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 Chestnut Hill (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 Chestnut Hill. 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 Chestnut Hill ...
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.
Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might occur.
Another variation: Chestnuthill.
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Chestnut Hill. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Chestnut Hill.
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 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.
Chestnut Hill is located in Erie 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 Erie County: Chautauqua (NY), Ashtabula (OH), Crawford (OH) & Warren (OH).
Below are the counties that are near Chestnut Hill. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Chestnut Hill:
- Erie County (The home county of Chestnut Hill)
- The following are listed by their distance from Chestnut Hill, with the one closest to Chestnut Hill listed first.
- Kearsarge
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Kearsarge is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kearsarge
- Erie
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- West Millcreek
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- West Millcreek is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Millcreek
- Lakewood
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Lakewood is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakewood
- Wesleyville
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Lawrence Park
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Lawrence Park is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawrence Park
- McKean
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- McKean is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McKean
- Population from the 2020 Census: 366 people
- McKean has also been known as:
- Middleboro
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for McKean <1>
- Avonia
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Avonia is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avonia
- Borough of Fairview
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Phillipsville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Phillipsville is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Phillipsville
- Hornby
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Hornby is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hornby
- LeBoeuf Garden
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- LeBoeuf Garden is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for LeBoeuf Garden
- Crawford County
- The following are listed by their distance from Chestnut Hill, with the one closest to Chestnut Hill listed first.
- Crossingville
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Crossingville is located in Crawford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crossingville
- Cambridge Springs
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Venango
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Brown Hill
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Brown Hill is located in Crawford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brown Hill
- Mosiertown
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Mosiertown is located in Crawford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mosiertown
- Woodcock
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Woodcock is located in Crawford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodcock
- Population from the 2020 Census: 147 people
- Canadohta Lake
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Canadohta Lake is located in Crawford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canadohta Lake
- Lincolnville
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Lincolnville is located in Crawford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincolnville
- Rootville
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Rootville is located in Crawford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rootville
- Springboro Station
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Springboro Station is located in Crawford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springboro Station
- Springboro
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Coons Corners
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Coons Corners is located in Crawford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coons Corners
- Warren County
- The following are listed by their distance from Chestnut Hill, with the one closest to Chestnut Hill listed first.
- Columbus
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Colza
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Colza is located in Warren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colza
- Bear Lake
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Chautauqua County (NY)
- The following are listed by their distance from Chestnut Hill, with the one closest to Chestnut Hill listed first.
- Findley Lake
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- French Creek
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- French Creek is located in Chautauqua County (NY)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for French Creek
- Ripley
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Slab City
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Slab City is located in Chautauqua County (NY)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slab City
- Sherman
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- North Clymer
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- North Clymer is located in Chautauqua County (NY)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Clymer
- Forsyth
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Forsyth is located in Chautauqua County (NY)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forsyth
- Stebbins Corners
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Stebbins Corners is located in Chautauqua County (NY)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stebbins Corners
- Ashtabula County (OH)
- Conneaut
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Chestnut Hill, see our County-by-County Page for Chestnut Hill.
Cemeteries Near Chestnut Hill ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Chestnut Hill.
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 Chestnut Hill - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Chestnut Hill covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Chestnut Hill, with the one closest to Chestnut Hill listed first.
- St. Nicholas Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Laurel Hill Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Erie Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erie Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Erie Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located in Erie.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #44764 <2>
- Trinity Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Calvary Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Lakeside Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Valley Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Cemetery
- The Valley Cemetery has also been known as:
- Dunn Valley Cemetery
- Tallmadge Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #46556 <2>
- Intergreen Gorge Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Wintergreen Gorge Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Mt. Calvary Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Calvary Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Ruhl Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (105 more) ...
- St. Francis Xavier Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Golden Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- St.s Pauls Evangelical Church Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
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 Chestnut Hill in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Chestnut Hill.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Chestnut Hill, with the one closest to Chestnut Hill listed first.
- Kearsarge
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Kearsarge is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kearsarge
- Erie
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Dock Junction
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Dock Junction is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dock Junction
- Langdon
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Langdon is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Langdon
- Belle Valley
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Belle Valley is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belle Valley
- West Millcreek
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- West Millcreek is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Millcreek
- Swanville
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Swanville is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swanville
- Jackson
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Jackson is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jackson
- Godard
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Godard is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Godard
- Wesleyville
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- McKean
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- McKean is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McKean
- Population from the 2020 Census: 366 people
- McKean has also been known as:
- Middleboro
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for McKean <1>
- Hammett
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Hammett is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hammett
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Sterrettania
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Sterrettania is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sterrettania
- West Greene
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- West Greene is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Greene
- Avonia
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Avonia is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avonia
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Chestnut Hill. See our List of 1890's Communities around Chestnut Hill.
Newspapers Published in Chestnut Hill ...
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 30 newspapers that have been published in the area around Chestnut Hill.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Chestnut Hill, there are papers which were published within 25 miles [40.2 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Chestnut Hill.
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 professional and volunteer 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 Chestnut Hill:
- Websites specific to Pennsylvania
- Pages specific to Erie County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Crawford County
- Warren County
- Chautauqua County
- Ashtabula 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 Chestnut Hill, 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Chestnut Hill) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |