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 Brenizer (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 Brenizer. 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 and hospitals 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.
Brenizer 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 Brenizer. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Brenizer:
- Westmoreland County (The home county of Brenizer)
- The following are listed by their distance from Brenizer, with the one closest to Brenizer listed first.
- Burrell
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Burrell is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burrell
- Derry
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- 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>
- New Derry
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Livermore
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Livermore is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Livermore
- Bolivar
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- McChesneytown - Loyalhanna
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- New Alexandria
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- West Fairfield
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- West Fairfield is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Fairfield
- Kingston
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Kingston is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingston
- Latrobe
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Darlington
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Darlington is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Darlington
- Lawson Heights
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Lawson Heights is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawson Heights
- Youngstown
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Allegheny County
- The following are listed by their distance from Brenizer, with the one closest to Brenizer listed first.
- New Texas
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- New Texas is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Texas
- Pitcairn
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Plum
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- 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>
- Karns
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Karns is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Karns
- Sligo
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Sligo is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sligo
- Garden City
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Garden City is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden City
- Leechburg
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Leechburg is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leechburg
- Monroeville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Unity
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Unity is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unity
- Wall
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Wall is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wall
- Population from the 2020 Census: 553 people
- Brackenridge
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Natrona
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Natrona is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Natrona
- East McKeesport
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Armstrong County
- The following are listed by their distance from Brenizer, with the one closest to Brenizer listed first.
- Edmon
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Edmon is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edmon
- Olivet
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Olivet is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olivet
- Orchard Hills
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Orchard Hills is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orchard Hills
- Spring Church
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- North Apollo
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Elderton
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Apollo
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Cochrans Mills
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Cochrans Mills is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cochrans Mills
- Leechburg
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Atwood
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Atwood is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atwood
- Population from the 2020 Census: 100 people
- Whitesburg
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Whitesburg is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitesburg
- Tunnelville ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Tunnelville is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tunnelville
- Neale
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Neale is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Neale
- Cambria County
- The following are listed by their distance from Brenizer, with the one closest to Brenizer listed first.
- Wilmore
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- 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
- Brownstown
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Cambria City
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Cambria City is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cambria City
- Elim
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Elim is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elim
- Lilly
(18 miles [29 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
(18 miles [29 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
- Conemaugh
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Conemaugh is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conemaugh
- Johnstown
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Vintondale
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Vintondale is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vintondale
- Population from the 2020 Census: 367 people
- Daisytown
(20 miles [32.2 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
(20 miles [32.2 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
- East Conemaugh
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- East Conemaugh is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Conemaugh
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,090 people
- Fayette County
- The following are listed by their distance from Brenizer, with the one closest to Brenizer listed first.
- Bear Rocks
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Bear Rocks is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Rocks
- Laurelville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Laurelville is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurelville
- Champion
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- White
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- White is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White
- Indian Head
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Indian Head is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Head
- Seven Springs
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Everson
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Everson is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Everson
- Population from the 2020 Census: 744 people
- Indiana County
- The following are listed by their distance from Brenizer, with the one closest to Brenizer listed first.
- Blairsville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Robinson
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Robinson is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robinson
- Black Lick
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Black Lick is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Lick
- Palmertown
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Bow
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Bow is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bow
- Josephine
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Josephine is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Josephine
- Coral
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Jacksonville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Jacksonville is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jacksonville
- Graceton
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Graceton is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graceton
- White
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- White is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White
- Smathers
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Smathers is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smathers
- Heshbon
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Heshbon is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heshbon
- Clarksburg
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Somerset County
- The following are listed by their distance from Brenizer, with the one closest to Brenizer listed first.
- Laurel Mountain Village
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Jennerstown
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Jerome
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Jerome is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jerome
- Thomas Mill
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Thomas Mill is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thomas Mill
- Jenners Crossroads
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Jenners Crossroads is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jenners Crossroads
- Tire Hill
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Tire Hill is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tire Hill
- Roytown
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Roytown is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roytown
- Davidsville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Jenners
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Jenners is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jenners
- Benson
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Benson is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benson
- Population from the 2020 Census: 184 people
- Hollsopple
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Sipesville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Sipesville is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sipesville
- Bakersville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Bakersville is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bakersville
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Brenizer, see our County-by-County Page for Brenizer.
Cemeteries Near Brenizer ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Brenizer.
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 Brenizer - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Brenizer covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Brenizer, with the one closest to Brenizer listed first.
- Blairsville Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- St. Josephs Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Coles Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Mt. Carmel Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Westview Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Rose Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- St. Marys Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- St. Marys Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Coral Lutheran Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coral Lutheran Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Coral Lutheran Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the southwest of Coral.
- The Coral Lutheran Cemetery has also been known as:
- Lutheran Chapel Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2129169 <2>
- Kunkle Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Conemaugh Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Union Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Continue List (279 more) ...
- Craig Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- St. James Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- McIntire Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
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 Brenizer in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Brenizer.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Brenizer, with the one closest to Brenizer listed first.
- Grays
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Grays is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grays
- Cokeville ‑ Historic
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Cokeville is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cokeville
- Burrell
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Burrell is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burrell
- Hillside
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Hillside is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillside
- Blairsville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Snyder
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Snyder is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Snyder
- Millwood
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Millwood is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millwood
- Smith
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Smith is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smith
- New Derry
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Livermore
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Livermore is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Livermore
- Bradenville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Bradenville is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bradenville
- Bolivar
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- Bow
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Bow is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bow
- Loyalhanna
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Loyalhanna is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loyalhanna
- Lockport
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Lockport is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lockport
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Brenizer. See our List of 1890's Communities around Brenizer.
Newspapers Published in Brenizer ...
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 35 newspapers that have been published in the area around Brenizer.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Brenizer, there are papers which were published within 12 miles [19.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Brenizer.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we begin with 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 Brenizer:
- Websites specific to Pennsylvania
- Pages specific to Westmoreland County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Allegheny County
- Armstrong County
- Cambria County
- Fayette County
- Indiana County
- Somerset 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 Brenizer, 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Brenizer) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |