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 Forest Park (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 Forest Park. 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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.
Forest Park is located in Luzerne 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 Luzerne County: Carbon, Columbia, Lackawanna, Monroe, Schuylkill, Sullivan & Wyoming.
Below are the counties that are near Forest Park. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Forest Park:
- Luzerne County (The home county of Forest Park)
- The following are listed by their distance from Forest Park, with the one closest to Forest Park listed first.
- Bear Creek Village
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Laurel Run
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Miners Mills
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Miners Mills is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Miners Mills
- Penn Lake Park
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Penn Lake Park is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Penn Lake Park
- Population from the 2020 Census: 316 people
- Glen Summit
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Glen Summit is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Summit
- Ashley
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Mountain Top
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Laflin
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Laflin is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laflin
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,435 people
- Plains
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Port Bowkley
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Port Bowkley is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Port Bowkley
- Wilkes-Barre
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Forty Fort
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Forty Fort is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forty Fort
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,025 people
- Carbon County
- The following are listed by their distance from Forest Park, with the one closest to Forest Park listed first.
- East Side
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- East Side is located in Carbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Side
- Population from the 2020 Census: 301 people
- Leslie Run
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Leslie Run is located in Carbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leslie Run
- Mud Run
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Mud Run is located in Carbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mud Run
- Albrightsville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Unionville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Unionville is located in Carbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unionville
- Penn Haven Junction
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Penn Haven Junction is located in Carbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Penn Haven Junction
- Weatherly
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Meckesville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Meckesville is located in Carbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meckesville
- Beaver Meadows
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Coxes Village
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Coxes Village is located in Carbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coxes Village
- Coxes Village has also been known as:
- Cross Village
- Hudsondale
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Hudsondale is located in Carbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hudsondale
- Tresckow
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Tresckow is located in Carbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tresckow
- Columbia County
- The following are listed by their distance from Forest Park, with the one closest to Forest Park listed first.
- Foundryville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Foundryville is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foundryville
- Berwick
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Hetlerville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Hetlerville is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hetlerville
- Briar Creek
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Briar Creek is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Briar Creek
- Population from the 2020 Census: 672 people
- Jonestown
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Jonestown is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jonestown
- Mifflinville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Jamison City
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Jamison City is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamison City
- Stillwater
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Zaner
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Zaner is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zaner
- Lackawanna County
- The following are listed by their distance from Forest Park, with the one closest to Forest Park listed first.
- Belian Village
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Belian Village is located in Lackawanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belian Village
- Lawrenceville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Lawrenceville is located in Lackawanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawrenceville
- Moosic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Old Forge
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Spring Brook
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Spring Brook is located in Lackawanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Brook
- Minooka
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Minooka is located in Lackawanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minooka
- Yostville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Yostville is located in Lackawanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yostville
- Taylor
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Milwaukee
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Milwaukee is located in Lackawanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milwaukee
- Daleville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Moscow
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Scranton
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Monroe County
- The following are listed by their distance from Forest Park, with the one closest to Forest Park listed first.
- Locust Lakes Village
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Locust Lakes Village is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locust Lakes Village
- Mount Pocono
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Pocono Pines
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Tobyhanna
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Long Pond
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Pocono Summit
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- McMichael
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- McMichael is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McMichael
- Kresgeville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Mountainhome
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Paradise Valley
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Paradise Valley is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paradise Valley
- Appenzell
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Appenzell is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Appenzell
- Gilbert
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Northampton County
- Danielsville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Pike County
- The following are listed by their distance from Forest Park, with the one closest to Forest Park listed first.
- La Anna
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- La Anna is located in Pike County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Anna
- South Sterling
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Panther
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Panther is located in Pike County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Panther
- Ledgedale
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Ledgedale is located in Pike County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ledgedale
- Schuylkill County
- The following are listed by their distance from Forest Park, with the one closest to Forest Park listed first.
