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 Indian Lake (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 Indian Lake. 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 Indian Lake ...
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 Indian Lake: Indian Lk.
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Indian Lake. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Indian Lake.
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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.
Indian Lake 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 Indian Lake. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Indian Lake:
- Somerset County (The home county of Indian Lake)
- The following are listed by their distance from Indian Lake, with the one closest to Indian Lake listed first.
- Buckstown
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Buckstown is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckstown
- Shanksville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Mostoller
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Mostoller is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mostoller
- Downey
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Downey is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Downey
- Central City
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Kantner
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Kantner is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kantner
- Boswell
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Coleman
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Coleman is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coleman
- Forward
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Forward is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forward
- Stoystown
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- New Baltimore
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- New Baltimore is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Baltimore
- Population from the 2020 Census: 167 people
- Friedens
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Bedford County
- The following are listed by their distance from Indian Lake, with the one closest to Indian Lake listed first.
- Kegg
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Kegg is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kegg
- Schellsburg
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- New Paris
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Manns Choice
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Pleasantville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Pleasantville is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasantville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 205 people
- Hyndman
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Wolfsburg
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Wolfsburg is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolfsburg
- Bedford
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Charlesville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Charlesville is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charlesville
- Cliffs ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Cliffs is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cliffs
- Saint Clairsville
(20 miles [32.2 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
- Osterburg
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Blair County
- The following are listed by their distance from Indian Lake, with the one closest to Indian Lake listed first.
- Cotton Town
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Cotton Town is located in Blair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cotton Town
- Blue Knob
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Blue Knob is located in Blair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Knob
- Claysburg
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Puzzletown
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Puzzletown is located in Blair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Puzzletown
- Cambria County
- The following are listed by their distance from Indian Lake, with the one closest to Indian Lake listed first.
- Scalp Level
(14 miles [22.5 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
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Ingleside is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ingleside
- Belmont
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Belmont is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belmont
- Ferndale
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Geistown
(17 miles [27.4 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
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Lorain is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lorain
- Population from the 2020 Census: 680 people
- Dale
(18 miles [29 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
- Elim
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Elim is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elim
- Conemaugh
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Conemaugh is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conemaugh
- Daisytown
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Daisytown is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Daisytown
- Population from the 2020 Census: 290 people
- Johnstown
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Dunlo
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Dunlo is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunlo
- Fayette County
- The following are listed by their distance from Indian Lake, with the one closest to Indian Lake listed first.
- Seven Springs
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Champion
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Indian Head
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Indian Head is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Head
- White
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- White is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White
- Indiana County
- The following are listed by their distance from Indian Lake, with the one closest to Indian Lake listed first.
- Robinson
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Robinson is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robinson
- Armagh
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Dilltown
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Wehrum
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Wehrum is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wehrum
- Westmoreland County
- The following are listed by their distance from Indian Lake, with the one closest to Indian Lake listed first.
- Laurel Mountain
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- 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
- Laughlintown
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Rector
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Oak Grove
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Oak Grove is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
- Ligonier
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- West Fairfield
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- West Fairfield is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Fairfield
- Stahlstown
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Robb
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Robb is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robb
- Darlington
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Darlington is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Darlington
- New Florence
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Seward
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Donegal
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Allegany County (MD)
- The following are listed by their distance from Indian Lake, with the one closest to Indian Lake listed first.
- Ellerslie
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Ellerslie is located in Allegany County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellerslie
- Barrelville
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Barrelville is located in Allegany County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barrelville
- Mount Savage
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Corriganville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Corriganville is located in Allegany County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corriganville
- Mount Savage Junction
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Mount Savage Junction is located in Allegany County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Savage Junction
- Zihlman
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Zihlman is located in Allegany County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zihlman
- Eckhart Mines
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Eckhart Mines is located in Allegany County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eckhart Mines
- Frostburg
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- La Vale
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Clarysville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Clarysville is located in Allegany County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarysville
- Cumberland
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Shanty Town ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Shanty Town is located in Allegany County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shanty Town
- Garrett County (MD)
- The following are listed by their distance from Indian Lake, with the one closest to Indian Lake listed first.
- Avilton
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Avilton is located in Garrett County (MD)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avilton
- Grantsville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Mineral County (WV)
- The following are listed by their distance from Indian Lake, with the one closest to Indian Lake listed first.
- Ridgeley
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Carpendale
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Carpendale is located in Mineral County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carpendale
- Population from the 2020 Census: 900 people
- Wiley Ford
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Indian Lake, see our County-by-County Page for Indian Lake.
Cemeteries Near Indian Lake ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Indian Lake.
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 Indian Lake - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Indian Lake covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Indian Lake, with the one closest to Indian Lake listed first.
- Walker Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Mispah Lutheran Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mispah Lutheran Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Mispah Lutheran Cemetery is located 2 miles [3.2 km]<2> to the west of Shanksville.
- The Mispah Lutheran Cemetery has also been known as:
- Mispah Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2188400 <3>
- Pugh Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Pike Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Sarver Church Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Friedens Luthern Church Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friedens Luthern Church Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Friedens Luthern Church Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Friedens.
- The Friedens Luthern Church Cemetery has also been known as:
- Friedens Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2207909 <3>
- Listie Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Old Union Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- St. Josephs Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Camp Run Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Schmucker Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Lichty Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Continue List (163 more) ...
- Custer Community Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- 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 <3>
- Schellsburg Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Schellsburg Cemetery
- The Schellsburg Cemetery has also been known as:
- Chestnut Ridge Cemetery
- Old Log Church Cemetery
- Union Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1964953 <3>
- St. Stanislaus Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 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.<4>
While we didn't find Indian Lake in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Indian Lake.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Indian Lake, with the one closest to Indian Lake listed first.
- Shanksville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Boone
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Boone is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boone
- Buckstown
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Buckstown is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckstown
- Glade
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Glade is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glade
- Lambertsville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Lambertsville is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lambertsville
- Downey
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Downey is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Downey
- Mostoller
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Mostoller is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mostoller
- Coleman
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Coleman is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coleman
- Forward
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Forward is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forward
- New Baltimore
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- New Baltimore is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Baltimore
- Population from the 2020 Census: 167 people
- Stoystown
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Friedens
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Hooversville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Hooversville is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hooversville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 589 people
- Daley
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Daley is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Daley
- Reitz
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Reitz is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reitz
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Indian Lake. See our List of 1890's Communities around Indian Lake.
Newspapers Published in Indian Lake ...
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 51 newspapers that have been published in the area around Indian Lake.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Indian Lake, there are papers which were published within 17 miles [27.4 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Indian Lake.
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 Indian Lake:
- Websites specific to Pennsylvania
- Pages specific to Somerset County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Bedford County
- Blair County
- Cambria County
- Fayette County
- Indiana County
- Westmoreland County
- Allegany County
- Garrett County
- Mineral 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> | 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 from Point A (ie- Indian Lake) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <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> | 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 Indian Lake, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |