RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> Commonwealth of Pennsylvania >> Forest County >> Crystal Springs >> Genealogy HelperIndex...

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 Crystal Springs (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 Crystal Springs. 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 Crystal Springs ...

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.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Crystal Springs: Crystal Spgs. (or less commonly used: Crystal Spngs. or Crystal Sprngs.)

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Crystal Springs. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Crystal Springs.

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 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.

Crystal Springs is located in Forest 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 Forest County: Clarion, Elk, Jefferson, Venango & Warren.

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

  • Forest County     (The home county of Crystal Springs)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Crystal Springs, with the one closest to Crystal Springs listed first.
    • Trunkeyville
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Trunkeyville is located in Forest County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trunkeyville
    • Jamison
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Jamison is located in Forest County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamison
    • Tionesta
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Fagundus
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Fagundus is located in Forest County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fagundus
    • Balltown
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Balltown is located in Forest County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Balltown
    • Gilfoyle
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Gilfoyle is located in Forest County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilfoyle
    • Roses
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Roses is located in Forest County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roses
    • Marienville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Marienville is located in Forest County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marienville
    • Redclyffe
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Redclyffe is located in Forest County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redclyffe
    • Iron City
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Iron City is located in Forest County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iron City
    • Sheffield Junction
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Sheffield Junction is located in Forest County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sheffield Junction
    • Clarington
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Clarion County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Crystal Springs, with the one closest to Crystal Springs listed first.
    • Newmansville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Newmansville is located in Clarion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newmansville
    • Wolfs Corners
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Wolfs Corners is located in Clarion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolfs Corners
    • Crown
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Crown is located in Clarion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crown
    • Leeper
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Fryburg
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Venus
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Venus is located in Clarion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Venus
    • Marble
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Cooksburg
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Helen Furnace
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Helen Furnace is located in Clarion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helen Furnace
    • Arthurs
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Arthurs is located in Clarion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arthurs
    • Pine City
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Pine City is located in Clarion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine City
    • Shippenville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Iron City
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Iron City is located in Clarion County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iron City
  • Crawford County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Crystal Springs, with the one closest to Crystal Springs listed first.
    • Titusville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Vrooman
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Vrooman is located in Crawford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vrooman
    • Gresham
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Gresham is located in Crawford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gresham
    • Hydetown
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Hydetown is located in Crawford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hydetown
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 504 people
    • Centerville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Tryonville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Tryonville is located in Crawford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tryonville
    • Spartansburg
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Fauncetown
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Fauncetown is located in Crawford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fauncetown
    • Riceville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Riceville is located in Crawford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riceville
    • Black Ash
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Black Ash is located in Crawford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Ash
    • Townville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Townville is located in Crawford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Townville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 306 people
  • Elk County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Crystal Springs, with the one closest to Crystal Springs listed first.
    • Millstone
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Millstone is located in Elk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millstone
    • Russell City
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Russell City is located in Elk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Russell City
    • Hallton
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Hallton is located in Elk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hallton
    • McKinley
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • McKinley is located in Elk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McKinley
    • Windy City
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Windy City is located in Elk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windy City
    • Lake City
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • James City
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
  • Erie County
    • Corry
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Jefferson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Crystal Springs, with the one closest to Crystal Springs listed first.
    • Ella
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Ella is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ella
    • Sigel
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Howe
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Howe is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howe
    • Corsica
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Corsica is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corsica
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 342 people
    • Munderf
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Munderf is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Munderf
    • Schoffner Corner
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Schoffner Corner is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Schoffner Corner
    • Baxter
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Baxter is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baxter
    • Brookville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Hazen
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Hazen is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hazen
    • Warsaw
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Warsaw is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warsaw
    • Summerville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Summerville is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summerville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 501 people
  • McKean County
    • Kane
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Kane is located in McKean County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kane
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,421 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kane <1>
  • Venango County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Crystal Springs, with the one closest to Crystal Springs listed first.
    • President
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • President is located in Venango County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for President
    • Pithole City
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Pithole City is located in Venango County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pithole City
    • Pleasantville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Shamburg
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Shamburg is located in Venango County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shamburg
    • Coal Hill
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Coal Hill is located in Venango County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coal Hill
    • Plumer
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Plumer is located in Venango County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plumer
    • Fertigs
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Fertigs is located in Venango County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fertigs
    • Hasson Heights
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Hasson Heights is located in Venango County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hasson Heights
    • Petroleum Center
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Petroleum Center is located in Venango County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Petroleum Center
    • Colonial Village
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Colonial Village is located in Venango County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colonial Village
    • McClintock
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • McClintock is located in Venango County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McClintock
    • Rouseville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Rynd Farm
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Rynd Farm is located in Venango County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rynd Farm
  • Warren County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Crystal Springs, with the one closest to Crystal Springs listed first.
    • Tidioute
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Cobham
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Cobham is located in Warren County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cobham
    • Hermit Spring
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Hermit Spring is located in Warren County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hermit Spring
    • Enterprise
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Enterprise is located in Warren County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Enterprise
    • Henrys Mills
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Henrys Mills is located in Warren County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henrys Mills
    • Selkirk
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Selkirk is located in Warren County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Selkirk
    • Barnes
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Barnes is located in Warren County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barnes
    • Donaldson
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Donaldson is located in Warren County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Donaldson
    • Hoover
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Hoover is located in Warren County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hoover
    • Saybrook
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Saybrook is located in Warren County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saybrook
    • Sheffield
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Sanford
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Sanford is located in Warren County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sanford
    • Clarendon
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)

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

Cemeteries Near Crystal Springs ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Crystal Springs.

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 Crystal Springs - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Whig Hill Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Mt. Collins Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Fagundas Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Economite Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Holeman Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Asbury Chapel Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • St. Mary's Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for St. Mary's Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the St. Mary's Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in the vicinity of Crown
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #366360 <2>
  • Roses Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Gorman Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Neilltown Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • North Forest Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Concord Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (117 more) ...
    • Dehner Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Fairview Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • McCrea Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)

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 Crystal Springs in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Crystal Springs.

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

  • Starr
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Starr is located in Forest County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Starr
  • Whig Hill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Whig Hill is located in Forest County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whig Hill
  • Kellettville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Kellettville is located in Forest County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kellettville
  • East Hickory
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • West Hickory
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • West Hickory is located in Forest County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Hickory
  • Nebraska
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Nebraska is located in Forest County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nebraska
  • Guitonville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Guitonville is located in Forest County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guitonville
  • Jamison
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Jamison is located in Forest County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamison
  • Golinza
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Golinza is located in Forest County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Golinza
  • Trunkeyville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Trunkeyville is located in Forest County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trunkeyville
  • Tionesta
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Newmansville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Newmansville is located in Clarion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newmansville
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Mayburg
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Mayburg is located in Forest County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayburg
    • Fagundus
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Fagundus is located in Forest County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fagundus
    • Stewart Run
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Stewart Run is located in Forest County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stewart Run

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

Newspapers Published in Crystal Springs ...

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 56 newspapers that have been published in the area around Crystal Springs.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Crystal Springs, there are papers which were published within 20 miles [32.2 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Crystal Springs.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we start with 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 Crystal Springs:

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