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 Alvan (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 Alvan. 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.
Alvan is located in Bedford County.
To see how the shape of Pennsylvania's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Bedford County: Allegany (MD), Blair, Cambria, Fulton, Huntingdon & Somerset.
Below are the counties that are near Alvan. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Alvan:
- Bedford County (The home county of Alvan)
- The following are listed by their distance from Alvan, with the one closest to Alvan listed first.
- Saxton
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Coaldale
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Coaldale is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coaldale
- Population from the 2020 Census: 151 people
- Langdondale
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Langdondale is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Langdondale
- Riddlesburg
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Riddlesburg is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riddlesburg
- Hopewell
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Graceville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Graceville is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graceville
- Marble City
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Marble City is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marble City
- Woodbury
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Yellow Creek
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Yellow Creek is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yellow Creek
- Breezewood
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Loysburg
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Waterside
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Waterside is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterside
- New Enterprise
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- New Enterprise is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Enterprise
- Blair County
- The following are listed by their distance from Alvan, with the one closest to Alvan listed first.
- Clover Creek
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Clover Creek is located in Blair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clover Creek
- Martinsburg
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Beavertown
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Beavertown is located in Blair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beavertown
- East Sharpsburg
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- East Sharpsburg is located in Blair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Sharpsburg
- Oreminea
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Oreminea is located in Blair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oreminea
- Shellytown
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Shellytown is located in Blair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shellytown
- Claysburg
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Roaring Spring
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Cotton Town
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Cotton Town is located in Blair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cotton Town
- Royer
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Royer is located in Blair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Royer
- Brooks Mill
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Brooks Mill is located in Blair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brooks Mill
- Franklin Forge
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Franklin Forge is located in Blair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin Forge
- Newry
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Cambria County
- The following are listed by their distance from Alvan, with the one closest to Alvan listed first.
- Puritan
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Puritan is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Puritan
- Bens Creek
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Bens Creek is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bens Creek
- Summit
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Summit is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summit
- Tunnelhill
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Tunnelhill is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tunnelhill
- Population from the 2020 Census: 327 people
- Franklin County
- The following are listed by their distance from Alvan, with the one closest to Alvan listed first.
- Cowans Village
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Cowans Village is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cowans Village
- Metal
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Metal is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Metal
- Freestone
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Freestone is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freestone
- Dry Run
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Dry Run is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dry Run
- Fort Loudon
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Doylestown
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Doylestown is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doylestown
- Newbridge
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Newbridge is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newbridge
- Cove Gap
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Cove Gap is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cove Gap
- Dickey
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Dickey is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dickey
- Keefers
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Keefers is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keefers
- Markes
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Markes is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Markes
- Concord
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Concord is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Concord
- Saint Thomas
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Fulton County
- The following are listed by their distance from Alvan, with the one closest to Alvan listed first.
- Wells Tannery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Wells Tannery is located in Fulton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wells Tannery
- Waterfall
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Valley-Hi
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Valley-Hi is located in Fulton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley-Hi
- Population from the 2020 Census: 15 people
- Laidig
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Laidig is located in Fulton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laidig
- Clear Ridge
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Clear Ridge is located in Fulton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clear Ridge
- Akersville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Akersville is located in Fulton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Akersville
- Fort Littleton
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Harrisonville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Harrisonville is located in Fulton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrisonville
- Knobsville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Knobsville is located in Fulton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knobsville
- Burnt Cabins
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Burnt Cabins is located in Fulton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burnt Cabins
- Crystal Spring
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Crystal Spring is located in Fulton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Spring
- Pleasant Ridge
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Pleasant Ridge is located in Fulton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Ridge
- McConnellsburg
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Huntingdon County
- The following are listed by their distance from Alvan, with the one closest to Alvan listed first.