- McAdoo
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Kelayres
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Kelayres is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelayres
- Lofty
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Lofty is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lofty
- Coaldale
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Nuremberg
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Oneida
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Oneida is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oneida
- Sheppton
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Hometown
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Hometown is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hometown
- Girard Manor
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Girard Manor is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Girard Manor
- Delano
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Delano is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delano
- Grier City
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Grier City is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grier City
- Grier City - Park Crest
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Wayne County
- The following are listed by their distance from Forest Park, with the one closest to Forest Park listed first.
- Hollisterville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Hollisterville is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollisterville
- Sterling
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Maplewood
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Maplewood is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maplewood
- Tresslarville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Tresslarville is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tresslarville
- South Canaan
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- South Canaan is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Canaan
- Wyoming County
- The following are listed by their distance from Forest Park, with the one closest to Forest Park listed first.
- Mill City ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Mill City is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mill City
- Beaumont
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Beaumont is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaumont
- Vernon
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Vernon is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vernon
- South Eaton
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- South Eaton is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Eaton
- Noxen
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Lake Winola
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Osterhout
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Osterhout is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osterhout
- Evans Falls
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Evans Falls is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evans Falls
- Jenks
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Jenks is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jenks
- Dixon
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Dixon is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dixon
- Factoryville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Tunkhannock
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Forest Park, see our County-by-County Page for Forest Park.
Cemeteries Near Forest Park ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Forest Park.
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 Forest Park - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Forest Park covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Forest Park, with the one closest to Forest Park listed first.
- Holy Trinity Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Holy Resurrection Russian Orthodox Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Hollenbeck Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- St. Patrick Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Cooper - Blanchard Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooper - Blanchard Cemetery
- The Cooper - Blanchard Cemetery has also been known as:
- Blanchard - Cooper Cemetery
- Plainsville Cemetery
- Forty Fort Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Temple B'nai B'rith Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Oak Lawn Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Maple Hill Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Hill Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Maple Hill Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Wilkes-Barre.
- The Maple Hill Cemetery has also been known as:
- Ashley Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #45352 <2>
- St. Marys Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- St. John the Evangelist Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- St. Ignatius Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for St. Ignatius Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the St. Ignatius Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Pringle.
- The St. Ignatius Cemetery has also been known as:
- St. Ignatius Catholic Church Cemetery
- St. Ignatius Parish Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1975437 <2>
- Continue List (240 more) ...
- St. John's Russian Orthodox Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- St. Mary's Annunciation Church Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Hanover Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hanover Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Hanover Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located outside and to the southwest of Wilkes-Barre.
- The Hanover Cemetery has also been known as:
- Hanover Green Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #45029 <2>
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 Forest Park in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Forest Park.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Forest Park, with the one closest to Forest Park listed first.
- Bear Creek Village
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Laurel Run
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Penobscot
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Penobscot is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Penobscot
- Fairview
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Fairview is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairview
- Mountain Top
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Glen Summit
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Glen Summit is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Summit
- Moosehead
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Moosehead is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moosehead
- Miners Mills
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Miners Mills is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Miners Mills
- Parsons
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Parsons is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parsons
- Ashley
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Solomon Gap
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Solomon Gap is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Solomon Gap
- Rita
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Rita is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rita
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Bear Creek Junction
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Bear Creek Junction is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Creek Junction
- Hudson
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Hudson is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hudson
- Plains
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Forest Park. See our List of 1890's Communities around Forest Park.
Newspapers Published in Forest Park ...
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 118 newspapers that have been published in the area around Forest Park.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Forest Park, there are papers which were published within 11 miles [17.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Forest Park.
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 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 Forest Park:
- Websites specific to Pennsylvania
- Pages specific to Luzerne County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Carbon County
- Columbia County
- Lackawanna County
- Monroe County
- Northampton County
- Pike County
- Schuylkill County
- Wayne County
- Wyoming 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 Forest Park, 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- Forest Park) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |