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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 Foster (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 Foster. 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 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.

Foster is located in Indiana 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 Indiana County: Armstrong, Cambria, Clearfield, Jefferson & Westmoreland.

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

  • Indiana County     (The home county of Foster)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Foster, with the one closest to Foster listed first.
    • Clarksburg
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • White
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • White is located in Indiana County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White
    • Saltsburg
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • West Lebanon
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • West Lebanon is located in Indiana County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Lebanon
    • Bow
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Bow is located in Indiana County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bow
    • Jacksonville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Jacksonville is located in Indiana County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jacksonville
    • Aultman
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Aultman is located in Indiana County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aultman
    • Parkwood
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Parkwood is located in Indiana County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkwood
    • Shelocta
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Blairsville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Smathers
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Smathers is located in Indiana County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smathers
    • Black Lick
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Black Lick is located in Indiana County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Lick
  • Allegheny County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Foster, with the one closest to Foster listed first.
    • Karns
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Karns is located in Allegheny County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Karns
    • Sligo
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Sligo is located in Allegheny County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sligo
    • Natrona
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Natrona is located in Allegheny County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Natrona
    • Brackenridge
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • New Texas
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • New Texas is located in Allegheny County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Texas
    • Plum
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Plum is located in Allegheny County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plum
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 26,993 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Plum <1>
    • Leechburg
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Leechburg is located in Allegheny County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leechburg
    • Springdale
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Tarentum
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Unity
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Unity is located in Allegheny County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unity
    • Cheswick
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Garden City
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Garden City is located in Allegheny County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden City
  • Armstrong County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Foster, with the one closest to Foster listed first.
    • Edmon
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Edmon is located in Armstrong County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edmon
    • Olivet
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Olivet is located in Armstrong County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olivet
    • Spring Church
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • North Apollo
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Orchard Hills
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Orchard Hills is located in Armstrong County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orchard Hills
    • Apollo
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Apollo is located in Armstrong County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Apollo
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,507 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Apollo <1>
    • Cochrans Mills
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Cochrans Mills is located in Armstrong County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cochrans Mills
    • Leechburg
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Elderton
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Tunnelville ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Tunnelville is located in Armstrong County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tunnelville
    • Neale
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Neale is located in Armstrong County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Neale
    • Whitesburg
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Whitesburg is located in Armstrong County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitesburg
  • Butler County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Foster, with the one closest to Foster listed first.
    • Monroe
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Monroe is located in Butler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monroe
    • Leasureville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Leasureville is located in Butler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leasureville
    • Ekastown
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Ekastown is located in Butler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ekastown
    • Dennys Mills
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Dennys Mills is located in Butler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dennys Mills
    • Saxonburg
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Frazier Mill
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Frazier Mill is located in Butler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frazier Mill
    • Great Belt
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Great Belt is located in Butler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Great Belt
    • Fenelton
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Glade Mills
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Glade Mills is located in Butler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glade Mills
    • Herman
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Nixon
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Nixon is located in Butler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nixon
    • Valencia
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Cambria County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Foster, with the one closest to Foster listed first.
    • Vintondale
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Vintondale is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vintondale
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 367 people
    • Wilmore
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • White Mill Crossing
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • White Mill Crossing is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Mill Crossing
    • Belsano
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Belsano is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belsano
    • Brownstown
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Cambria City
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Cambria City is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cambria City
    • Westmont
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Westmont is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westmont
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,625 people
    • Twin Rocks
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
    • Elim
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Elim is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elim
    • Johnstown
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Lilly
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Lilly is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lilly
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 873 people
    • Southmont
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Southmont is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Southmont
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,048 people
  • Fayette County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Foster, with the one closest to Foster listed first.
    • Laurelville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Laurelville is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurelville
    • Bear Rocks
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Bear Rocks is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Rocks
  • Somerset County
    • Laurel Mountain Village
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Westmoreland County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Foster, with the one closest to Foster listed first.
    • Avonmore
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Salina
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Slickville
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Slickville is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slickville
    • Oklahoma
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Oklahoma is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oklahoma
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 739 people
    • Nihil
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Nihil is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nihil
    • Livermore
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Livermore is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Livermore
    • East Vandergrift
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • East Vandergrift is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Vandergrift
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 631 people
    • Vandergrift
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • North Washington
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • North Washington is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Washington
    • Congruity
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Congruity is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Congruity
    • New Alexandria
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Delmont
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Delmont is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delmont
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,501 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Delmont <1>

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

Cemeteries Near Foster ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Foster.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Foster, with the one closest to Foster 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.<4>

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

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

  • Nowrytown
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Nowrytown is located in Indiana County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nowrytown
  • Avonmore
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Salina
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • White
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • White is located in Indiana County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White
  • Clarksburg
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Elders Ridge
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Elders Ridge is located in Indiana County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elders Ridge
  • Olivet
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Olivet is located in Armstrong County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olivet
  • Tunnelton
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Tunnelton is located in Indiana County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tunnelton
  • Spring Church
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Saltsburg
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Shady Plain
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Shady Plain is located in Armstrong County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Plain
  • Bow
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Bow is located in Indiana County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bow
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Nihil
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Nihil is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nihil
    • Livermore
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Livermore is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Livermore
    • South Bend
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • South Bend is located in Armstrong County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Bend

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

Newspapers Published in Foster ...

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 23 newspapers that have been published in the area around Foster.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Foster, there are papers which were published within 14 miles [22.5 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Foster.

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 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 Foster:

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' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Foster) 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 Foster, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.