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 Brush Valley (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 Brush Valley. 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.
Name Variations for Brush Valley ...
When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.
For example, a typical abbreviation for Brush Valley: Brush Vly. (or less commonly used: Brush Vally. or Brush Vlly.)
If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.
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.
Brush Valley is located in Indiana 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 Indiana County: Armstrong, Cambria, Clearfield, Jefferson & Westmoreland.
Below are the counties that are near Brush Valley. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Brush Valley:
- Indiana County (The home county of Brush Valley)
- The following are listed by their distance from Brush Valley, with the one closest to Brush Valley listed first.
- Littletown
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Littletown is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Littletown
- Suncliff
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Suncliff is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Suncliff
- Claghorn ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Claghorn is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Claghorn
- Waterman
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Waterman is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterman
- Heshbon
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Heshbon is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heshbon
- Homer City
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Lucerne Mines
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Lucerne Mines is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lucerne Mines
- Armagh
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Dilltown
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Graceton
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Graceton is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graceton
- Ben Avon
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Ben Avon is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ben Avon
- Coral
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Armstrong County
- The following are listed by their distance from Brush Valley, with the one closest to Brush Valley listed first.
- Atwood
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Atwood is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atwood
- Population from the 2020 Census: 100 people
- Elderton
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Olivet
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Olivet is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olivet
- Barnards
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Barnards is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barnards
- Blanco
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Blanco is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blanco
- Cochrans Mills
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Cochrans Mills is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cochrans Mills
- Rural Valley
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Whitesburg
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Whitesburg is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitesburg
- Yatesboro
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Yatesboro is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yatesboro
- Edmon
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Edmon is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edmon
- Spring Church
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Bryan
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Bryan is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bryan
- Blair County
- Blue Knob
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Blue Knob is located in Blair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Knob
- Cambria County
- The following are listed by their distance from Brush Valley, with the one closest to Brush Valley listed first.
- Vintondale
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Vintondale is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vintondale
- Population from the 2020 Census: 367 people
- White Mill Crossing
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- White Mill Crossing is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Mill Crossing
- Belsano
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Belsano is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belsano
- Twin Rocks
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Wilmore
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Cardiff
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Cardiff is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cardiff
- Nanty Glo
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Pindleton
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Pindleton is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pindleton
- Mundys Corner
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Mundys Corner is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mundys Corner
- Colver
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Nicktown
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Nicktown is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nicktown
- Vinco
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Vinco is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vinco
- Clearfield County
- The following are listed by their distance from Brush Valley, with the one closest to Brush Valley listed first.
- Sylvis
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Sylvis is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sylvis
- Burnside
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Burnside is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burnside
- Population from the 2020 Census: 220 people
- Westover
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Westover is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westover
- Population from the 2020 Census: 374 people
- New Washington
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- New Washington is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Washington
- Population from the 2020 Census: 54 people
- McPherron
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- McPherron is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McPherron
- Mahaffey
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Newburg
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Newburg is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newburg
- Population from the 2020 Census: 94 people
- Thompsontown
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Thompsontown is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thompsontown
- Lyleville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Lyleville is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyleville
- Mayes
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Mayes is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayes
- Jefferson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Brush Valley, with the one closest to Brush Valley listed first.
- Valier
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Valier is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valier
- Punxsutawney
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Winslow
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Winslow is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winslow
- Albion
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Albion is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albion
- Somerset County
- The following are listed by their distance from Brush Valley, with the one closest to Brush Valley listed first.
- 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
- Thomas Mill
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Thomas Mill is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thomas Mill
- Davidsville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Benson
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Benson is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benson
- Population from the 2020 Census: 184 people
- Hollsopple
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Jerome
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Jerome is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jerome
- Paint
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Paint is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paint
- Population from the 2020 Census: 930 people
- Windber
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Jennerstown
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Laurel Mountain Village
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Blough
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Blough is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blough
- Jenners Crossroads
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Jenners Crossroads is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jenners Crossroads
- Westmoreland County
- The following are listed by their distance from Brush Valley, with the one closest to Brush Valley listed first.
- Seward
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Robb
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Robb is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robb
- New Florence
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Bolivar
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- West Fairfield
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- West Fairfield is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Fairfield
- Burrell
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Burrell is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burrell
- Livermore
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Livermore is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Livermore
- Derry
(18 miles [29 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
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Oak Grove
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Oak Grove is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
- New Alexandria
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Avonmore
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Brush Valley, see our County-by-County Page for Brush Valley.
Cemeteries Near Brush Valley ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Brush Valley.
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 Brush Valley - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Brush Valley covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Brush Valley, with the one closest to Brush Valley listed first.
- Frye Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Robinson Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Evans Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Bethel Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Brush Valley Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Conrad Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Coral Lutheran Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- 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>
- Armagh Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Greenwood Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- St. Marys Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Bethel Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Pine Land Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Continue List (225 more) ...
- St. Bernards Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for St. Bernards Cemetery
- The St. Bernards Cemetery has also been known as:
- St. Bernards of Clairvoux Catholic Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #45990 <2>
- Cherryhill Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Oakland Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
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, Brush Valley had a post office and no railroad service.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Brush Valley, with the one closest to Brush Valley listed first.
- Suncliff
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Suncliff is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Suncliff
- Heshbon
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Heshbon is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heshbon
- Homer City
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Graceton
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Graceton is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graceton
- Clyde
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Clyde is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clyde
- Armagh
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Dilltown
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Pikes Peak
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Pikes Peak is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pikes Peak
- Two Lick
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Two Lick is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Two Lick
- Nolo
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Nolo is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nolo
- Penn Run
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Strongstown
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Continue List (16 more) ...
- Indiana
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Smathers
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Smathers is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smathers
- Seward
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Brush Valley. See our List of 1890's Communities around Brush Valley.
Newspapers Published in Brush Valley ...
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 54 newspapers that have been published in the area around Brush Valley.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Brush Valley, 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 Brush Valley.
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 helpful 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 Brush Valley:
- Websites specific to Pennsylvania
- Pages specific to Indiana County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Armstrong County
- Blair County
- Cambria County
- Clearfield County
- Jefferson County
- Somerset County
- Westmoreland 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 Brush Valley, 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- Brush Valley) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |