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 Back Mountain (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 Back Mountain. 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 Back Mountain ...
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 Back Mountain: Back Mtn. (or less commonly used: Back Mntn.)
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 hospitals and 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.
Back Mountain is located in Luzerne 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 Luzerne County: Carbon, Columbia, Lackawanna, Monroe, Schuylkill, Sullivan & Wyoming.
Below are the counties that are near Back Mountain. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Back Mountain:
- Luzerne County (The home county of Back Mountain)
- The following are listed by their distance from Back Mountain, with the one closest to Back Mountain listed first.
- Dallas
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Lehman
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Kunkle
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Kunkle is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kunkle
- Harveys Lake
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Lake
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Lake is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake
- Trucksville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Trucksville is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trucksville
- Meeker
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Meeker is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meeker
- Cease Mills
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Cease Mills is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cease Mills
- Courtdale
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Courtdale is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Courtdale
- Population from the 2020 Census: 711 people
- Loyalville
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Loyalville is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loyalville
- Pikes Creek
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Pikes Creek is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pikes Creek
- Carverton
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Carverton is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carverton
- Bradford County
- The following are listed by their distance from Back Mountain, with the one closest to Back Mountain listed first.
- Sugar Run
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Wilmot
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Wilmot is located in Bradford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilmot
- Wyalusing
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Laddsburg
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Laddsburg is located in Bradford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laddsburg
- New Era
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- New Era is located in Bradford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Era
- Evergreen
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Evergreen is located in Bradford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen
- New Albany
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Homets Ferry
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Homets Ferry is located in Bradford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homets Ferry
- Limehill
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Limehill is located in Bradford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Limehill
- Marshview
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Marshview is located in Bradford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marshview
- Overton
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Overton is located in Bradford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Overton
- Carbon County
- The following are listed by their distance from Back Mountain, with the one closest to Back Mountain listed first.
- East Side
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- East Side is located in Carbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Side
- Population from the 2020 Census: 301 people
- Coxes Village
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Coxes Village is located in Carbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coxes Village
- Coxes Village has also been known as:
- Cross Village
- Leslie Run
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Leslie Run is located in Carbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leslie Run
- Beaver Meadows
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Weatherly
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Mud Run
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Mud Run is located in Carbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mud Run
- Hudsondale
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Hudsondale is located in Carbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hudsondale
- Tresckow
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Tresckow is located in Carbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tresckow
- Penn Haven Junction
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Penn Haven Junction is located in Carbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Penn Haven Junction
- Albrightsville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Unionville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Unionville is located in Carbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unionville
- Columbia County
- The following are listed by their distance from Back Mountain, with the one closest to Back Mountain listed first.
- Jamison City
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Jamison City is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamison City
- Foundryville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Foundryville is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foundryville
- Jonestown
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Jonestown is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jonestown
- Benton
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Berwick
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Stillwater
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Zaner
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Zaner is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zaner
- Waller
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Waller is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waller
- Briar Creek
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Briar Creek is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Briar Creek
- Population from the 2020 Census: 672 people
- Jackson
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Jackson is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jackson
- Hetlerville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Hetlerville is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hetlerville
- Mifflinville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Lackawanna County
- The following are listed by their distance from Back Mountain, with the one closest to Back Mountain listed first.
- Lawrenceville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Lawrenceville is located in Lackawanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawrenceville
- Milwaukee
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Milwaukee is located in Lackawanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milwaukee
- Old Forge
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Moosic
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Belian Village
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Belian Village is located in Lackawanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belian Village
- Minooka
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Minooka is located in Lackawanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minooka
- Taylor
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Schultzville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Schultzville is located in Lackawanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Schultzville
- Scranton
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Clarks Summit
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Clarks Green
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Clarks Green is located in Lackawanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarks Green
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,383 people
- Dalton
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Lycoming County
- The following are listed by their distance from Back Mountain, with the one closest to Back Mountain listed first.
- Richarts Grove
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Richarts Grove is located in Lycoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richarts Grove
- Lungerville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Lungerville is located in Lycoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lungerville
- Unityville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Biggerstown
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Biggerstown is located in Lycoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Biggerstown
- Monroe County
- Locust Lakes Village
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Locust Lakes Village is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locust Lakes Village
- Schuylkill County
- The following are listed by their distance from Back Mountain, with the one closest to Back Mountain listed first.
