroad service.

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

  • Norton Summit
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Norton Summit have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norton Summit
    • Norton Summit is located in Allegany County
  • Pikeville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Pikeville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pikeville
    • Pikeville is located in Allegany County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Pikeville
    • From Petrolia to Pikeville
  • Allentown
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Allentown have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allentown
    • Allentown is located in Allegany County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Allentown <3>
  • Sawyer
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Sawyer. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sawyer
    • Sawyer is located in Allegany County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Sawyer
    • From Petrolia to Sawyer
  • Vosburg
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Wellsville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wellsville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellsville
    • Wellsville is located in Allegany County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,329 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wellsville <3>
  • Alma
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Inavale
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Inavale have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Inavale
    • Inavale is located in Allegany County
  • Kossuth
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Scio
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Scio have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scio
    • Scio is located in Allegany County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Scio <3>
  • Bolivar
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • South Bolivar
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Bolivar have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Bolivar
    • South Bolivar is located in Allegany County
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Eleven Mile
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eleven Mile have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eleven Mile
      • Eleven Mile is located in Potter County (PA)
    • Shongo
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shongo have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shongo
      • Shongo is located in Allegany County
    • Dyke
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dyke have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dyke
      • Dyke is located in Allegany County

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

Newspapers Published in Petrolia ...

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 120 newspapers that have been published in the area around Petrolia.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Petrolia, there are papers which were published within 21 miles [33.8 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Petrolia.

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 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 Petrolia:

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

The official website for Allegany County: www.alleganyco.com/

The official website for State of New York: https://www.ny.gov/

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 Petrolia, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Petrolia) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Petrolia. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.0897, Longitude: -78.0185    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025