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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 Bells (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 Bells. 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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals 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.

Bells 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 Bells. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Bells:

  • Westmoreland County     (The home county of Bells)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bells, with the one closest to Bells listed first.
    • Ligonier
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Darlington
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Darlington is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Darlington
    • Oak Grove
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Oak Grove is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
    • Kingston
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Kingston is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingston
    • Rector
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Laughlintown
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Derry
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Derry is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Derry
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,495 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Derry <1>
    • Laurel Mountain
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Laurel Mountain is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurel Mountain
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 153 people
      • Laurel Mountain has also been known as:
      • Laurel Mountain Park
    • Youngstown
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • McChesneytown - Loyalhanna
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Latrobe
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Latrobe is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Latrobe
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,767 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Latrobe <1>
    • Lawson Heights
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Lawson Heights is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawson Heights
  • Allegheny County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bells, with the one closest to Bells listed first.
    • Buena Vista
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Buena Vista is located in Allegheny County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buena Vista
    • Boston
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Pitcairn
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Wall
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Wall is located in Allegheny County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wall
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 553 people
    • White Oak
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Garden City
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Garden City is located in Allegheny County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden City
    • New Texas
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • New Texas is located in Allegheny County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Texas
    • Plum
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Plum is located in Allegheny County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plum
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 26,993 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Plum <1>
    • East McKeesport
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
    • Lincoln
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Lincoln is located in Allegheny County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,013 people
    • Monroeville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
    • North Versailles
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Armstrong County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bells, with the one closest to Bells listed first.
    • Edmon
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Edmon is located in Armstrong County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edmon
    • Olivet
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Olivet is located in Armstrong County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olivet
    • Orchard Hills
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Orchard Hills is located in Armstrong County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orchard Hills
    • Spring Church
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Apollo
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Apollo is located in Armstrong County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Apollo
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,507 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Apollo <1>
    • North Apollo
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Cochrans Mills
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Cochrans Mills is located in Armstrong County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cochrans Mills
    • Elderton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
  • Cambria County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bells, with the one closest to Bells listed first.
    • Brownstown
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Elim
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Elim is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elim
    • Lilly
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Lilly is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lilly
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 873 people
    • Southmont
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Southmont is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Southmont
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,048 people
    • Westmont
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Westmont is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westmont
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,625 people
    • Cambria City
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Cambria City is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cambria City
    • Ferndale
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Johnstown
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Belmont
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Belmont is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belmont
    • Conemaugh
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Conemaugh is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conemaugh
    • Daisytown
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Daisytown is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Daisytown
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 290 people
    • Dale
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Dale is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dale
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,110 people
  • Fayette County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bells, with the one closest to Bells listed first.
    • Champion
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Bear Rocks
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Bear Rocks is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Rocks
    • Laurelville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Laurelville is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurelville
    • Seven Springs
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • White
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • White is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White
    • Indian Head
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Indian Head is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Head
    • Everson
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Everson is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Everson
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 744 people
    • Connellsville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • South Connellsville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Dawson
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Dickerson Run
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Dickerson Run is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dickerson Run
    • Sitka
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Sitka is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sitka
  • Indiana County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bells, with the one closest to Bells listed first.
    • Robinson
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Robinson is located in Indiana County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robinson
    • Blairsville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Black Lick
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Black Lick is located in Indiana County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Lick
    • Bow
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Bow is located in Indiana County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bow
    • Palmertown
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Josephine
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Josephine is located in Indiana County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Josephine
    • Coral
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Heshbon
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Heshbon is located in Indiana County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heshbon
    • White
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • White is located in Indiana County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White
    • Graceton
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Graceton is located in Indiana County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graceton
    • Armagh
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Claghorn ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Claghorn is located in Indiana County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Claghorn
  • Somerset County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bells, with the one closest to Bells listed first.
    • Laurel Mountain Village
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Jennerstown
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Roytown
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Roytown is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roytown
    • Jenners Crossroads
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Jenners Crossroads is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jenners Crossroads
    • Jenners
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Jenners is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jenners
    • Thomas Mill
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Thomas Mill is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thomas Mill
    • Bakersville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Bakersville is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bakersville
    • Sipesville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Sipesville is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sipesville
    • Jerome
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Jerome is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jerome
    • Gideon
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Gideon is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gideon
    • Husband
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Husband is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Husband
    • Davidsville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)

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

Cemeteries Near Bells ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Bells.

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 Bells - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Ligonier Valley Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ligonier Valley Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Ligonier Valley Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the southwest of Ligonier.
    • The Ligonier Valley Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Valley Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1921576 <2>
  • Keltz Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • St. Michael's Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for St. Michael's Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the St. Michael's Cemetery is located outside and to the north of Rector.
    • The St. Michael's Cemetery has also been known as:
    • St. Michael's of the Valley Episcopal Church Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2267682 <2>
  • Cole Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Laughlintown Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Bethel Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Penrod Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Green Mtn. Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • St. James Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Coles Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • St. Josephs Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Rose Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (242 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 in 1895, Bells had railroad service and no post office.

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

  • Ligonier
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Darlington
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Darlington is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Darlington
  • McCance
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • McCance is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McCance
  • Laughlintown
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Hillsview
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Hillsview is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillsview
  • Kingston
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Kingston is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingston
  • Youngstown
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Bradenville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Bradenville is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bradenville
  • Osburn
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Osburn is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osburn
  • Millwood
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Millwood is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millwood
  • New Derry
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Hillside
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Hillside is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillside
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Loyalhanna
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Loyalhanna is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loyalhanna
    • Latrobe
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Latrobe is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Latrobe
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,767 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Latrobe <1>
    • Manito
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Manito is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manito

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

Newspapers Published in Bells ...

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 45 newspapers that have been published in the area around Bells.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Bells, there are papers which were published within 14 miles [22.5 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Bells.

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 Bells:

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 Bells, 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- Bells) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.