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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 Boston (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 Boston. 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 hospitals and 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.

Boston is located in Allegheny 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 Allegheny County: Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Washington & Westmoreland.

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

  • Allegheny County     (The home county of Boston)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Boston, with the one closest to Boston listed first.
    • Versailles
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Lincoln
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • Lincoln is located in Allegheny County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,013 people
    • White Oak
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Liberty
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Liberty is located in Allegheny County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,438 people
    • McKeesport
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Port Vue
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Buena Vista
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Riverton
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Riverton is located in Allegheny County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverton
    • Clairton
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Glassport
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Mendelssohn
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Mendelssohn is located in Allegheny County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mendelssohn
    • Dravosburg
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Coal Valley
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Armstrong County
  • Beaver County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Boston, with the one closest to Boston listed first.
    • Ambridge
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • South Heights
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • South Heights is located in Beaver County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Heights
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 437 people
    • Gringo
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Baden
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Crestmont Village
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Crestmont Village is located in Beaver County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crestmont Village
    • Economy
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Economy is located in Beaver County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Economy
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,022 people
  • Butler County
  • Fayette County
  • Greene County
  • Indiana County
  • Washington County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Boston, with the one closest to Boston listed first.
    • Ellsworth
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Ellsworth is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellsworth
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 960 people
    • Donora
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Black Diamond
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Gastonville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Gastonville is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gastonville
    • Monongahela
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • New Eagle
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Riverview
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Riverview is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverview
    • Finleyville
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Baidland
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Baidland is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baidland
    • Charleroi
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • North Charleroi
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • North Charleroi is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Charleroi
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,258 people
    • Sudan
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • McMurray
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Westmoreland County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Boston, with the one closest to Boston listed first.
    • Shaner
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Rillton
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Larimer
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Sutersville
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Blackburn ‑ Historic
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Blackburn is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackburn
    • Irwin
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Irwin is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irwin
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,716 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Irwin <1>
    • North Irwin
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • North Irwin is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Irwin
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 780 people
    • Shafton
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Shafton is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shafton
    • Trafford
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Herminie
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Westmoreland City
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Westmoreland City is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westmoreland City
    • West Newton
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Adamsburg
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)

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

Cemeteries Near Boston ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Boston.

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

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

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

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, Boston had a post office and railroad service.

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

  • Greenock
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Greenock is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenock
  • Alpsville
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Alpsville is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpsville
  • Belle Bridge
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Belle Bridge is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belle Bridge
  • Buena Vista
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Emblem
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Emblem is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emblem
  • McKeesport
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Riverton
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Riverton is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverton
  • Wylie
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Wylie is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wylie
  • Shaner
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Guffey
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Guffey is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guffey
  • Yohoghany
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Yohoghany is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yohoghany
  • Wilson
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Wilson is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilson
  • Continue List   (26 more) ...
    • Mendelssohn
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Mendelssohn is located in Allegheny County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mendelssohn
    • East Elizabeth
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • East Elizabeth is located in Allegheny County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Elizabeth
    • West Elizabeth
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)

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

Newspapers Published in Boston ...

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 77 newspapers that have been published in the area around Boston.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Boston, there are papers which were published within 7 miles [11.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Boston.

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 Boston:

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 Boston, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Boston) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.