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 Betula (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 Betula. 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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.
Betula is located in McKean 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 McKean County: Allegany (NY), Cattaraugus (NY), Cameron, Elk, Forest, Potter & Warren.
Below are the counties that are near Betula. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Betula:
- McKean County (The home county of Betula)
- The following are listed by their distance from Betula, with the one closest to Betula listed first.
- Crosby
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Crosby is located in McKean County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crosby
- Clermont
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Clermont is located in McKean County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clermont
- Gardeau
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Gardeau is located in McKean County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gardeau
- Smethport
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Port Allegany
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Hutchins
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Hutchins is located in McKean County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hutchins
- Freeman
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Freeman is located in McKean County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeman
- Mount Jewett
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Sartwell
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Sartwell is located in McKean County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sartwell
- Wrights Corners
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Wrights Corners is located in McKean County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wrights Corners
- Simpson
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Simpson is located in McKean County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Simpson
- Coontown
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Coontown is located in McKean County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coontown
- Cameron County
- The following are listed by their distance from Betula, with the one closest to Betula listed first.
- Beechwood
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Beechwood is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beechwood
- Emporium
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Weber City
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Weber City is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weber City
- Cameron
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Cameron is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cameron
- Huntley
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Huntley is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huntley
- Mix Run
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Mix Run is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mix Run
- Driftwood
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Wyside
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Wyside is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyside
- Clearfield County
- Tyler
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Tyler is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tyler
- Clinton County
- Hammersley Fork
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Hammersley Fork is located in Clinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hammersley Fork
- Elk County
- The following are listed by their distance from Betula, with the one closest to Betula listed first.
- Instanter
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Instanter is located in Elk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Instanter
- Streights
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Streights is located in Elk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Streights
- Wilcox
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Saint Marys
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Johnsonburg
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Johnsonburg is located in Elk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnsonburg
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,264 people
- Dents Run
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Dents Run is located in Elk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dents Run
- Whistletown
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Whistletown is located in Elk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whistletown
- Grant
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Grant is located in Elk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grant
- James City
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Benezette
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Dagus Mines
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Dagus Mines is located in Elk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dagus Mines
- McKinley
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- McKinley is located in Elk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McKinley
- Potter County
- The following are listed by their distance from Betula, with the one closest to Betula listed first.
- Roulette
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Austin
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Williston
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Williston is located in Potter County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williston
- Inez
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Inez is located in Potter County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Inez
- Coudersport
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Hebron
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Hebron is located in Potter County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hebron
- Ayers Hill
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Ayers Hill is located in Potter County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ayers Hill
- Millport
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Millport is located in Potter County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millport
- Shinglehouse
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Sweden Valley
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Sweden Valley is located in Potter County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sweden Valley
- Coneville
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Coneville is located in Potter County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coneville
- East Sharon
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- East Sharon is located in Potter County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Sharon
- Warren County
- Roystone
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Roystone is located in Warren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roystone
- Allegany County (NY)
- The following are listed by their distance from Betula, with the one closest to Betula listed first.
- Bowler
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Bowler is located in Allegany County (NY)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowler
- Little Genesee
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Bolivar
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Alma
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Alma is located in Allegany County (NY)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alma
- Kossuth
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Kossuth is located in Allegany County (NY)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kossuth
- Cattaraugus County (NY)
- The following are listed by their distance from Betula, with the one closest to Betula listed first.
- Four Mile
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Four Mile is located in Cattaraugus County (NY)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Four Mile
- Harrisburg
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Harrisburg is located in Cattaraugus County (NY)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrisburg
- Rock City
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Rock City is located in Cattaraugus County (NY)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock City
- Portville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Weston Mills
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Weston Mills is located in Cattaraugus County (NY)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weston Mills
- Westons Mills
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Limestone
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Chipmunk
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Chipmunk is located in Cattaraugus County (NY)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chipmunk
- Olean
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Olean is located in Cattaraugus County (NY)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olean
- Population from the 2020 Census: 13,371 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Olean <1>
- Saint Bonaventure
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Allegany
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- New Ireland ‑ Historic
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- New Ireland is located in Cattaraugus County (NY)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Ireland
- New Ireland has also been known as:
- Irish Town
- Little Ireland
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Betula, see our County-by-County Page for Betula.
Cemeteries Near Betula ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Betula.
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 Betula - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Betula covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Betula, with the one closest to Betula listed first.
- Norwich Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Clermont Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Rose Hill Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- St. Elizabeths Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Rich Valley Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Fairview Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Lewis Hill Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Holy Cross Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- St. Gabriels Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Smith Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Card Creek Cemetery
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Bridge View Cemetery
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Continue List (78 more) ...
- St. Marks Cemetery
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Newton Cemetery
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Hill Cemetery
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
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 Betula in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Betula.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Betula, with the one closest to Betula listed first.
- Norwich
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Norwich is located in McKean County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norwich
- Colegrove
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Colegrove is located in McKean County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colegrove
- Crosby
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Crosby is located in McKean County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crosby
- Clermont
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Clermont is located in McKean County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clermont
- Kasson
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Kasson is located in McKean County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kasson
- Instanter
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Instanter is located in Elk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Instanter
- Smethport
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Gardeau
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Gardeau is located in McKean County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gardeau
- Wrights
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Wrights is located in McKean County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wrights
- East Smethport
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- East Smethport is located in McKean County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Smethport
- Midmont
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Midmont is located in Elk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midmont
- Sizerville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Sizerville is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sizerville
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Port Allegany
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Hutchins
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Hutchins is located in McKean County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hutchins
- Rasselas
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Rasselas is located in Elk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rasselas
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Betula. See our List of 1890's Communities around Betula.
Newspapers Published in Betula ...
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 39 newspapers that have been published in the area around Betula.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Betula, there are papers which were published within 22 miles [35.4 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Betula.
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 websites either 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 Betula:
- Websites specific to Pennsylvania
- Pages specific to McKean County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Cameron County
- Clearfield County
- Clinton County
- Elk County
- Potter County
- Warren County
- Allegany County
- Cattaraugus 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 Betula, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Betula) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |