RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> Commonwealth of Pennsylvania >> Somerset County >> Hillsboro >> Genealogy HelperIndex...

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 Hillsboro (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 Hillsboro. 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 hospitals and doctors 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.

Hillsboro is located in Somerset 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 Somerset County: Allegany (MD), Garrett (MD), Bedford, Cambria, Fayette & Westmoreland.

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

  • Somerset County     (The home county of Hillsboro)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hillsboro, with the one closest to Hillsboro listed first.
    • Blough
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Blough is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blough
    • Windber
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Forward
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Forward is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forward
    • Hooversville
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Hooversville is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hooversville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 589 people
    • Paint
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Paint is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paint
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 930 people
    • Benson
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Benson is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benson
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 184 people
    • Hollsopple
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Davidsville
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Central City
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Tire Hill
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Tire Hill is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tire Hill
    • Buckstown
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Buckstown is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckstown
    • Jerome
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Jerome is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jerome
  • Bedford County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hillsboro, with the one closest to Hillsboro listed first.
    • Pleasantville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Pleasantville is located in Bedford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasantville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 205 people
    • New Paris
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Pavia
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Pavia is located in Bedford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pavia
    • Kegg
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Kegg is located in Bedford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kegg
    • Schellsburg
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Osterburg
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Saint Clairsville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Saint Clairsville is located in Bedford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Clairsville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 75 people
    • Manns Choice
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Wolfsburg
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Wolfsburg is located in Bedford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolfsburg
    • King
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • King is located in Bedford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for King
    • Yount
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Yount is located in Bedford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yount
    • Cliffs ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Cliffs is located in Bedford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cliffs
  • Blair County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hillsboro, with the one closest to Hillsboro listed first.
    • Blue Knob
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Blue Knob is located in Blair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Knob
    • Cotton Town
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Cotton Town is located in Blair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cotton Town
    • Claysburg
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Puzzletown
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Puzzletown is located in Blair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Puzzletown
    • Brooks Mill
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Brooks Mill is located in Blair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brooks Mill
    • Newry
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Roaring Spring
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • East Sharpsburg
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • East Sharpsburg is located in Blair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Sharpsburg
    • Cross Keys
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Cross Keys is located in Blair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cross Keys
    • Duncansville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Canan
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Canan is located in Blair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canan
    • Hollidaysburg
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Cambria County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hillsboro, with the one closest to Hillsboro listed first.
    • Scalp Level
      (4 miles [6.4 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
    • Ingleside
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Ingleside is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ingleside
    • Belmont
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Belmont is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belmont
    • Geistown
      (7 miles [11.3 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
    • Lorain
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Lorain is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lorain
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 680 people
    • Ferndale
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Daisytown
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Daisytown is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Daisytown
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 290 people
    • Dale
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Dale is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dale
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,110 people
    • Salix
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Salix is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salix
    • Elim
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Elim is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elim
    • Southmont
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Southmont is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Southmont
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,048 people
    • Conemaugh
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Conemaugh is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conemaugh
  • Fayette County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hillsboro, with the one closest to Hillsboro listed first.
    • Seven Springs
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Champion
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Indian Head
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Indian Head is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Head
  • Indiana County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hillsboro, with the one closest to Hillsboro listed first.
    • Wehrum
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Wehrum is located in Indiana County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wehrum
    • Armagh
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Dilltown
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Rexis
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Rexis is located in Indiana County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rexis
    • Robinson
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Robinson is located in Indiana County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robinson
    • Heshbon
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Heshbon is located in Indiana County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heshbon
    • Claghorn ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Claghorn is located in Indiana County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Claghorn
    • Littletown
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Littletown is located in Indiana County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Littletown
    • Palmertown
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Black Lick
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Black Lick is located in Indiana County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Lick
    • Blairsville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Coral
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Westmoreland County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hillsboro, with the one closest to Hillsboro listed first.
    • New Florence
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Robb
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Robb is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robb
    • Laurel Mountain
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Laurel Mountain is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurel Mountain
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 153 people
      • Laurel Mountain has also been known as:
      • Laurel Mountain Park
    • Seward
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Seward is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seward
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 458 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Seward <1>
    • West Fairfield
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • West Fairfield is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Fairfield
    • Laughlintown
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Oak Grove
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Oak Grove is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
    • Ligonier
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Rector
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Bolivar
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Darlington
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Darlington is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Darlington
    • Stahlstown
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)

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

Cemeteries Near Hillsboro ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Hillsboro.

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

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

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

  • Custer Community Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Custer Community Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Custer Community Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the southeast of Hollsopple.
    • The Custer Community Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Custer Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #44661 <2>
  • Weaver Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Kaufman Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Richland Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Weaver Burial Grounds
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Snavely Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Weaver Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • St. Anthonys Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • St. Josephs Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Berkley Hills Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Dunmyer Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • St. Marys Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (171 more) ...
    • St. Stanislaus Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • St. Josephs Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Oak Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Cemetery
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Oak Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the northeast of Daisytown.
      • The Oak Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Cover Cemetery
      • Singer Cemetery
      • Singer Hill Cemetery
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #45637 <2>

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 in 1895, Hillsboro had a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Hooversville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Hooversville is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hooversville
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 589 people
  • Forward
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Forward is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forward
  • Reitz
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Reitz is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reitz
  • Rummel
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Rummel is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rummel
  • Scalp Level
    (4 miles [6.4 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
  • Hollsopple
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Ingleside
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Ingleside is located in Cambria County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ingleside
  • Davidsville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Walsall
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Walsall is located in Cambria County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walsall
  • Stoystown
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Buckstown
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Buckstown is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckstown
  • Crumb
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Crumb is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crumb
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...
    • Elton
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Geistown
      (7 miles [11.3 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
    • Stonycreek
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Stonycreek is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stonycreek

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

Newspapers Published in Hillsboro ...

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 45 newspapers that have been published in the area around Hillsboro.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Hillsboro, there are papers which were published within 13 miles [20.9 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Hillsboro.

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 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 Hillsboro:

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 Hillsboro, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Hillsboro) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.