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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 Blackfield (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 Blackfield. 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 and 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.

Blackfield is located in Somerset 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 Somerset County: Allegany (MD), Garrett (MD), Bedford, Cambria, Fayette & Westmoreland.

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

  • Somerset County     (The home county of Blackfield)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Blackfield, with the one closest to Blackfield listed first.
    • Althouse
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Althouse is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Althouse
    • Beachdale
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Beachdale is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beachdale
    • Milford
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Milford is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milford
    • Garrett
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Rockwood
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Pine Hill
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Pine Hill is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Hill
    • Somerset
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • New Centerville
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • New Centerville is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Centerville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 127 people
    • Summit Mills
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Summit Mills is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summit Mills
    • West Meyersdale
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • West Meyersdale is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Meyersdale
    • Casselman
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Casselman is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Casselman
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 97 people
    • Berlin
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Bedford County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Blackfield, with the one closest to Blackfield listed first.
    • Hyndman
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Kegg
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Kegg is located in Bedford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kegg
    • Stringtown
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Stringtown is located in Bedford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stringtown
    • Cooks Mills
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Cooks Mills is located in Bedford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooks Mills
    • Schellsburg
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Manns Choice
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • New Paris
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Beans Cove
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Beans Cove is located in Bedford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beans Cove
    • Rainsburg
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Rainsburg is located in Bedford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rainsburg
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 128 people
    • Pleasantville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Pleasantville is located in Bedford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasantville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 205 people
  • Cambria County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Blackfield, with the one closest to Blackfield listed first.
    • Ingleside
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Ingleside is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ingleside
    • Ferndale
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Scalp Level
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Scalp Level is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scalp Level
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 691 people
    • Belmont
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Belmont is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belmont
    • Elim
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Elim is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elim
    • Southmont
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Southmont is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Southmont
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,048 people
    • Geistown
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Geistown is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Geistown
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,242 people
    • Dale
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Dale is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dale
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,110 people
    • Lorain
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Lorain is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lorain
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 680 people
    • Westmont
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Westmont is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westmont
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,625 people
    • Brownstown
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
    • Conemaugh
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Conemaugh is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conemaugh
  • Fayette County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Blackfield, with the one closest to Blackfield listed first.
    • Seven Springs
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Champion
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Indian Head
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Indian Head is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Head
    • White
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • White is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White
    • Ohiopyle
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Markleysburg
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Bear Rocks
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Bear Rocks is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Rocks
    • Laurelville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Laurelville is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurelville
    • Farmington
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Mount Washington
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Mount Washington is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Washington
    • South Connellsville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Connellsville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
  • Westmoreland County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Blackfield, with the one closest to Blackfield listed first.
    • Donegal
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Laughlintown
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Laurel Mountain
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • 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
    • Rector
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Stahlstown
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Ligonier
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Oak Grove
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Oak Grove is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
    • Darlington
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Darlington is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Darlington
    • Kecksburg
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Kecksburg is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kecksburg
    • Mount Joy
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Mount Joy is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Joy
    • Iron Bridge
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Iron Bridge is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iron Bridge
    • Lycippus
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Lycippus is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lycippus
  • Allegany County (MD)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Blackfield, with the one closest to Blackfield listed first.
    • Mount Savage
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Zihlman
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Zihlman is located in Allegany County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zihlman
    • Barrelville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Barrelville is located in Allegany County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barrelville
    • Frostburg
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Midlothian
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Midlothian is located in Allegany County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midlothian
    • Borden Shaft
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Borden Shaft is located in Allegany County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Borden Shaft
    • Eckhart Mines
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Eckhart Mines is located in Allegany County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eckhart Mines
    • Klondike
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Klondike is located in Allegany County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Klondike
    • Woodland
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Woodland is located in Allegany County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland
    • Clarysville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Clarysville is located in Allegany County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarysville
    • Corriganville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Corriganville is located in Allegany County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corriganville
    • Ellerslie
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Ellerslie is located in Allegany County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellerslie
  • Garrett County (MD)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Blackfield, with the one closest to Blackfield listed first.
    • Grantsville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Avilton
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Avilton is located in Garrett County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avilton
    • Bittinger
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Accident
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Friendsville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • McHenry
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Bloomington
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Bloomington is located in Garrett County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bloomington
  • Mineral County (WV)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Blackfield, with the one closest to Blackfield listed first.
    • Carpendale
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Carpendale is located in Mineral County (WV)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carpendale
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 900 people
    • Ridgeley
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Wiley Ford
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Piedmont
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Short Gap
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Short Gap is located in Mineral County (WV)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Short Gap
  • Preston County (WV)
    • Hazelton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Blackfield ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Blackfield.

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

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

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

  • Highland Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Garrett Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Pleasant Hill Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • St. Johns Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • St. Pauls Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Mt. Zion Reformed Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mt. Zion Reformed Cemetery
    • The Mt. Zion Reformed Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Hays Reformed Cemetery
    • Mt. Zion - Hays Cemetery
    • Mt. Zion United Church of Christ (UCC) Cemetery
  • Union Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Reformed Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Union Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Husband Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Pike Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Listie Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (202 more) ...
    • Pugh Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Weller Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Younkin Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)

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 Blackfield in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Blackfield.

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

  • Shamrock
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Shamrock is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shamrock
  • Garrett
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Shober
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Shober is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shober
  • Beachdale
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Beachdale is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beachdale
  • Rockwood
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Mineral Spring
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Mineral Spring is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mineral Spring
  • Pine Hill
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Pine Hill is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Hill
  • Pine Hill Station
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Pine Hill Station is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Hill Station
  • Gebhart
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Gebhart is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gebhart
  • Casselman
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Casselman is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Casselman
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 97 people
  • Summit Mills
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Summit Mills is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summit Mills
  • West Meyersdale
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • West Meyersdale is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Meyersdale
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Salisbury Junction
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Salisbury Junction is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salisbury Junction
    • Somerset
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Shaw Mines
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Shaw Mines is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shaw Mines

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

Newspapers Published in Blackfield ...

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 47 newspapers that have been published in the area around Blackfield.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Blackfield, 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 Blackfield.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to 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 Blackfield:

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 Blackfield, 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Blackfield) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.