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 Garvers Ferry (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 Garvers Ferry. 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.
Name Variations for Garvers Ferry ...
When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.
Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might occur.
- A typical abbreviation for Garvers Ferry: Garvers Fry. (or less commonly used: Garvers Frry.)
- While the name of this community is Garvers Ferry, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Garvers Ferry may originally have been Garver's Ferry.
Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Garvers Ferry might be written as Garver Ferry.
If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.
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.
Garvers Ferry is located in Westmoreland 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 Westmoreland County: Allegheny, Armstrong, Butler, Cambria, Fayette, Indiana & Somerset.
Below are the counties that are near Garvers Ferry. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Garvers Ferry:
- Westmoreland County (The home county of Garvers Ferry)
- The following are listed by their distance from Garvers Ferry, with the one closest to Garvers Ferry listed first.
- Bagdad
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Bagdad is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bagdad
- Weinel Crossroads
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Weinel Crossroads is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weinel Crossroads
- West Leechburg
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- West Leechburg is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Leechburg
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,211 people
- Lower Burrell
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Hyde Park
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- East Vandergrift
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- East Vandergrift is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Vandergrift
- Population from the 2020 Census: 631 people
- Vandergrift
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Arnold
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- New Kensington
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Oklahoma
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Oklahoma is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oklahoma
- Population from the 2020 Census: 739 people
- Parnassus
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Parnassus is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parnassus
- North Washington
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- North Washington is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Washington
- Franklin
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Franklin is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin
- Allegheny County
- The following are listed by their distance from Garvers Ferry, with the one closest to Garvers Ferry listed first.
- Sligo
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Sligo is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sligo
- Karns
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Karns is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Karns
- Natrona
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Natrona is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Natrona
- Brackenridge
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Tarentum
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Culmerville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Culmerville is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Culmerville
- Russellton
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Curtisville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Curtisville is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Curtisville
- Harwick
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Harwick is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harwick
- Rural Ridge
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Springdale
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Cheswick
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Indianola
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Armstrong County
- The following are listed by their distance from Garvers Ferry, with the one closest to Garvers Ferry listed first.
- Freeport
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Aladdin
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Aladdin is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aladdin
- Leechburg
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- McVille
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- McVille is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McVille
- Neale
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Neale is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Neale
- Slate Lick
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Slate Lick is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slate Lick
- Apollo
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Rosston
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Rosston is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosston
- West Ford City
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- West Ford City is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Ford City
- North Apollo
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Orchard Hills
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Orchard Hills is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orchard Hills
- Ford City
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Ford Cliff
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Ford Cliff is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ford Cliff
- Population from the 2020 Census: 347 people
- Beaver County
- The following are listed by their distance from Garvers Ferry, with the one closest to Garvers Ferry listed first.
- Economy
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Economy is located in Beaver County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Economy
- Population from the 2020 Census: 9,022 people
- Knob
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Knob is located in Beaver County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knob
- Wallace City
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Wallace City is located in Beaver County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wallace City
- Ambridge
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Baden
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Conway
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Barrisville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Barrisville is located in Beaver County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barrisville
- Freedom
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Goehring
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Goehring is located in Beaver County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goehring
- South Heights
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- South Heights is located in Beaver County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Heights
- Population from the 2020 Census: 437 people
- Aliquippa
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Crestmont Village
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Crestmont Village is located in Beaver County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crestmont Village
- East Rochester
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- East Rochester is located in Beaver County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Rochester
- Population from the 2020 Census: 526 people
- Butler County
- The following are listed by their distance from Garvers Ferry, with the one closest to Garvers Ferry listed first.
- Monroe
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Monroe is located in Butler County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monroe
- Leasureville
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Leasureville is located in Butler County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leasureville
- Ekastown
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Ekastown is located in Butler County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ekastown
- Dennys Mills
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Dennys Mills is located in Butler County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dennys Mills
- Saxonburg
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Frazier Mill
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Frazier Mill is located in Butler County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frazier Mill
- Great Belt
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Great Belt is located in Butler County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Great Belt
- Glade Mills
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Glade Mills is located in Butler County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glade Mills
- Herman
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Fenelton
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Nixon
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Nixon is located in Butler County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nixon
- Valencia
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Brownsdale
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Brownsdale is located in Butler County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brownsdale
- Clarion County
- The following are listed by their distance from Garvers Ferry, with the one closest to Garvers Ferry listed first.