- Broad Top City
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Broad Top City is located in Huntingdon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Broad Top City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 443 people
- Robertsdale
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Robertsdale is located in Huntingdon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robertsdale
- Dudley
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Dudley is located in Huntingdon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dudley
- Population from the 2020 Census: 176 people
- Cooks
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Cooks is located in Huntingdon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooks
- Joller ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Joller is located in Huntingdon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joller
- Coalmont
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Coalmont is located in Huntingdon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coalmont
- Population from the 2020 Census: 98 people
- Kimmel
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Kimmel is located in Huntingdon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kimmel
- Middletown
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Middletown is located in Huntingdon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middletown
- Rocky Ridge ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Rocky Ridge is located in Huntingdon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Ridge
- Selea
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Selea is located in Huntingdon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Selea
- Coles ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Coles is located in Huntingdon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coles
- Saltillo
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Saltillo is located in Huntingdon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saltillo
- Population from the 2020 Census: 328 people
- Todd
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Todd is located in Huntingdon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Todd
- Juniata County
- The following are listed by their distance from Alvan, with the one closest to Alvan listed first.
- Waterloo
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Waterloo is located in Juniata County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterloo
- Peru Mills
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Peru Mills is located in Juniata County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peru Mills
- Perulack
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Perulack is located in Juniata County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perulack
- Mifflin County
- The following are listed by their distance from Alvan, with the one closest to Alvan listed first.
- Kistler
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Kistler is located in Mifflin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kistler
- Population from the 2020 Census: 315 people
- Newton Hamilton
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Newton Hamilton is located in Mifflin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newton Hamilton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 198 people
- Atkinson Mills
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Atkinson Mills is located in Mifflin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atkinson Mills
- Somerset County
- Ogletown
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Ogletown is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ogletown
- Washington County (MD)
- Hancock
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Morgan County (WV)
- Hancock
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Hancock is located in Morgan County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hancock
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Alvan, see our County-by-County Page for Alvan.
Cemeteries Near Alvan ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Alvan.
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.
Although we don't have the information ourselves, if you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our list of websites on our Genealogy Helper Page for Alvan - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Alvan covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Alvan, with the one closest to Alvan listed first.
- St. Michaels Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Robertsdale Italian Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Evans Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Duvalls Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Ave Maria Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Dudley Methodist Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Waterfall Methodist Church Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Broad Top IOOF Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Oak Grove Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Oak Grove Cemetery is located outside and to the northeast of Waterfall.
- Shore Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Edwards Family Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Colmont Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Continue List (247 more) ...
- Mt. Pleasant Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Coles Valley Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Rhoat Family Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
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.<2>
While we didn't find Alvan in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Alvan.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Alvan, with the one closest to Alvan listed first.
- Saxton
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Wells Tannery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Wells Tannery is located in Fulton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wells Tannery
- Enid
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Enid is located in Fulton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Enid
- New Grenada
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- New Grenada is located in Fulton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Grenada
- Robertsdale
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Robertsdale is located in Huntingdon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robertsdale
- Kearney
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Kearney is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kearney
- Dudley
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Dudley is located in Huntingdon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dudley
- Population from the 2020 Census: 176 people
- Waterfall
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Defiance
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Defiance is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Defiance
- Coalmont
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Coalmont is located in Huntingdon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coalmont
- Population from the 2020 Census: 98 people
- Cooks
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Cooks is located in Huntingdon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooks
- Riddlesburg
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Riddlesburg is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riddlesburg
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- Gracey
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Gracey is located in Fulton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gracey
- Dublin Mills
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Dublin Mills is located in Fulton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dublin Mills
- Hopewell
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Alvan. See our List of 1890's Communities around Alvan.
Newspapers Published in Alvan ...
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 33 newspapers that have been published in the area around Alvan.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Alvan, there are papers which were published within 17 miles [27.4 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Alvan.
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 professional and volunteer 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 Alvan:
- Websites specific to Pennsylvania
- Pages specific to Bedford County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Blair County
- Cambria County
- Franklin County
- Fulton County
- Huntingdon County
- Juniata County
- Mifflin County
- Somerset County
- Washington County
- Morgan County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Pennsylvania
Footnotes ...
| <1> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <2> | 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 Alvan, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | 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- Alvan) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |