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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 Fossilville (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 Fossilville. 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.

Fossilville is located in Bedford 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 Bedford County: Allegany (MD), Blair, Cambria, Fulton, Huntingdon & Somerset.

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

  • Bedford County     (The home county of Fossilville)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fossilville, with the one closest to Fossilville listed first.
    • Hyndman
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Kegg
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Kegg is located in Bedford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kegg
    • Cooks Mills
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Cooks Mills is located in Bedford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooks Mills
    • Stringtown
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Stringtown is located in Bedford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stringtown
    • Beans Cove
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Beans Cove is located in Bedford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beans Cove
    • Rainsburg
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Rainsburg is located in Bedford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rainsburg
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 128 people
    • Manns Choice
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Schellsburg
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Charlesville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Charlesville is located in Bedford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charlesville
    • Bedford
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • New Paris
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Cliffs ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Cliffs is located in Bedford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cliffs
  • Blair County
    • Cotton Town
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Cotton Town is located in Blair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cotton Town
  • Cambria County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fossilville, with the one closest to Fossilville listed first.
    • Scalp Level
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Scalp Level is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scalp Level
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 691 people
    • Dunlo
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Dunlo is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunlo
    • Ingleside
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Ingleside is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ingleside
    • Belmont
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Belmont is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belmont
    • Geistown
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Geistown is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Geistown
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,242 people
    • Salix
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Salix is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salix
  • Fulton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fossilville, with the one closest to Fossilville listed first.
    • Emmaville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Emmaville is located in Fulton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emmaville
    • Crystal Spring
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Crystal Spring is located in Fulton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Spring
    • Akersville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Akersville is located in Fulton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Akersville
    • Dott
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Dott is located in Fulton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dott
    • Sipes Mill
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Sipes Mill is located in Fulton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sipes Mill
    • Warfordsburg
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Valley-Hi
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Valley-Hi is located in Fulton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley-Hi
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 15 people
    • Covalt
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Covalt is located in Fulton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Covalt
    • Needmore
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
  • Somerset County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fossilville, with the one closest to Fossilville listed first.
    • Fairhope
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Johnsburg
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • New Baltimore
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • New Baltimore is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Baltimore
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 167 people
    • Downey
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Downey is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Downey
    • Wellersburg
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Wellersburg is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellersburg
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 169 people
    • Callimont
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Callimont is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Callimont
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 38 people
    • Wittenberg
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Wittenberg is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wittenberg
    • Berlin
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Indian Lake
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Indian Lake is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Lake
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 375 people
    • Hays Mill
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Hays Mill is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hays Mill
    • Shanksville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Pine Hill
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Pine Hill is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Hill
  • Allegany County (MD)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fossilville, with the one closest to Fossilville listed first.
    • Ellerslie
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Ellerslie is located in Allegany County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellerslie
    • Mount Savage Junction
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Mount Savage Junction is located in Allegany County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Savage Junction
    • Flintstone
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Barrelville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Barrelville is located in Allegany County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barrelville
    • Corriganville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Corriganville is located in Allegany County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corriganville
    • Rush
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Rush is located in Allegany County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rush
    • Cumberland
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Shanty Town ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Shanty Town is located in Allegany County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shanty Town
    • La Vale
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Mount Savage
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Town Creek ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Town Creek is located in Allegany County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Town Creek
    • Zihlman
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Zihlman is located in Allegany County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zihlman
  • Garrett County (MD)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fossilville, with the one closest to Fossilville listed first.
    • Avilton
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Avilton is located in Garrett County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avilton
    • Grantsville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Washington County (MD)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fossilville, with the one closest to Fossilville listed first.
    • Pearre
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Pearre is located in Washington County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pearre
    • Hancock
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Hancock is located in Washington County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hancock
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,522 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hancock <1>
  • Hampshire County (WV)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fossilville, with the one closest to Fossilville listed first.
    • Donaldson
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Donaldson is located in Hampshire County (WV)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Donaldson
    • Okonoko
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Okonoko is located in Hampshire County (WV)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Okonoko
    • Springfield
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Points
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Points is located in Hampshire County (WV)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Points
    • Ritters
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Ritters is located in Hampshire County (WV)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ritters
  • Mineral County (WV)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fossilville, with the one closest to Fossilville listed first.
    • Carpendale
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Carpendale is located in Mineral County (WV)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carpendale
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 900 people
    • Ridgeley
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Wiley Ford
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Short Gap
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Short Gap is located in Mineral County (WV)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Short Gap
    • Fort Ashby
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
  • Morgan County (WV)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fossilville, with the one closest to Fossilville listed first.
    • Orleans Cross Roads
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Orleans Cross Roads is located in Morgan County (WV)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orleans Cross Roads
    • Doe Gully
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Doe Gully is located in Morgan County (WV)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doe Gully
    • Hansrote
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Hansrote is located in Morgan County (WV)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hansrote
    • Magnolia
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Magnolia is located in Morgan County (WV)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magnolia
    • Paw Paw
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Woodmont
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Woodmont is located in Morgan County (WV)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodmont
    • Hancock
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Hancock is located in Morgan County (WV)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hancock
    • Bath
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Bath is located in Morgan County (WV)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bath
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 587 people
    • Berkeley Springs
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Berryville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Berryville is located in Morgan County (WV)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berryville

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

Cemeteries Near Fossilville ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Fossilville.

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

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

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

  • Fellowship & Union Cemeteries
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Camp Run Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Growden Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Old Union Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Porter Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Oakdale Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Ruby Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Sarver Church Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Rocky Gap Veterans Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Lebanon Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Zion Park Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Union Grove Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (165 more) ...
    • Fairview Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Mt. Pleasant Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Browning Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)

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.<5>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Fossilville had a population of 167 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service.

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

  • Hyndman
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Madley
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Madley is located in Bedford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Madley
  • Hoblitzell
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Hoblitzell is located in Bedford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hoblitzell
  • Williams
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Williams is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williams
  • Patience
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Patience is located in Bedford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Patience
  • Bard
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Bard is located in Bedford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bard
  • Fairhope
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Buffalo Mills
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Buffalo Mills is located in Bedford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo Mills
  • Glen Savage
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Glen Savage is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Savage
  • West End
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • West End is located in Bedford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West End
  • Foley
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Foley is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foley
  • Burning Bush
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Burning Bush is located in Bedford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burning Bush
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Johnsburg
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Glencoe
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Glencoe is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glencoe
    • Cooks Mills
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Cooks Mills is located in Bedford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooks Mills

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

Newspapers Published in Fossilville ...

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 75 newspapers that have been published in the area around Fossilville.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Fossilville, there are papers which were published within 17 miles [27.4 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Fossilville.

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 professional and volunteer 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 Fossilville:

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 '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- Fossilville) 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>The Maryland Historical Trust (MHT) has created and maintains a database of historic properties that is called MIHP (for the Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties). More information about the MHT and MIHP can be found on their website: mht.maryland.gov.
<5>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 Fossilville, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.