- Phillipston
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Phillipston is located in Clarion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Phillipston
- East Brady
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Catfish
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Catfish is located in Clarion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Catfish
- Lawsonham
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Lawsonham is located in Clarion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawsonham
- Bela
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Bela is located in Clarion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bela
- Rimersburg
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Toby
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Toby is located in Clarion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toby
- Leatherwood
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Leatherwood is located in Clarion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leatherwood
- New Bethlehem
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- West Freedom
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- West Freedom is located in Clarion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Freedom
- Fairmont City
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Piolett
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Piolett is located in Clarion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Piolett
- Indiana County
- The following are listed by their distance from Garvers Ferry, with the one closest to Garvers Ferry listed first.
- Saltsburg
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- West Lebanon
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- West Lebanon is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Lebanon
- Clarksburg
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- White
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- White is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White
- Parkwood
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Parkwood is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkwood
- Shelocta
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Bow
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Bow is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bow
- Aultman
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Aultman is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aultman
- Jacksonville
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Jacksonville is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jacksonville
- Shado-Wood Village
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Shado-Wood Village is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shado-Wood Village
- Willet
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Willet is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willet
- Beyer
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Beyer is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beyer
- Creekside
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Creekside is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Creekside
- Population from the 2020 Census: 288 people
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Garvers Ferry, see our County-by-County Page for Garvers Ferry.
Cemeteries Near Garvers Ferry ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Garvers Ferry.
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 Garvers Ferry - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Garvers Ferry covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Garvers Ferry, with the one closest to Garvers Ferry listed first.
- Brookland Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- St. Marys Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Freeport Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeport Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Freeport Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the northeast of Freeport.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #44888 <3>
- Mt. Airy Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Mt. Hope Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Murphys Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Prospect Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prospect Cemetery
- The Prospect Cemetery has also been known as:
- Tarentum Burying Ground
- Tarentum Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #45831 <3>
- Greenwood Memorial Park
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Pleasant Hill Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Leechburg Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Evergreen Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- St. Catherine Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Continue List (368 more) ...
- St. Catherines Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Forks - Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forks - Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Forks - Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located 3 miles [4.8 km]<4> to the north of Leechburg.
- The Forks - Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church Cemetery has also been known as:
- Forks - Zion Lutheran Evangelical Church Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #629382 <3>
- Millerstown Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
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 in 1895, Garvers Ferry had railroad service and no post office.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Garvers Ferry, with the one closest to Garvers Ferry listed first.
- Freeport
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Sligo
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Sligo is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sligo
- Karns
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Karns is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Karns
- Metcalf
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Metcalf is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Metcalf
- Bagdad
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Bagdad is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bagdad
- Aladdin
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Aladdin is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aladdin
- Natrona
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Natrona is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Natrona
- Braeburn
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Braeburn is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Braeburn
- Monroe
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Monroe is located in Butler County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monroe
- Sandy Lick
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Sandy Lick is located in Butler County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Lick
- Brackenridge
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Tarentum
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (19 more) ...
- Leechburg
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Sarver
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Sarversville
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Sarversville is located in Butler County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sarversville
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Garvers Ferry. See our List of 1890's Communities around Garvers Ferry.
Newspapers Published in Garvers Ferry ...
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 15 newspapers that have been published in the area around Garvers Ferry.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Garvers Ferry, there are papers which were published within 10 miles [16.1 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Garvers Ferry.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we like to start 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 Garvers Ferry:
- Websites specific to Pennsylvania
- Pages specific to Westmoreland County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Allegheny County
- Armstrong County
- Beaver County
- Butler County
- Clarion County
- Indiana County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Pennsylvania
Footnotes ...
| <1> | It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties). |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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> | 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- Garvers Ferry) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <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 Garvers Ferry, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |