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 Fairplain (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 Fairplain. 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 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.
Fairplain 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 Fairplain. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Fairplain:
- Erie County (The home county of Fairplain)
- The following are listed by their distance from Fairplain, with the one closest to Fairplain listed first.
- Avonia
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Avonia is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avonia
- Borough of Fairview
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Girard
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Girard is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Girard
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,897 people
- Lake City
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Lake City is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,836 people
- Francis
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Francis is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Francis
- Little Elk
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Little Elk is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Elk
- Platea
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Platea is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Platea
- Population from the 2020 Census: 397 people
- Cross
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Cross is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cross
- West Millcreek
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- West Millcreek is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Millcreek
- Lakewood
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Lakewood is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakewood
- East Springfield
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- McKean
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- 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>
- Franklin Center
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Crawford County
- The following are listed by their distance from Fairplain, with the one closest to Fairplain listed first.
- Crossingville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Crossingville is located in Crawford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crossingville
- Springboro Station
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Springboro Station is located in Crawford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springboro Station
- Springboro
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Mosiertown
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Mosiertown is located in Crawford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mosiertown
- Conneautville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Cambridge Springs
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Venango
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Coons Corners
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Coons Corners is located in Crawford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coons Corners
- Norrisville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Norrisville is located in Crawford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norrisville
- Woodcock
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Woodcock is located in Crawford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodcock
- Population from the 2020 Census: 147 people
- Dicksonburg
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Dicksonburg is located in Crawford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dicksonburg
- Saegertown
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Saegertown is located in Crawford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saegertown
- Population from the 2020 Census: 938 people
- Brown Hill
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Brown Hill is located in Crawford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brown Hill
- Chautauqua County (NY)
- The following are listed by their distance from Fairplain, with the one closest to Fairplain listed first.
- Findley Lake
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- French Creek
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- French Creek is located in Chautauqua County (NY)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for French Creek
- Ashtabula County (OH)
- The following are listed by their distance from Fairplain, with the one closest to Fairplain listed first.
- Conneaut
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Kelloggsville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Kelloggsville is located in Ashtabula County (OH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelloggsville
- North Kingsville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Kingsville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Gould
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Gould is located in Ashtabula County (OH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gould
- Edgewood
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Edgewood is located in Ashtabula County (OH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgewood
- Ashtabula
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Crestlawn Village
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Crestlawn Village is located in Ashtabula County (OH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crestlawn Village
- Parkwood Village
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Parkwood Village is located in Ashtabula County (OH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkwood Village
- Richmond Center
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Richmond Center is located in Ashtabula County (OH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richmond Center
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Fairplain, see our County-by-County Page for Fairplain.
Cemeteries Near Fairplain ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Fairplain.
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 Fairplain - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Fairplain covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Fairplain, with the one closest to Fairplain listed first.
- Fairview Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- St. Johns Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Ruhl Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Calvary Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Francis Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- St. Francis Xavier Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Laurel Hill Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Calvary Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Springfield Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Salsbury Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Golden Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Valley Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- 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>
- Continue List (109 more) ...
- Trinity Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Randall Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Randall Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Randall Cemetery is located outside and to the northwest of Albion.
- The Randall Cemetery has also been known as:
- Randall / Valley Cemetery
- Valley Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1976564 <2>
- Cottage Church Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 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 Fairplain in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Fairplain.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Fairplain, with the one closest to Fairplain listed first.
- Avonia
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Avonia is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avonia
- Girard
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Girard is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Girard
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,897 people
- Borough of Fairview
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Girard Junction
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Girard Junction is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Girard Junction
- Thornton Junction
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Thornton Junction is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thornton Junction
- Cross
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Cross is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cross
- Platea
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Platea is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Platea
- Population from the 2020 Census: 397 people
- Little Elk
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Little Elk is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Elk
- Francis
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Francis is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Francis
- Sterrettania
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Sterrettania is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sterrettania
- Swanville
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Swanville is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swanville
- North Springfield
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- East Springfield
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- West Millcreek
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- West Millcreek is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Millcreek
- McKean
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- 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>
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Fairplain. See our List of 1890's Communities around Fairplain.
Newspapers Published in Fairplain ...
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 169 newspapers that have been published in the area around Fairplain.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Fairplain, 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 Fairplain.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we begin 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 Fairplain:
- Websites specific to Pennsylvania
- Pages specific to Erie County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Crawford 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 Fairplain, 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- Fairplain) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |