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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 Force (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 Force. 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 hospitals and 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.

Force is located in Elk 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 Elk County: Cameron, Clearfield, Forest, Jefferson, McKean & Warren.

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

  • Elk County     (The home county of Force)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Force, with the one closest to Force listed first.
    • Scattertown
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • Scattertown is located in Elk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scattertown
    • Byrnedale
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Caledonia
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Caledonia is located in Elk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caledonia
    • Benezette
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Dagus Mines
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Dagus Mines is located in Elk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dagus Mines
    • Kylers Corners
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Kylers Corners is located in Elk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kylers Corners
    • Challenge
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Challenge is located in Elk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Challenge
    • Grant
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Grant is located in Elk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grant
    • Brockport
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Saint Marys
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Horton City
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Horton City is located in Elk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horton City
    • Shawmut
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Shawmut is located in Elk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shawmut
    • Dents Run
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Dents Run is located in Elk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dents Run
  • Cameron County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Force, with the one closest to Force listed first.
    • Beechwood
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Beechwood is located in Cameron County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beechwood
    • Mix Run
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Mix Run is located in Cameron County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mix Run
    • Driftwood
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Huntley
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Huntley is located in Cameron County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huntley
    • Cameron
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Cameron is located in Cameron County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cameron
    • Weber City
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Weber City is located in Cameron County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weber City
    • Wyside
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Wyside is located in Cameron County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyside
    • Emporium
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Centre County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Force, with the one closest to Force listed first.
    • Pine Glen
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Pine Glen is located in Centre County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Glen
    • Casanova
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Casanova is located in Centre County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Casanova
    • North Philipsburg
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • North Philipsburg is located in Centre County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Philipsburg
    • Philipsburg
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • South Philipsburg
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • South Philipsburg is located in Centre County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Philipsburg
    • Glass City
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Glass City is located in Centre County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glass City
    • Moshannon
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Moshannon is located in Centre County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moshannon
    • New Town
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • New Town is located in Centre County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Town
  • Clearfield County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Force, with the one closest to Force listed first.
    • Tyler
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • Tyler is located in Clearfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tyler
    • Winterburn
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Winterburn is located in Clearfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winterburn
    • Treasure Lake
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Treasure Lake is located in Clearfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Treasure Lake
    • Mount Joy
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Mount Joy is located in Clearfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Joy
    • Plymptonville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Plymptonville is located in Clearfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plymptonville
    • Rockton
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Rockton is located in Clearfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockton
    • Clearfield
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • DuBois
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • DuBois is located in Clearfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for DuBois
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,287 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for DuBois <1>
    • Hyde
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Hyde is located in Clearfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hyde
    • Laborde
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Laborde is located in Clearfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laborde
    • Sandy
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Sandy is located in Clearfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy
    • Barrett
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Barrett is located in Clearfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barrett
    • Luthersburg
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
  • Clinton County
    • Keating
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Keating is located in Clinton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keating
  • Jefferson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Force, with the one closest to Force listed first.
    • Crenshaw
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Crenshaw is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crenshaw
    • Brockway
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Falls Creek
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Pancoast
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Pancoast is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pancoast
    • Red Mill
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Red Mill is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Mill
    • Sandy Valley
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Sandy Valley is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Valley
    • Sykesville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Allens Mills
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Allens Mills is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allens Mills
    • Prescottville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Prescottville is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prescottville
    • Schoffner Corner
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Schoffner Corner is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Schoffner Corner
    • Reynoldsville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Munderf
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Munderf is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Munderf
    • Warsaw
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Warsaw is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warsaw
  • Lawrence County
    • Big Run
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Big Run is located in Lawrence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Run
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 594 people
  • McKean County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Force, with the one closest to Force listed first.
    • Hutchins
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Hutchins is located in McKean County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hutchins
    • Gardeau
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Gardeau is located in McKean County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gardeau
    • Clermont
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Clermont is located in McKean County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clermont
    • Coontown
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Coontown is located in McKean County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coontown
    • Freeman
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Freeman is located in McKean County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeman

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

Cemeteries Near Force ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Force.

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 Force - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Kooker Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Mt. Zion Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mt. Zion Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Mt. Zion Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located less than 2 miles<2> to the northeast of Byrnedale.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2135193 <3>
  • Mt. Pleasant Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Gray Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Laurel Run Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Bundy Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Conway Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Bundy Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bundy Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Bundy Cemetery is located 6 miles [9.7 km]<2> to the northeast of DuBois.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #44475 <3>
  • Johnson Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Holy Cross Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Brockport Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Dressler Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (112 more) ...

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>

While we didn't find Force in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Force.

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

  • Tyler
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Tyler is located in Clearfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tyler
  • Weedville
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Caledonia
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Caledonia is located in Elk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caledonia
  • Penfield
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Winterburn
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Winterburn is located in Clearfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winterburn
  • Benezette
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Kersey
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Dagus Mines
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Dagus Mines is located in Elk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dagus Mines
  • Kylers Corners
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Kylers Corners is located in Elk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kylers Corners
  • Brandy Camp
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Brandy Camp is located in Elk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brandy Camp
  • Challenge
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Challenge is located in Elk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Challenge
  • Sabula
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Sabula is located in Clearfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sabula
  • Continue List   (21 more) ...
    • Grant
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Grant is located in Elk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grant
    • Cartwright
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Cartwright is located in Elk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cartwright
    • Brockport
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)

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

Newspapers Published in Force ...

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 70 newspapers that have been published in the area around Force.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Force, there are papers which were published within 19 miles [30.6 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Force.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 Force:

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>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- Force) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Force, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.