- Nuremberg
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Kelayres
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Kelayres is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelayres
- McAdoo
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Oneida
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Oneida is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oneida
- Sheppton
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Sullivan County
- The following are listed by their distance from Back Mountain, with the one closest to Back Mountain listed first.
- Bernice
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Bernice is located in Sullivan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bernice
- Shinerville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Shinerville is located in Sullivan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shinerville
- Dushore
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Long Brook
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Long Brook is located in Sullivan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Brook
- Laporte
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Sonestown
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Beech Glen
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Beech Glen is located in Sullivan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beech Glen
- Eagles Mere
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Susquehanna County
- The following are listed by their distance from Back Mountain, with the one closest to Back Mountain listed first.
- Springville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Auburn Four Corners
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Auburn Four Corners is located in Susquehanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Auburn Four Corners
- Tyler
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Tyler is located in Susquehanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tyler
- Elk Lake
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Elk Lake is located in Susquehanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elk Lake
- Hop Bottom
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Lenoxville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Lenoxville is located in Susquehanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lenoxville
- Royal
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Royal is located in Susquehanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Royal
- Wayne County
- The following are listed by their distance from Back Mountain, with the one closest to Back Mountain listed first.
- Hollisterville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Hollisterville is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollisterville
- Maplewood
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Maplewood is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maplewood
- Wyoming County
- The following are listed by their distance from Back Mountain, with the one closest to Back Mountain listed first.
- Mill City ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Mill City is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mill City
- Beaumont
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Beaumont is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaumont
- Noxen
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Vernon
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Vernon is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vernon
- Evans Falls
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Evans Falls is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evans Falls
- Jenks
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Jenks is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jenks
- South Eaton
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- South Eaton is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Eaton
- Osterhout
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Osterhout is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osterhout
- Tunkhannock
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Lake Winola
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Forkston
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Forkston is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forkston
- Vosburg
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Vosburg is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vosburg
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Back Mountain, see our County-by-County Page for Back Mountain.
Cemeteries Near Back Mountain ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Back Mountain.
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 Back Mountain - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Back Mountain covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Back Mountain, with the one closest to Back Mountain listed first.
- Parks Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Chapel Lawn Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- St. Anns Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Woodlawn Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- St. John the Baptist RC Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Fern Knoll Burial Park
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- St. Marys Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Polish Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- St. Stephens Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Huntsville Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huntsville Cemetery
- The Huntsville Cemetery has also been known as:
- Valley View Cemetery
- Evergreen Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- St. Nicholas Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Continue List (252 more) ...
- Mt. Greenwood Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Fern Brook Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Cedar Crest Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Crest Cemetery
- The Cedar Crest Cemetery has also been known as:
- Trucksville Cemetery
- Trucksville UMC Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #913512 <2>
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>
While we didn't find Back Mountain in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Back Mountain.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Back Mountain, with the one closest to Back Mountain listed first.
- Lehman
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Dallas
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Idetown
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Idetown is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Idetown
- Huntsville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Huntsville is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huntsville
- Kunkle
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Kunkle is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kunkle
- Harveys Lake
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Lake
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Lake is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake
- Meeker
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Meeker is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meeker
- Trucksville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Trucksville is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trucksville
- Shavertown
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Laketon
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Laketon is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laketon
- Outlet
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Outlet is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Outlet
- Continue List (16 more) ...
- Ketcham
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Ketcham is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ketcham
- Mill City ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Mill City is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mill City
- Beaumont
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Beaumont is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaumont
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Back Mountain. See our List of 1890's Communities around Back Mountain.
Newspapers Published in Back Mountain ...
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 99 newspapers that have been published in the area around Back Mountain.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Back Mountain, there are papers which were published within 10 miles [16.1 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Back Mountain.
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 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 Back Mountain:
- Websites specific to Pennsylvania
- Pages specific to Luzerne County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Bradford County
- Carbon County
- Columbia County
- Lackawanna County
- Lycoming County
- Monroe County
- Schuylkill County
- Sullivan County
- Susquehanna County
- Wayne County
- Wyoming 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> | 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 Back Mountain, 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Back Mountain) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |