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 Ideal (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 Ideal. 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 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.
Ideal 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 Ideal. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Ideal:
- Indiana County (The home county of Ideal)
- The following are listed by their distance from Ideal, with the one closest to Ideal listed first.
- Penn Run
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Clymer
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Chevy Chase Heights
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Chevy Chase Heights is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chevy Chase Heights
- Tanoma
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Tanoma is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tanoma
- Indiana
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Gilpin
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Gilpin is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilpin
- Kintersburg
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Kintersburg is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kintersburg
- Ben Avon
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Ben Avon is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ben Avon
- Kenwood
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Kenwood is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kenwood
- Dicksonville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Dicksonville is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dicksonville
- Chambersville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Chambersville is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chambersville
- Kimmel
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Kimmel is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kimmel
- Armstrong County
- The following are listed by their distance from Ideal, with the one closest to Ideal listed first.
- Atwood
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Atwood is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atwood
- Population from the 2020 Census: 100 people
- Barnards
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Barnards is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barnards
- Elderton
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Blanco
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Blanco is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blanco
- Rural Valley
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Yatesboro
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Yatesboro is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yatesboro
- Bryan
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Bryan is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bryan
- Whitesburg
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Whitesburg is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitesburg
- Olivet
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Olivet is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olivet
- Dayton
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Echo
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Echo is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Echo
- Cochrans Mills
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Cochrans Mills is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cochrans Mills
- Cambria County
- The following are listed by their distance from Ideal, with the one closest to Ideal listed first.
- White Mill Crossing
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- White Mill Crossing is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Mill Crossing
- Belsano
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Belsano is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belsano
- Garmantown
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Garmantown is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garmantown
- Nicktown
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Nicktown is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nicktown
- Vintondale
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Vintondale is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vintondale
- Population from the 2020 Census: 367 people
- West Branch
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- West Branch is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Branch
- Twin Rocks
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Barnesboro
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Barnesboro is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barnesboro
- Colver
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Northern Cambria
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Northern Cambria is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Northern Cambria
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,456 people
- Spangler
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Spangler is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spangler
- Cardiff
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Cardiff is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cardiff
- Clarion County
- The following are listed by their distance from Ideal, with the one closest to Ideal listed first.
- Fairmont City
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Hawthorn
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- New Bethlehem
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Clearfield County
- The following are listed by their distance from Ideal, with the one closest to Ideal listed first.
- Burnside
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Burnside is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burnside
- Population from the 2020 Census: 220 people
- Sylvis
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Sylvis is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sylvis
- Westover
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Westover is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westover
- Population from the 2020 Census: 374 people
- New Washington
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- New Washington is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Washington
- Population from the 2020 Census: 54 people
- Mahaffey
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Newburg
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Newburg is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newburg
- Population from the 2020 Census: 94 people
- McPherron
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- McPherron is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McPherron
- Mayes
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Mayes is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayes
- Thompsontown
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Thompsontown is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thompsontown
- Bower
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Bower is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bower
- Cherry Corner
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Cherry Corner is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Corner
- Curry Run
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Curry Run is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Curry Run
- Jefferson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Ideal, with the one closest to Ideal listed first.
- Valier
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Valier is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valier
- Punxsutawney
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Winslow
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Winslow is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winslow
- Albion
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Albion is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albion
- Oliveburg
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Oliveburg is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oliveburg
- Timblin
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Timblin is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timblin
- Population from the 2020 Census: 145 people
- Worthville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Worthville is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Worthville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 65 people
- Coolspring
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Langville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Langville is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Langville
- Panic
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Panic is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Panic
- Pansy
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Pansy is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pansy
- Green Valley
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Green Valley is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Valley
- Lawrence County
- Big Run
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Big Run is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Run
- Population from the 2020 Census: 594 people
- Somerset County
- The following are listed by their distance from Ideal, with the one closest to Ideal listed first.
- Tire Hill
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Tire Hill is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tire Hill
- Davidsville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Thomas Mill
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Thomas Mill is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thomas Mill
- Jerome
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Jerome is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jerome
- Paint
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Paint is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paint
- Population from the 2020 Census: 930 people
- Benson
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Benson is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benson
- Population from the 2020 Census: 184 people
- Hollsopple
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Windber
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Westmoreland County
- The following are listed by their distance from Ideal, with the one closest to Ideal listed first.
- Seward
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Robb
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Robb is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robb
- Bolivar
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- New Florence
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Burrell
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Burrell is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burrell
- Livermore
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Livermore is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Livermore
- West Fairfield
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- West Fairfield is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Fairfield
- Avonmore
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- New Derry
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Salina
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Derry
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Derry is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Derry
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,495 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Derry <1>
- New Alexandria
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Ideal, see our County-by-County Page for Ideal.
Cemeteries Near Ideal ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Ideal.
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 Ideal - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Ideal covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Ideal, with the one closest to Ideal listed first.
- Cherryhill Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Rich Hill Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Sample Run Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- St. Bernards Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for St. Bernards Cemetery
- The St. Bernards Cemetery has also been known as:
- St. Bernards of Clairvoux Catholic Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #45990 <2>
- Stephens Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Columbia Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Oakland Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Greenwood Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Diamondville Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Brush Valley Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Crooked Creek Church Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Frye Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Continue List (224 more) ...
- Evans Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Robinson Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Old Washington Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 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>
While we didn't find Ideal in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Ideal.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Ideal, with the one closest to Ideal listed first.
- Onberg
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Onberg is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Onberg
- Pikes Peak
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Pikes Peak is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pikes Peak
- Penn Run
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Tanoma
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Tanoma is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tanoma
- Indiana
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Gilpin
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Gilpin is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilpin
- Two Lick
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Two Lick is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Two Lick
- Brush Valley
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Brush Valley is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brush Valley
- Suncliff
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Suncliff is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Suncliff
- Kenwood
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Kenwood is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kenwood
- Dixonville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Dixonville is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dixonville
- Kimmel
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Kimmel is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kimmel
- Continue List (16 more) ...
- Chambersville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Chambersville is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chambersville
- Homer City
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Home
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Home is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Home
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Ideal. See our List of 1890's Communities around Ideal.
Newspapers Published in Ideal ...
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 39 newspapers that have been published in the area around Ideal.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Ideal, 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 Ideal.
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 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 Ideal:
- Websites specific to Pennsylvania
- Pages specific to Indiana County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Armstrong County
- Cambria County
- Clarion County
- Clearfield County
- Jefferson County
- Lawrence County
- Somerset County
- Westmoreland 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 Ideal, 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Ideal) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |