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 Hess Island (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 Hess Island. 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 Hess Island ...
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.
For example, a typical abbreviation for Hess Island: Hess Is. (in Canada, 'Isld.' is the more common abbreviation.)
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 southeast 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 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 east 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.
Hess Island 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 Hess Island. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Hess Island:
- Luzerne County (The home county of Hess Island)
- The following are listed by their distance from Hess Island, with the one closest to Hess Island listed first.
- Beach Haven
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Beach Haven is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beach Haven
- Nescopeck
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- East Berwick
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- East Berwick is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Berwick
- Mountain Grove
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Mountain Grove is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Grove
- Shickshinny
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Waterton
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Waterton is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterton
- Sybertsville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Huntington Mills
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Lee
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Lee is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lee
- Conyngham
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Tomhicken
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Tomhicken is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tomhicken
- Dorrance
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Dorrance is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dorrance
- Carbon County
- The following are listed by their distance from Hess Island, with the one closest to Hess Island listed first.
- Tresckow
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Tresckow is located in Carbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tresckow
- Coxes Village
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Coxes Village is located in Carbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coxes Village
- Coxes Village has also been known as:
- Cross Village
- Beaver Meadows
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Hudsondale
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Hudsondale is located in Carbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hudsondale
- Weatherly
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Lansford
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Leslie Run
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Leslie Run is located in Carbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leslie Run
- Summit Hill
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Penn Haven Junction
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Penn Haven Junction is located in Carbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Penn Haven Junction
- Nesquehoning
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- East Side
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- East Side is located in Carbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Side
- Population from the 2020 Census: 301 people
- Mud Run
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Mud Run is located in Carbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mud Run
- Columbia County
- The following are listed by their distance from Hess Island, with the one closest to Hess Island listed first.
- Berwick
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Foundryville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Foundryville is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foundryville
- Hetlerville
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Hetlerville is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hetlerville
- Briar Creek
(5 miles [8 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
- Mifflinville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Jonestown
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Jonestown is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jonestown
- Lime Ridge
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Lime Ridge is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lime Ridge
- Shumans
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Shumans is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shumans
- Zaner
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Zaner is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zaner
- Almedia
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Almedia is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Almedia
- Mainville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Mainville is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mainville
- Orangeville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Lackawanna County
- Lawrenceville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Lawrenceville is located in Lackawanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawrenceville
- Lycoming County
- The following are listed by their distance from Hess Island, with the one closest to Hess Island listed first.
- Richarts Grove
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Richarts Grove is located in Lycoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richarts Grove
- Unityville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Biggerstown
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Biggerstown is located in Lycoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Biggerstown
- Lungerville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Lungerville is located in Lycoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lungerville
- Lairdsville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Lairdsville is located in Lycoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lairdsville
- Beaver Lake
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Beaver Lake is located in Lycoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaver Lake
- Montour County
- The following are listed by their distance from Hess Island, with the one closest to Hess Island 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
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Washingtonville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Washingtonville is located in Montour County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Washingtonville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 270 people
- Exchange
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Exchange is located in Montour County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Exchange
- Mooresburg
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Mooresburg is located in Montour County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mooresburg
- Northumberland County
- The following are listed by their distance from Hess Island, with the one closest to Hess Island listed first.
- Mount Carmel
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Dooleyville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Dooleyville is located in Northumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dooleyville
- Natalie
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Natalie is located in Northumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Natalie
- Alaska
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Alaska is located in Northumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alaska
- Bear Gap
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Bear Gap is located in Northumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Gap
- Elysburg
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Locust Gap
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Locust Gap is located in Northumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locust Gap
- Marion Heights
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Marion Heights is located in Northumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marion Heights
- Population from the 2020 Census: 573 people
- Riverside
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Kulpmont
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Reed
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Reed is located in Northumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reed
- Rushtown
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Rushtown is located in Northumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rushtown
- Schuylkill County
- The following are listed by their distance from Hess Island, with the one closest to Hess Island listed first.
- Nuremberg
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Oneida
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Oneida is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oneida
- Zion Grove
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Ferndale
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Ferndale is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ferndale
- Sheppton
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Brandonville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Brandonville is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brandonville
- Girard Manor
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Girard Manor is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Girard Manor
- Krebs
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Krebs is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Krebs
- Ringtown
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Kelayres
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Kelayres is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelayres
- Lofty
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Lofty is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lofty
- McAdoo
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Sullivan County
- The following are listed by their distance from Hess Island, with the one closest to Hess Island listed first.
- Long Brook
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Long Brook is located in Sullivan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Brook
- Beech Glen
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Beech Glen is located in Sullivan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beech Glen
- Sonestown
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Bernice
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Bernice is located in Sullivan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bernice
- Laporte
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Shinerville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Shinerville is located in Sullivan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shinerville
- Wyoming County
- The following are listed by their distance from Hess Island, with the one closest to Hess Island listed first.
- Beaumont
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Beaumont is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaumont
- Noxen
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Mill City ‑ Historic
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Mill City is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mill City
- Evans Falls
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Evans Falls is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evans Falls
- Vernon
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Vernon is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vernon
- Jenks
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Jenks is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jenks
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Hess Island, see our County-by-County Page for Hess Island.
Cemeteries Near Hess Island ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Hess Island.
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 Hess Island - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Hess Island covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Hess Island, with the one closest to Hess Island listed first.
- Forest Lawn Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Mt. Zion Church Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Pine Grove Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Greek Catholic Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Roselawn Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Groover Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Russian Orthodox Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- St. Marys Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Brown Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Scott Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Dodson Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Graveyard Hill
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Continue List (202 more) ...
- St. Adalbert's Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- St. Alberts Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- St. Michaels Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
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 Hess Island in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Hess Island.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Hess Island, with the one closest to Hess Island listed first.
- Beach Haven
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Beach Haven is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beach Haven
- Nescopeck
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Berwick
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Wapwallopen
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Briggsville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Briggsville is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Briggsville
- Briar Creek
(5 miles [8 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
- Hetlerville
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Hetlerville is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hetlerville
- Mountain Grove
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Mountain Grove is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Grove
- Hobbie
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Hobbie is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hobbie
- Mocanaqua
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Evansville
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Evansville is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evansville
- Mifflinville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Continue List (21 more) ...
- Rock Glen
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Rock Glen is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Glen
- Pond Hill
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Pond Hill is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pond Hill
- Shickshinny
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Hess Island. See our List of 1890's Communities around Hess Island.
Newspapers Published in Hess Island ...
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 57 newspapers that have been published in the area around Hess Island.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Hess Island, there are papers which were published within 14 miles [22.5 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Hess Island.
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 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 Hess Island:
- Websites specific to Pennsylvania
- Pages specific to Luzerne County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Carbon County
- Columbia County
- Lackawanna County
- Lycoming County
- Montour County
- Northumberland County
- Schuylkill County
- Sullivan 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 Hess Island, 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Hess Island) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |