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 Beech Hills (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 Beech Hills. 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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.
Beech Hills is located in Westmoreland 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 Westmoreland County: Allegheny, Armstrong, Butler, Cambria, Fayette, Indiana & Somerset.
Below are the counties that are near Beech Hills. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Beech Hills:
- Westmoreland County (The home county of Beech Hills)
- The following are listed by their distance from Beech Hills, with the one closest to Beech Hills listed first.
- Radebaugh
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Radebaugh is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Radebaugh
- Grapeville
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Grapeville is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grapeville
- Greensburg
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Jeannette
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Claridge
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Southwest Greensburg
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Southwest Greensburg is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Southwest Greensburg
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,002 people
- Penn
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Penn is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Penn
- Population from the 2020 Census: 461 people
- South Greensburg
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- South Greensburg is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Greensburg
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,977 people
- Adamsburg
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Adamsburg is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adamsburg
- Population from the 2020 Census: 161 people
- Harrison City
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Manor
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Manor is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manor
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,322 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Manor <1>
- Crabtree
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Congruity
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Congruity is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Congruity
- Allegheny County
- The following are listed by their distance from Beech Hills, with the one closest to Beech Hills listed first.
- Pitcairn
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Wall
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Wall is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wall
- Population from the 2020 Census: 553 people
- Monroeville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Buena Vista
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Buena Vista is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buena Vista
- East McKeesport
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- North Versailles
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- White Oak
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Garden City
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Garden City is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden City
- Boston
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Riverton
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Riverton is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverton
- Versailles
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Versailles is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Versailles
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,452 people
- Wilmerding
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Chalfant
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Chalfant is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chalfant
- Population from the 2020 Census: 765 people
- Armstrong County
- The following are listed by their distance from Beech Hills, with the one closest to Beech Hills listed first.
- Edmon
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Edmon is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edmon
- Apollo
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Orchard Hills
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Orchard Hills is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orchard Hills
- North Apollo
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Spring Church
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Olivet
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Olivet is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olivet
- Leechburg
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Cochrans Mills
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Cochrans Mills is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cochrans Mills
- Aladdin
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Aladdin is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aladdin
- Freeport
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Neale
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Neale is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Neale
- McVille
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- McVille is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McVille
- Tunnelville ‑ Historic
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Tunnelville is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tunnelville
- Butler County
- The following are listed by their distance from Beech Hills, with the one closest to Beech Hills listed first.
- Monroe
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Monroe is located in Butler County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monroe
- Ekastown
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Ekastown is located in Butler County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ekastown
- Leasureville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Leasureville is located in Butler County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leasureville
- Fayette County
- The following are listed by their distance from Beech Hills, with the one closest to Beech Hills listed first.
- Laurelville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Laurelville is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurelville
- Bear Rocks
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Bear Rocks is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Rocks
- Everson
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Everson is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Everson
- Population from the 2020 Census: 744 people
- Banning
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Banning is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Banning
- Fuller
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Fuller is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fuller
- Whitsett
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Whitsett is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitsett
- White
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- White is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White
- Lynn
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Lynn is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lynn
- Perryopolis
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Dawson
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Dickerson Run
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Dickerson Run is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dickerson Run
- Arnold City
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Arnold City is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arnold City
- Belle Vernon
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Indiana County
- The following are listed by their distance from Beech Hills, with the one closest to Beech Hills listed first.
- White
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- White is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White
- Bow
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Bow is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bow
- Clarksburg
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Blairsville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Saltsburg
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Jacksonville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Jacksonville is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jacksonville
- West Lebanon
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- West Lebanon is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Lebanon
- Aultman
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Aultman is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aultman
- Black Lick
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Black Lick is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Lick
- Josephine
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Josephine is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Josephine
- Palmertown
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Robinson
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Robinson is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robinson
- Coral
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Somerset County
- The following are listed by their distance from Beech Hills, with the one closest to Beech Hills listed first.
- Laurel Mountain Village
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Bakersville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Bakersville is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bakersville
- Roytown
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Roytown is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roytown
- Jennerstown
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Jenners Crossroads
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Jenners Crossroads is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jenners Crossroads
- Jenners
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Jenners is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jenners
- Sipesville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Sipesville is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sipesville
- Washington County
- The following are listed by their distance from Beech Hills, with the one closest to Beech Hills listed first.
- Donora
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Black Diamond
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Black Diamond is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Diamond
- Monongahela
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Riverview
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Riverview is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverview
- Ellsworth
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Ellsworth is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellsworth
- Population from the 2020 Census: 960 people
- New Eagle
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- North Charleroi
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- North Charleroi is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Charleroi
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,258 people
- Charleroi
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Dunlevy
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Roscoe
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Roscoe is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roscoe
- Population from the 2020 Census: 791 people
- Twilight
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Twilight is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twilight
- Population from the 2020 Census: 224 people
- Gastonville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Gastonville is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gastonville
- Allenport
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Beech Hills, see our County-by-County Page for Beech Hills.
Cemeteries Near Beech Hills ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Beech Hills.
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 Beech Hills - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Beech Hills covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Beech Hills, with the one closest to Beech Hills listed first.
- Greek Orthodox Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greek Orthodox Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Greek Orthodox Cemetery is located outside and to the northeast of Jeannette.
- The Greek Orthodox Cemetery has also been known as:
- Greek Cemetery
- Russian Orthodox Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #44967 <2>
- Sacred Heart Cemetery (Old)
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Jeannette Memorial Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Westmoreland County Memorial Park
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Union Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- St. Barbaras Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Sacred Heart Cemetery (New)
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Harrolds Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Steels Monument Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Brush Creek Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brush Creek Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Brush Creek Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the north of Adamsburg.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #44464 <2>
- Temple Emanuel Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Hillview Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Continue List (403 more) ...
- St. Clair Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Holy Sacrament Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Denmark Manor Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 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.<3>
While we didn't find Beech Hills in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Beech Hills.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Beech Hills, with the one closest to Beech Hills listed first.
- Grapeville
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Grapeville is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grapeville
- Radebaugh
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Radebaugh is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Radebaugh
- Jeannette
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Greensburg
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Boquet
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Boquet is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boquet
- Claridge
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Adamsburg
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Adamsburg is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adamsburg
- Population from the 2020 Census: 161 people
- Georges Station
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Georges Station is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Georges Station
- Harrison City
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Crabtree
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Congruity
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Congruity is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Congruity
- Delmont
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Continue List (16 more) ...
- Youngwood
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Denison
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Denison is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Denison
- Carney
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Carney is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carney
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Beech Hills. See our List of 1890's Communities around Beech Hills.
Newspapers Published in Beech Hills ...
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 75 newspapers that have been published in the area around Beech Hills.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Beech Hills, 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 Beech Hills.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 Beech Hills:
- Websites specific to Pennsylvania
- Pages specific to Westmoreland County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Allegheny County
- Armstrong County
- Butler County
- Fayette County
- Indiana County
- Somerset County
- Washington 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 Beech Hills, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Beech Hills) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |