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 Gowen (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 Gowen. 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 doctors and 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.
Gowen 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 Gowen. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Gowen:
- Luzerne County (The home county of Gowen)
- The following are listed by their distance from Gowen, with the one closest to Gowen listed first.
- Mountain Grove
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Mountain Grove is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Grove
- Tomhicken
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Tomhicken is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tomhicken
- Sybertsville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Nescopeck
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Conyngham
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Harwood
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Harwood is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harwood
- Beach Haven
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Beach Haven is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beach Haven
- East Berwick
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- East Berwick is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Berwick
- West Hazleton
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- West Hazleton is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Hazleton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,318 people
- Harleigh
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Hazleton
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Ebervale
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Ebervale is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ebervale
- Dorrance
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Dorrance is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dorrance
- Berks County
- The following are listed by their distance from Gowen, with the one closest to Gowen listed first.
- Quaker City
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Quaker City is located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quaker City
- Hamburg
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Ededburg
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Ededburg is located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ededburg
- Stony Run
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Stony Run is located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stony Run
- Berne
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Berne is located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berne
- Shartlesville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Lenhartsville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Windsor Castle
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Windsor Castle is located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windsor Castle
- Carbon County
- The following are listed by their distance from Gowen, with the one closest to Gowen listed first.
- Tresckow
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Tresckow is located in Carbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tresckow
- Beaver Meadows
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Coxes Village
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- 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
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Hudsondale is located in Carbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hudsondale
- Lansford
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Weatherly
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Summit Hill
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Nesquehoning
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- New Mahoning
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- New Mahoning is located in Carbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Mahoning
- Penn Haven Junction
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Penn Haven Junction is located in Carbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Penn Haven Junction
- Jim Thorpe
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Jim Thorpe is located in Carbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jim Thorpe
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,650 people
- Former names for Jim Thorpe:
- East Mauch Chunk
- Mauch Chunk
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Jim Thorpe <1>
- Leslie Run
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Leslie Run is located in Carbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leslie Run
- Mertz Town
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Mertz Town is located in Carbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mertz Town
- Columbia County
- The following are listed by their distance from Gowen, with the one closest to Gowen listed first.
- Hetlerville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Hetlerville is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hetlerville
- Shumans
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Shumans is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shumans
- Berwick
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Briar Creek
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Briar Creek is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Briar Creek
- Population from the 2020 Census: 672 people
- Mifflinville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Foundryville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Foundryville is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foundryville
- Lime Ridge
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Lime Ridge is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lime Ridge
- Mainville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Mainville is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mainville
- Almedia
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Almedia is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Almedia
- Newlin
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Newlin is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newlin
- Aristes
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Aristes is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aristes
- Espy
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Espy is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Espy
- Numidia
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Numidia is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Numidia
- Lehigh County
- The following are listed by their distance from Gowen, with the one closest to Gowen listed first.
- Jacksonville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Jacksonville is located in Lehigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jacksonville
- Lochland
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Lochland is located in Lehigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lochland
- Slatedale
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Slatedale is located in Lehigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slatedale
- Lycoming County
- The following are listed by their distance from Gowen, with the one closest to Gowen listed first.
- Richarts Grove
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Richarts Grove is located in Lycoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richarts Grove
- Unityville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Biggerstown
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Biggerstown is located in Lycoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Biggerstown
- Lungerville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Lungerville is located in Lycoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lungerville
- Lairdsville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Lairdsville is located in Lycoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lairdsville
- Montour County
- The following are listed by their distance from Gowen, with the one closest to Gowen listed first.
- Mechanicsville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Mechanicsville is located in Montour County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mechanicsville
- Danville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Washingtonville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Washingtonville is located in Montour County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Washingtonville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 270 people
- Mooresburg
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Mooresburg is located in Montour County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mooresburg
- Exchange
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Exchange is located in Montour County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Exchange
- Northumberland County
- The following are listed by their distance from Gowen, with the one closest to Gowen listed first.
- Mount Carmel
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Alaska
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Alaska is located in Northumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alaska
- Dooleyville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Dooleyville is located in Northumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dooleyville
- Natalie
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Natalie is located in Northumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Natalie
- Bear Gap
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Bear Gap is located in Northumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Gap
- Locust Gap
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Locust Gap is located in Northumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locust Gap
- Elysburg
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Kulpmont
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Marshallton
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Marshallton is located in Northumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marshallton
- Marion Heights
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Marion Heights is located in Northumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marion Heights
- Population from the 2020 Census: 573 people
- Gowen City
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Gowen City is located in Northumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gowen City
- Shamokin
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Reed
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Reed is located in Northumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reed
- Schuylkill County
- The following are listed by their distance from Gowen, with the one closest to Gowen listed first.
- Nuremberg
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Oneida
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Oneida is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oneida
- Zion Grove
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Sheppton
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Ferndale
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Ferndale is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ferndale
- Brandonville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Brandonville is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brandonville
- Krebs
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Krebs is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Krebs
- Girard Manor
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Girard Manor is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Girard Manor
- Ringtown
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Shenandoah Heights
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Shenandoah Heights is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shenandoah Heights
- Shenandoah
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Kelayres
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Kelayres is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelayres
- Delano
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Delano is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delano
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Gowen, see our County-by-County Page for Gowen.
Cemeteries Near Gowen ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Gowen.
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 Gowen - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Gowen covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Gowen, with the one closest to Gowen listed first.
- Nuremberg Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Michaels Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Union Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Saint John's Lutheran Church Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint John's Lutheran Church Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Saint John's Lutheran Church Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Brandonville.
- The Saint John's Lutheran Church Cemetery has also been known as:
- Brandonville Union Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2227564 <2>
- Mt. Zion Church Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Forest Lawn Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Peddlars Grave
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Hetherington Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Old St. Casmir's Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Pine Grove Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Roselawn Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Brown Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Continue List (198 more) ...
- Kulp UMC Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kulp UMC Cemetery
- The Kulp UMC Cemetery has also been known as:
- Kulp Cemetery
- Kulp Church Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1987725 <2>
- Mt. Laurel Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Greek Catholic Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
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>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Gowen had a population of 213 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Gowen, with the one closest to Gowen listed first.
- Nuremberg
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Rock Glen
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Rock Glen is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Glen
- Weston
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Weston is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weston
- Fern Glen
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Fern Glen is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fern Glen
- Derringer
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Derringer is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Derringer
- Mountain Grove
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Mountain Grove is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Grove
- Oneida
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Oneida is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oneida
- Raricks
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Raricks is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raricks
- Tomhicken
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Tomhicken is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tomhicken
- Beaver Valley
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Beaver Valley is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaver Valley
- Ferndale
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Ferndale is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ferndale
- Ringtown
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (17 more) ...
- Krebs
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Krebs is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Krebs
- Brandonville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Brandonville is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brandonville
- Girard Manor
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Girard Manor is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Girard Manor
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Gowen. See our List of 1890's Communities around Gowen.
Newspapers Published in Gowen ...
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 59 newspapers that have been published in the area around Gowen.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Gowen, 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 Gowen.
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 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 Gowen:
- Websites specific to Pennsylvania
- Pages specific to Luzerne County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Berks County
- Carbon County
- Columbia County
- Lehigh County
- Lycoming County
- Montour County
- Northumberland County
- Schuylkill 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 Gowen, 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- Gowen) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |