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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 Arch Spring (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 Arch Spring. 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 Arch Spring ...

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 occur.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Arch Spring: Arch Spg. (or less commonly used: Arch Spng. or Arch Sprng.)

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Arch Spring. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Arch Spring.

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 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.

Arch Spring is located in Blair 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 Blair County: Bedford, Cambria, Centre & Huntingdon.

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

  • Blair County     (The home county of Arch Spring)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Arch Spring, with the one closest to Arch Spring listed first.
    • Tyrone Forge
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Tyrone Forge is located in Blair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tyrone Forge
    • Culp
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Culp is located in Blair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Culp
    • Grazierville
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Grazierville is located in Blair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grazierville
    • Tipton
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Tyrone
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Bellwood
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Covedale
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Covedale is located in Blair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Covedale
    • Point View
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Point View is located in Blair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Point View
    • Springfield Junction
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Springfield Junction is located in Blair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springfield Junction
    • Flowing Spring
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Flowing Spring is located in Blair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flowing Spring
    • Franklin Forge
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Franklin Forge is located in Blair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin Forge
    • Williamsburg
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Bedford County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Arch Spring, with the one closest to Arch Spring listed first.
    • Maria
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Maria is located in Bedford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maria
    • King
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • King is located in Bedford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for King
    • Riddlesburg
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Riddlesburg is located in Bedford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riddlesburg
    • Waterside
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Waterside is located in Bedford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterside
  • Cambria County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Arch Spring, with the one closest to Arch Spring listed first.
    • Lloydville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Lloydville is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lloydville
    • Buckhorn
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Buckhorn is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckhorn
    • Dean
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Dean is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dean
    • Dysart
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Dysart is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dysart
    • Fallentimber
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Flinton
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Ashville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Amsbry
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Amsbry is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amsbry
    • Gallitzin
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Spindley City
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Spindley City is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spindley City
    • Tunnelhill
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Tunnelhill is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tunnelhill
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 327 people
    • Chest Springs
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Chest Springs is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chest Springs
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 138 people
  • Centre County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Arch Spring, with the one closest to Arch Spring listed first.
    • Marengo
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Marengo is located in Centre County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marengo
    • Sandy Ridge
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Sandy Ridge is located in Centre County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Ridge
    • Musser
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Musser is located in Centre County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Musser
    • Port Matilda
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Ramblewood
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Ramblewood is located in Centre County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ramblewood
    • Fairbrook
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Fairbrook is located in Centre County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairbrook
    • Stormstown
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Stormstown is located in Centre County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stormstown
    • New Town
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • New Town is located in Centre County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Town
    • Glass City
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Glass City is located in Centre County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glass City
    • Pine Grove Mills
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Bloomsdorf
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Bloomsdorf is located in Centre County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bloomsdorf
    • Scotia
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Scotia is located in Centre County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scotia
  • Clearfield County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Arch Spring, with the one closest to Arch Spring listed first.
    • Ginter
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Ginter is located in Clearfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ginter
    • Ramey
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Ramey is located in Clearfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ramey
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 425 people
    • Utahville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Utahville is located in Clearfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Utahville
    • Osceola Mills
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Brisbin
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Brisbin is located in Clearfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brisbin
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 385 people
    • Houtzdale
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Hegarty Crossroads
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Hegarty Crossroads is located in Clearfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hegarty Crossroads
    • Parsonsville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Parsonsville is located in Clearfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parsonsville
    • Ashland
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Ashland is located in Clearfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashland
    • Chester Hill
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Chester Hill is located in Clearfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chester Hill
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 820 people
    • Lyleville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Lyleville is located in Clearfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyleville
    • Blain City
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Blain City is located in Clearfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blain City
  • Huntingdon County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Arch Spring, with the one closest to Arch Spring listed first.
    • Birmingham
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Birmingham is located in Huntingdon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Birmingham
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 87 people
    • Water Street
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Water Street is located in Huntingdon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Water Street
    • Huntingdon Furnace
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Huntingdon Furnace is located in Huntingdon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huntingdon Furnace
    • Pennington
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Pennington is located in Huntingdon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pennington
    • Alexandria
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Seven Stars
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Seven Stars is located in Huntingdon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seven Stars
    • Petersburg
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Dungarvin
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Dungarvin is located in Huntingdon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dungarvin
    • Neffs Mills
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Neffs Mills is located in Huntingdon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Neffs Mills
    • Huntingdon
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • McConnellstown
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • McConnellstown is located in Huntingdon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McConnellstown
    • Hesston
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
  • Mifflin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Arch Spring, with the one closest to Arch Spring listed first.
    • Allensville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Menno
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Menno is located in Mifflin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Menno
    • Atkinson Mills
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Atkinson Mills is located in Mifflin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atkinson Mills
    • Kistler
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Kistler is located in Mifflin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kistler
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 315 people
    • Newton Hamilton
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Newton Hamilton is located in Mifflin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newton Hamilton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 198 people
    • Belleville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Mattawana
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Mattawana is located in Mifflin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mattawana
    • McVeytown
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Kishacoquillas
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Kishacoquillas is located in Mifflin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kishacoquillas
    • Anderson
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Anderson is located in Mifflin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anderson

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

Cemeteries Near Arch Spring ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Arch Spring.

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 Arch Spring - one of the links might be able to help.

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Arch Spring covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • St. John Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Birmingham Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Williams Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Shaffersville Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Waterstreet Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Tyrone Grandview Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Charlottsville Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Gray Memorial Field
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Eastlawn Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Oak Grove Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Branstetter Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Dysart Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • The Dysart Cemetery is located on private property - be sure to secure permission before visiting.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dysart Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Dysart Cemetery is located in Tipton.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2223636 <2>
  • Continue List   (320 more) ...

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.<3>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Arch Spring had a population of 102 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Union Furnace
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Union Furnace is located in Huntingdon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Furnace
  • Birmingham
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Birmingham is located in Huntingdon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Birmingham
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 87 people
  • Tyrone Forge
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Tyrone Forge is located in Blair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tyrone Forge
  • Culp
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Culp is located in Blair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Culp
  • Water Street
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Water Street is located in Huntingdon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Water Street
  • Spruce Creek
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Grazierville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Grazierville is located in Blair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grazierville
  • Tyrone
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Barree
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Barree is located in Huntingdon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barree
  • Tipton
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Yellow Spring
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Yellow Spring is located in Blair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yellow Spring
  • Alexandria
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (19 more) ...
    • Franklinville
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Franklinville is located in Huntingdon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklinville
    • Pennington
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Pennington is located in Huntingdon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pennington
    • Vail
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Vail is located in Blair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vail

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

Newspapers Published in Arch Spring ...

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 71 newspapers that have been published in the area around Arch Spring.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Arch Spring, there are papers which were published within 15 miles [24.1 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Arch Spring.

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 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 Arch Spring:

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>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.
<3>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 Arch Spring, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Arch Spring) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.