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 Bloomington (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 Bloomington. 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 northwest 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 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.
Bloomington is located in Clearfield 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 Clearfield County: Cameron, Centre, Clinton, Elk, Indiana & Jefferson.
Below are the counties that are near Bloomington. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Bloomington:
- Clearfield County (The home county of Bloomington)
- The following are listed by their distance from Bloomington, with the one closest to Bloomington listed first.
- Olanta
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Glen Richey
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Glen Richey is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Richey
- Curwensville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Lumber City
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Lumber City is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lumber City
- Estimated population in 2015: 75 people
- Hyde
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Hyde is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hyde
- Gazzam
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Gazzam is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gazzam
- Grampian
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Sanborn
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Sanborn is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sanborn
- Clearfield
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Belsena
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Belsena is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belsena
- Belsena has also been known as:
- Belsena Mills
- Cherry Corner
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Cherry Corner is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Corner
- Curry Run
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Curry Run is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Curry Run
- Blair County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bloomington, with the one closest to Bloomington listed first.
- Grazierville
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Grazierville is located in Blair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grazierville
- Tipton
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Tyrone
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Highland Fling
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Highland Fling is located in Blair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland Fling
- Tyrone Forge
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Tyrone Forge is located in Blair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tyrone Forge
- Bellwood
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Culp
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Culp is located in Blair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Culp
- Altoona
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Cambria County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bloomington, with the one closest to Bloomington listed first.
- Flinton
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Fallentimber
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Lloydville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Lloydville is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lloydville
- Thomas Mills
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Thomas Mills is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thomas Mills
- Dean
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Dean is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dean
- Hastings
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Patton
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Dysart
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Dysart is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dysart
- Barnesboro
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Barnesboro is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barnesboro
- Garmantown
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Garmantown is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garmantown
- Northern Cambria
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Northern Cambria is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Northern Cambria
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,456 people
- West Branch
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- West Branch is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Branch
- Centre County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bloomington, with the one closest to Bloomington listed first.
- New Town
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- New Town is located in Centre County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Town
- Philipsburg
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- South Philipsburg
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- South Philipsburg is located in Centre County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Philipsburg
- Glass City
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Glass City is located in Centre County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glass City
- North Philipsburg
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- North Philipsburg is located in Centre County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Philipsburg
- Sandy Ridge
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Sandy Ridge is located in Centre County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Ridge
- Casanova
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Casanova is located in Centre County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Casanova
- Port Matilda
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Pine Glen
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Pine Glen is located in Centre County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Glen
- Moshannon
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Moshannon is located in Centre County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moshannon
- Stormstown
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Stormstown is located in Centre County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stormstown
- Marengo
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Marengo is located in Centre County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marengo
- Elk County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bloomington, with the one closest to Bloomington listed first.
- Scattertown
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Scattertown is located in Elk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scattertown
- Byrnedale
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Caledonia
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Caledonia is located in Elk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caledonia
- Brockport
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Challenge
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Challenge is located in Elk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Challenge
- Shawmut
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Shawmut is located in Elk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shawmut
- Benezette
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Kylers Corners
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Kylers Corners is located in Elk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kylers Corners
- Horton City
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Horton City is located in Elk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horton City
- Dagus Mines
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Dagus Mines is located in Elk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dagus Mines
- Grant
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Grant is located in Elk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grant
- Huntingdon County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bloomington, with the one closest to Bloomington listed first.
- Pennington
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Pennington is located in Huntingdon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pennington
- Birmingham
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Birmingham is located in Huntingdon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Birmingham
- Population from the 2020 Census: 87 people
- Dungarvin
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Dungarvin is located in Huntingdon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dungarvin
- Huntingdon Furnace
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Huntingdon Furnace is located in Huntingdon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huntingdon Furnace
- Seven Stars
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Seven Stars is located in Huntingdon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seven Stars
- Indiana County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bloomington, with the one closest to Bloomington listed first.
- Urey
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Urey is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Urey
- Glen Campbell
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Hooverhurst
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Hooverhurst is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hooverhurst
- Johnsonburg
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Johnsonburg is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnsonburg
- Rossiter
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Cherry Tree
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Cherry Tree is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Tree
- Population from the 2020 Census: 334 people
- Hillsdale
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Hillsdale is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillsdale
- Uniontown
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Uniontown is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Uniontown
- Purchase Line
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Purchase Line is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Purchase Line
- Rochester Mills
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Rochester Mills is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rochester Mills
- Cookport
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Cookport is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cookport
- Marchand
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Marchand is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marchand
- Jefferson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Bloomington, with the one closest to Bloomington listed first.
- Sykesville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Winslow
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Winslow is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winslow
- Falls Creek
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Pancoast
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Pancoast is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pancoast
- Prescottville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Prescottville is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prescottville
- Red Mill
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Red Mill is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Mill
- Wishaw
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Wishaw is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wishaw
- Reynoldsville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Albion
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Albion is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albion
- Sandy Valley
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Sandy Valley is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Valley
- Panic
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Panic is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Panic
- Punxsutawney
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Lawrence County
- Big Run
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Big Run is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Run
- Population from the 2020 Census: 594 people
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Bloomington, see our County-by-County Page for Bloomington.
Cemeteries Near Bloomington ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Bloomington.
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 Bloomington - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Bloomington covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Bloomington, with the one closest to Bloomington listed first.
- Ferguson Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- McClure Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Williams Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Snyder Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Mt. Zion Memorial Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Thompson Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Oak Hill Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Crown Crest Memorial Park
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Friends Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Watts Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Sanborn Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Stoneville Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Continue List (188 more) ...
- Calvary Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Woods Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- St. Bonaventure Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 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.<2>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Bloomington had a population of 29 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Bloomington, with the one closest to Bloomington listed first.
- Olanta
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Oshanter
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Oshanter is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oshanter
- Glen Richey
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Glen Richey is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Richey
- Curwensville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Lumber City
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Lumber City is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lumber City
- Estimated population in 2015: 75 people
- New Millport
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- New Millport is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Millport
- Kerrmoor
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Kerrmoor is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kerrmoor
- Gazzam
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Gazzam is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gazzam
- Riverview
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Riverview is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverview
- Ansonville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Ansonville is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ansonville
- Bells Landing
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Bells Landing is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bells Landing
- Curry Run
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Curry Run is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Curry Run
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Marron
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Marron is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marron
- Belsena
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Belsena is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belsena
- Belsena has also been known as:
- Belsena Mills
- Jeffries
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Jeffries is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jeffries
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Bloomington. See our List of 1890's Communities around Bloomington.
Newspapers Published in Bloomington ...
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 40 newspapers that have been published in the area around Bloomington.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Bloomington, there are papers which were published within 14 miles [22.5 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Bloomington.
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 Bloomington:
- Websites specific to Pennsylvania
- Pages specific to Clearfield County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Blair County
- Cambria County
- Centre County
- Elk County
- Huntingdon County
- Indiana County
- Jefferson County
- Lawrence 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> | 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 Bloomington, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Bloomington) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |