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Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

So far, we found very little information about Alvira. The little that we've found leads us believe that the community is historic.<1>

We've added Alvira to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Alvira, please Contact Us.

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 Alvira (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 Alvira. 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 Alvira ...

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.

Prior to its current name of Alvira, it was known as Wisetown.

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 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.

Although our information shows that the community of Alvira is historic, it would have been located within present day Union County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Union County: Centre, Clinton, Lycoming, Mifflin, Northumberland & Snyder.

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

  • Union County     (The home county of Alvira)
  • Centre County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alvira, with the one closest to Alvira listed first.
    • Livonia
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Livonia. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Livonia
      • Livonia is located in Centre County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Livonia
      • From Alvira to Livonia
    • Woodward
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Fiedler
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fiedler have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fiedler
      • Fiedler is located in Centre County
    • Rebersburg
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Aaronsburg
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Aaronsburg have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aaronsburg
      • Aaronsburg is located in Centre County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Aaronsburg <2>
  • Clinton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alvira, with the one closest to Alvira listed first.
    • Rauchtown
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Avis
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Avis have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avis
      • Avis is located in Clinton County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,476 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Avis <2>
    • Loganton
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Loganton have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loganton
      • Loganton is located in Clinton County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 475 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Loganton <2>
    • McElhattan
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Youngdale
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Greenburr
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Castanea
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Dunnstown
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dunnstown have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunnstown
      • Dunnstown is located in Clinton County
    • Rote
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Rote. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rote
      • Rote is located in Clinton County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Rote
      • From Alvira to Rote
    • Lock Haven
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Swissdale
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Swissdale have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swissdale
      • Swissdale is located in Clinton County
    • Flemington
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Flemington have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flemington
      • Flemington is located in Clinton County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,312 people
  • Columbia County
  • Lycoming County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alvira, with the one closest to Alvira listed first.
    • Maple Hill
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Maple Hill. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Hill
      • Maple Hill is located in Lycoming County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Maple Hill
      • From Alvira to Maple Hill
    • South Williamsport
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Duboistown
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Duboistown have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duboistown
      • Duboistown is located in Lycoming County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,170 people
    • Faxon
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Montoursville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Montoursville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montoursville
      • Montoursville is located in Lycoming County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,393 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Montoursville <2>
    • Williamsport
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Newberry
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Newberry. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newberry
      • Newberry is located in Lycoming County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Newberry
      • From Alvira to Newberry
    • Garden View
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Garden View have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden View
      • Garden View is located in Lycoming County
    • Grimesville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Collomsville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Muncy
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Linden
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Montour County
  • Northumberland County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alvira, with the one closest to Alvira listed first.
    • Dewart
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Watsontown
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • McEwensville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Milton
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Milton have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milton
      • Milton is located in Northumberland County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,550 people
    • Turbotville
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Turbotville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turbotville
      • Turbotville is located in Northumberland County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 662 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Turbotville <2>
    • Potts Grove
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Northumberland
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Chulasky
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Chulasky. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chulasky
      • Chulasky is located in Northumberland County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Chulasky
      • From Alvira to Chulasky
    • Riverside
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Riverside have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverside
      • Riverside is located in Northumberland County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,839 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Riverside <2>
    • Sunbury
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Keefers
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Keefers. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keefers
      • Keefers is located in Northumberland County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Keefers
      • From Alvira to Keefers
    • Rushtown
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Rushtown. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rushtown
      • Rushtown is located in Northumberland County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Rushtown
      • From Alvira to Rushtown
  • Snyder County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alvira, with the one closest to Alvira listed first.
    • Kratzerville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kratzerville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kratzerville
      • Kratzerville is located in Snyder County
    • Penns Creek
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Penns Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Penns Creek
      • Penns Creek is located in Snyder County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Penns Creek <2>
    • Shamokin Dam
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Hummels Wharf
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hummels Wharf have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hummels Wharf
      • Hummels Wharf is located in Snyder County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hummels Wharf <2>
    • Globe Mills
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Globe Mills. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Globe Mills
      • Globe Mills is located in Snyder County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Globe Mills
      • From Alvira to Globe Mills
    • Kreamer
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kreamer have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kreamer
      • Kreamer is located in Snyder County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kreamer <2>
    • Selinsgrove
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Selinsgrove have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Selinsgrove
      • Selinsgrove is located in Snyder County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,913 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Selinsgrove <2>
    • Middleburg
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Middleburg have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middleburg
      • Middleburg is located in Snyder County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,262 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Middleburg <2>
    • Coon Hunter
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Freeburg
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Freeburg have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeburg
      • Freeburg is located in Snyder County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 566 people
    • Paxtonville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Troxelville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Troxelville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Troxelville
      • Troxelville is located in Snyder County
  • Sullivan County
  • Tioga County
    • Liberty
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Liberty have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty
      • Liberty is located in Tioga County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 230 people

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

Cemeteries Near Alvira ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Alvira.

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

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

Alvira itself is historic and was described in the Rand McNally Atlas as having a population of 197 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Maple Hill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Maple Hill. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Hill
    • Maple Hill is located in Lycoming County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Maple Hill
    • From Alvira to Maple Hill
  • Allenwood
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Elimsport
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elimsport have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elimsport
    • Elimsport is located in Lycoming County
  • Dewart
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Watsontown
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • South Williamsport
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Saegers
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saegers have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saegers
    • Saegers is located in Lycoming County
  • Loyalsock ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Loyalsock have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loyalsock
    • Loyalsock is located in Lycoming County
  • Duboistown
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Duboistown have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duboistown
    • Duboistown is located in Lycoming County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,170 people
  • Williamsport
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • New Columbia
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • McEwensville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Warrior Run
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Warrior Run have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warrior Run
      • Warrior Run is located in Northumberland County
    • Muncy Station
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Muncy Station have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Muncy Station
      • Muncy Station is located in Lycoming County
    • Montoursville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Montoursville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montoursville
      • Montoursville is located in Lycoming County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,393 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Montoursville <2>

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

Newspapers Published in Alvira ...

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 73 newspapers that have been published in the area around Alvira.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Alvira, there are papers which were published within 19 miles [30.6 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Alvira.

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 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 Alvira:

The official website for Union County: www.unionco.org/

The official website for Commonwealth of Pennsylvania: https://www.pa.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Alvira, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<4>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.
<5>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Alvira) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Alvira. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.1340, Longitude: -76.9553       In this case, the coordinates for Alvira have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>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.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025