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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 East Petersburg (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 East Petersburg. 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.

East Petersburg is located in Lancaster County.

To see how the shape of Pennsylvania's counties have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Lancaster County: Cecil (MD), Harford (MD), Berks, Chester, Dauphin, Lebanon & York.

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

  • Lancaster County     (The home county of East Petersburg)
  • Berks County
    • The following are listed by their distance from East Petersburg, with the one closest to East Petersburg listed first.
    • Adamstown
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Adamstown have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adamstown
      • Adamstown is located in Berks County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,905 people
      • Adamstown has also been known as:
      • Adamschteddel
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Adamstown <2>
    • Robesonia
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Womelsdorf
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Alleghenyville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Phoebe Berks Village
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Phoebe Berks Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Phoebe Berks Village
      • Phoebe Berks Village is located in Berks County
    • Wernersville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Mount Aetna
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Wintersville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Angelica
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Brownsville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brownsville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brownsville
      • Brownsville is located in Berks County
    • Mohnton
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mohnton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mohnton
      • Mohnton is located in Berks County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,011 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mohnton <2>
    • North Heidelberg
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
  • Chester County
    • The following are listed by their distance from East Petersburg, with the one closest to East Petersburg listed first.
    • Cambridge
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Compass
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Atglen
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Honey Brook
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Honey Brook have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Honey Brook
      • Honey Brook is located in Chester County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,756 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Honey Brook <2>
    • Lenover
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Lenover. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lenover
      • Lenover is located in Chester County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Lenover
      • From East Petersburg to Lenover
    • Parkesburg
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Parkesburg have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkesburg
      • Parkesburg is located in Chester County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,057 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Parkesburg <2>
    • Suplee
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Dampman
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Sadsburyville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sadsburyville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sadsburyville
      • Sadsburyville is located in Chester County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sadsburyville <2>
    • Birdell
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Birdell. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Birdell
      • Birdell is located in Chester County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Birdell
      • From East Petersburg to Birdell
    • Cupola
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Cupola. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cupola
      • Cupola is located in Chester County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Cupola
      • From East Petersburg to Cupola
    • Mount Vernon
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Cumberland County
    • The following are listed by their distance from East Petersburg, with the one closest to East Petersburg listed first.
    • New Cumberland
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Cumberland have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Cumberland
      • New Cumberland is located in Cumberland County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,300 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for New Cumberland <2>
    • Lemoyne
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lemoyne have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lemoyne
      • Lemoyne is located in Cumberland County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,632 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lemoyne <2>
    • Lisburn
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
    • Lower Allen
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lower Allen have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lower Allen
      • Lower Allen is located in Cumberland County
  • Dauphin County
  • Lebanon County
    • The following are listed by their distance from East Petersburg, with the one closest to East Petersburg listed first.
    • Burd Coleman Village
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Burd Coleman Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burd Coleman Village
      • Burd Coleman Village is located in Lebanon County
    • Miners Village
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Miners Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Miners Village
      • Miners Village is located in Lebanon County
    • Mount Gretna Heights
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Gretna Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Gretna Heights
      • Mount Gretna Heights is located in Lebanon County
    • Johnstown
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Johnstown have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnstown
      • Johnstown is located in Lebanon County
    • Colebrook
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Lawn
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Mount Gretna
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Gretna have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Gretna
      • Mount Gretna is located in Lebanon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 209 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mount Gretna <2>
    • Timber Hills
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Timber Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timber Hills
      • Timber Hills is located in Lebanon County
    • Cornwall
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cornwall have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cornwall
      • Cornwall is located in Lebanon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,382 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cornwall <2>
    • Quentin
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Schaefferstown
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Fontana
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Fontana. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fontana
      • Fontana is located in Lebanon County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Fontana
      • From East Petersburg to Fontana
  • Schuylkill County
  • York County
    • The following are listed by their distance from East Petersburg, with the one closest to East Petersburg listed first.
    • East Prospect
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Prospect have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Prospect
      • East Prospect is located in York County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 912 people
    • Wrightsville
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Craley
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • New Bridgeville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Yorkana
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Yorkana have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yorkana
      • Yorkana is located in York County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 229 people
    • Goram
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Goram. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goram
      • Goram is located in York County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Goram
      • From East Petersburg to Goram
    • Bittersville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Hallam
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hallam have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hallam
      • Hallam is located in York County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,634 people
    • Holtz
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Holtz. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holtz
      • Holtz is located in York County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Holtz
      • From East Petersburg to Holtz
    • Stonybrook
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Windsor
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Windsor have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windsor
      • Windsor is located in York County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,480 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Windsor <2>
    • Airville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
  • Baltimore County (MD)
    • The following are listed by their distance from East Petersburg, with the one closest to East Petersburg listed first.
    • Gorsuch Mills
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Maryland Line
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Cecil County (MD)
  • Harford County (MD)

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

Cemeteries Near East Petersburg ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of East Petersburg.

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.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

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

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

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.<6>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that East Petersburg had a population of 558 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service. In 2020, East Petersburg had a population of 4,485 people.

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

  • Shreiners
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shreiners have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shreiners
    • Shreiners is located in Lancaster County
  • Mechanicsville
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mechanicsville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mechanicsville
    • Mechanicsville is located in Lancaster County
  • Bamford
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bamford have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bamford
    • Bamford is located in Lancaster County
  • Neffsville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Neffsville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Neffsville
    • Neffsville is located in Lancaster County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Neffsville <2>
  • Landisville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Fairland
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Rohrerstown
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Landis Valley
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Landis Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Landis Valley
    • Landis Valley is located in Lancaster County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Landis Valley <2>
  • Lancaster Junction
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Salunga
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Salunga have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salunga
    • Salunga is located in Lancaster County
  • Lancaster
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Manheim
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (21 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in East Petersburg ...

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 59 newspapers that have been published in the area around East Petersburg.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of East Petersburg, there are papers which were published within 10 miles [16.1 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for East Petersburg.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These 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 East Petersburg:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for East Petersburg. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Lancaster County: www.co.lancaster.pa.us/

The official website for Commonwealth of Pennsylvania: https://www.pa.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- East Petersburg) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in East Petersburg. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.1000, Longitude: -76.3541    
<5>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.
<6>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 East Petersburg, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025