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 Drakes Mills (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 Drakes Mills. 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 Drakes Mills ...
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.
- A typical abbreviation for Drakes Mills: Drakes Mls. (or less commonly used: Drakes Mlls.)
- While the name of this community is Drakes Mills, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Drakes Mills may originally have been Drake's Mills.
Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Drakes Mills might be written as Drake Mills.
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 and hospitals 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.
Drakes Mills is located in Crawford 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 Crawford County: Ashtabula (OH), Trumbull (OH), Erie, Mercer, Venango & Warren.
Below are the counties that are near Drakes Mills. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Drakes Mills:
- Crawford County (The home county of Drakes Mills)
- The following are listed by their distance from Drakes Mills, with the one closest to Drakes Mills listed first.
- Cambridge Springs
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Venango
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Woodcock
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Woodcock is located in Crawford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodcock
- Population from the 2020 Census: 147 people
- Mosiertown
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Mosiertown is located in Crawford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mosiertown
- Brown Hill
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Brown Hill is located in Crawford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brown Hill
- Saegertown
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Saegertown is located in Crawford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saegertown
- Population from the 2020 Census: 938 people
- Crossingville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Crossingville is located in Crawford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crossingville
- Blooming Valley
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Blooming Valley is located in Crawford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blooming Valley
- Population from the 2020 Census: 311 people
- Coons Corners
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Coons Corners is located in Crawford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coons Corners
- Rootville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Rootville is located in Crawford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rootville
- Canadohta Lake
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Canadohta Lake is located in Crawford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canadohta Lake
- Lincolnville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Lincolnville is located in Crawford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincolnville
- Erie County
- The following are listed by their distance from Drakes Mills, with the one closest to Drakes Mills listed first.
- Edinboro
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Mill Village
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Mill Village is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mill Village
- Population from the 2020 Census: 383 people
- LeBoeuf Garden
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- LeBoeuf Garden is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for LeBoeuf Garden
- Waterford
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Waterford Station
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Waterford Station is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterford Station
- Franklin Center
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- McKean
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- 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 <2>
- Union City
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Francis
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Francis is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Francis
- Little Elk
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Little Elk is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Elk
- Cranesville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Albion
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Mercer County
- The following are listed by their distance from Drakes Mills, with the one closest to Drakes Mills listed first.
- Milledgeville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Milledgeville is located in Mercer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milledgeville
- Sheakleyville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Sheakleyville is located in Mercer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sheakleyville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 134 people
- New Lebanon
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- New Lebanon is located in Mercer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Lebanon
- Population from the 2020 Census: 170 people
- New Vernon
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- New Vernon is located in Mercer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Vernon
- Kennard
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Kennard is located in Mercer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kennard
- Hadley
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Jamestown
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Clarks Mills
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Clarks Mills is located in Mercer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarks Mills
- North Sandy
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- North Sandy is located in Mercer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Sandy
- Leechs Corners
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Leechs Corners is located in Mercer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leechs Corners
- Osgood
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Osgood is located in Mercer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osgood
- Salem
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Salem is located in Mercer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salem
- Venango County
- The following are listed by their distance from Drakes Mills, with the one closest to Drakes Mills listed first.
- Wilson Mills
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Wilson Mills is located in Venango County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilson Mills
- Cooperstown
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Cooperstown is located in Venango County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooperstown
- Population from the 2020 Census: 417 people
- Utica
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Utica is located in Venango County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Utica
- Population from the 2020 Census: 168 people
- Sugarcreek
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Sugarcreek is located in Venango County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugarcreek
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,868 people
- Petroleum Center
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Petroleum Center is located in Venango County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Petroleum Center
- Shamburg
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Shamburg is located in Venango County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shamburg
- Pleasantville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Warren County
- The following are listed by their distance from Drakes Mills, with the one closest to Drakes Mills listed first.
- Colza
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Colza is located in Warren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colza
- Columbus
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- East Branch
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- East Branch is located in Warren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Branch
- West Spring Creek
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- West Spring Creek is located in Warren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Spring Creek
- Selkirk
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Selkirk is located in Warren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Selkirk
- Sanford
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Sanford is located in Warren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sanford
- Enterprise
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Enterprise is located in Warren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Enterprise
- York County
- Adamsville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Adamsville is located in York County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adamsville
- Chautauqua County (NY)
- The following are listed by their distance from Drakes Mills, with the one closest to Drakes Mills listed first.
- French Creek
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- French Creek is located in Chautauqua County (NY)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for French Creek
- Findley Lake
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Ashtabula County (OH)
- The following are listed by their distance from Drakes Mills, with the one closest to Drakes Mills listed first.
- Conneaut
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Richmond Center
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Richmond Center is located in Ashtabula County (OH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richmond Center
- Kelloggsville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Kelloggsville is located in Ashtabula County (OH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelloggsville
- Gould
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Gould is located in Ashtabula County (OH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gould
- Andover
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Simons
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Simons is located in Ashtabula County (OH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Simons
- Kingsville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- North Kingsville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Drakes Mills, see our County-by-County Page for Drakes Mills.
Cemeteries Near Drakes Mills ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Drakes Mills.
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 Drakes Mills - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Drakes Mills covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Drakes Mills, with the one closest to Drakes Mills listed first.
- Trow Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Mitchell Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Venango Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Lewis Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Gravel Run Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Mackey Hill Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Sherrod Hill Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Carmel - Freeman Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Brookhouser Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Saegertown Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Chapinville Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- St. James Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Continue List (171 more) ...
- Acker - Rodgers Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Dunn Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Mt. Blair Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
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.<4>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Drakes Mills had a population of 136 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Drakes Mills, with the one closest to Drakes Mills listed first.
- McLallen Corners
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- McLallen Corners is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McLallen Corners
- Edinboro
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Venango
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Millers Station
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Millers Station is located in Crawford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millers Station
- Woodcock
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Woodcock is located in Crawford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodcock
- Population from the 2020 Census: 147 people
- Mill Village
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Mill Village is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mill Village
- Population from the 2020 Census: 383 people
- Mosiertown
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Mosiertown is located in Crawford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mosiertown
- McLane
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- McLane is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McLane
- Pinney Corners
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Pinney Corners is located in Crawford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinney Corners
- Brown Hill
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Brown Hill is located in Crawford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brown Hill
- Lavery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Lavery is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lavery
- Crossingville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Crossingville is located in Crawford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crossingville
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- Teepleville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Teepleville is located in Crawford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Teepleville
- Waterford
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Coons Corners
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Coons Corners is located in Crawford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coons Corners
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Drakes Mills. See our List of 1890's Communities around Drakes Mills.
Newspapers Published in Drakes Mills ...
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 109 newspapers that have been published in the area around Drakes Mills.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Drakes Mills, there are papers which were published within 19 miles [30.6 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Drakes Mills.
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 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 Drakes Mills:
- Websites specific to Pennsylvania
- Pages specific to Crawford County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Erie County
- Mercer County
- Venango County
- Warren County
- York County
- Chautauqua County
- Ashtabula County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Pennsylvania
Footnotes ...
| <1> | It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties). |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | 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 Drakes Mills, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <5> | 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- Drakes Mills) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |