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 Jacobs Creek (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 Jacobs Creek. 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 Jacobs Creek ...
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.
- A typical abbreviation for Jacobs Creek: Jacobs Crk. (or less commonly used: Jacobs Ck. or Jacobs Cr.)
- While the name of this community is Jacobs Creek, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Jacobs Creek may originally have been Jacob's Creek.
Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Jacobs Creek might be written as Jacob Creek.
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 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.
Jacobs Creek is located in Westmoreland 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 Westmoreland County: Allegheny, Armstrong, Butler, Cambria, Fayette, Indiana & Somerset.
Below are the counties that are near Jacobs Creek. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Jacobs Creek:
- Westmoreland County (The home county of Jacobs Creek)
- The following are listed by their distance from Jacobs Creek, with the one closest to Jacobs Creek listed first.
- Smithton
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- West Newton
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Wyano
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Wyano is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyano
- Yukon
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Webster
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Webster is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Webster
- North Belle Vernon
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- North Belle Vernon is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Belle Vernon
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,842 people
- Hawkeye
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Hawkeye is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hawkeye
- Blackburn ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Blackburn is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackburn
- Sutersville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Gibsonton
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Gibsonton is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gibsonton
- Monessen
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Alverton
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Alverton is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alverton
- Hunker
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Allegheny County
- The following are listed by their distance from Jacobs Creek, with the one closest to Jacobs Creek listed first.
- Sunny Side
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Sunny Side is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunny Side
- Buena Vista
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Buena Vista is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buena Vista
- Elizabeth
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Lincoln
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Lincoln is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,013 people
- West Elizabeth
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Boston
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Versailles
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Versailles is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Versailles
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,452 people
- Clairton
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Jefferson Hills
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Jefferson Hills is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jefferson Hills
- Population from the 2020 Census: 11,136 people
- Jefferson Hills has also been known as:
- Jefferson
- Liberty
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Liberty is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,438 people
- Mendelssohn
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Mendelssohn is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mendelssohn
- Coal Valley
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Coal Valley is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coal Valley
- Cochrans Mill
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Cochrans Mill is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cochrans Mill
- Armstrong County
- Edmon
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Edmon is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edmon
- Fayette County
- The following are listed by their distance from Jacobs Creek, with the one closest to Jacobs Creek listed first.
- Whitsett
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Whitsett is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitsett
- Banning
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Banning is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Banning
- Fuller
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Fuller is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fuller
- Lynn
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Lynn is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lynn
- Perryopolis
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Arnold City
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Arnold City is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arnold City
- Fayette City
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Fayette City is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fayette City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 569 people
- Redstone
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Redstone is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redstone
- Brownstown
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Brownstown is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brownstown
- Fairhope
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Fairhope is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairhope
- Lynnwood
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Lynnwood is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lynnwood
- Belle Vernon
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Dawson
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Greene County
- The following are listed by their distance from Jacobs Creek, with the one closest to Jacobs Creek listed first.
- Rices Landing
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Stringtown
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Stringtown is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stringtown
- Clarksville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Carmichaels
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Chartiers
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Chartiers is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chartiers
- Cumberland Village
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Cumberland Village is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cumberland Village
- Fairdale
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Fairdale is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairdale
- Nemacolin
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Nemacolin is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nemacolin
- Jefferson
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Jefferson is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jefferson
- Population from the 2020 Census: 249 people
- Ceylon
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Ceylon is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ceylon
- Khedive
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Khedive is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Khedive
- Lippincott
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Lippincott is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lippincott
- Greensboro
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Indiana County
- The following are listed by their distance from Jacobs Creek, with the one closest to Jacobs Creek listed first.
- White
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- White is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White
- Bow
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Bow is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bow
- Somerset County
- The following are listed by their distance from Jacobs Creek, with the one closest to Jacobs Creek listed first.
- Draketown
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Draketown is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Draketown
- Bakersville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Bakersville is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bakersville
- New Lexington
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- New Lexington is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Lexington
- Confluence
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Washington County
- The following are listed by their distance from Jacobs Creek, with the one closest to Jacobs Creek listed first.
- Donora
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Allenport
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Speers
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Speers is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Speers
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,061 people
- Dunlevy
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Roscoe
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Roscoe is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roscoe
- Population from the 2020 Census: 791 people
- Twilight
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Twilight is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twilight
- Population from the 2020 Census: 224 people
- Elco
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Elco is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elco
- Population from the 2020 Census: 305 people
- Charleroi
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Long Branch
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Long Branch is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Branch
- Population from the 2020 Census: 431 people
- Stockdale
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Black Diamond
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Black Diamond is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Diamond
- California
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Coal Center
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Preston County (WV)
- Clifton Mills
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Clifton Mills is located in Preston County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clifton Mills
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Jacobs Creek, see our County-by-County Page for Jacobs Creek.
Cemeteries Near Jacobs Creek ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Jacobs Creek.
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 Jacobs Creek - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Jacobs Creek covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Jacobs Creek, with the one closest to Jacobs Creek listed first.
- Hoffman Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hoffman Cemetery
- The Hoffman Cemetery has also been known as:
- Hope Lutheran Church Cemetery
- Old Brick Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #45096 <3>
- St. Timothys Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- East Salem Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Mt. Washington Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- St. John the Baptist RC Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for St. John the Baptist RC Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the St. John the Baptist RC Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the southeast of Perryopolis.
- The St. John the Baptist RC Cemetery has also been known as:
- St. Johns Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #46044 <3>
- Mt. Auburn Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mt. Auburn Cemetery
- The Mt. Auburn Cemetery has also been known as:
- Fayette City Cemetery
- West Newton Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Markle Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Belle Vernon Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Havely Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Bethel Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Yukon Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Continue List (417 more) ...
- Milbell Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Bowman - Flatwoods Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Dickerson Run - Union Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
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>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Jacobs Creek had a population of 200 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Jacobs Creek, with the one closest to Jacobs Creek listed first.
- Banning
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Banning is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Banning
- Whitsett
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Whitsett is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitsett
- Smithton
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Fuller
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Fuller is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fuller
- Fitz Henry
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Fitz Henry is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fitz Henry
- Port Royal
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Port Royal is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Port Royal
- Perryopolis
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Layton
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Layton is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Layton
- Mendon
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Mendon is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mendon
- Fayette City
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Fayette City is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fayette City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 569 people
- Redstone
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Redstone is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redstone
- West Newton
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Continue List (19 more) ...
- Curfew
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Curfew is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Curfew
- Waltz Mill
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Waltz Mill is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waltz Mill
- Webster
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Webster is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Webster
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Jacobs Creek. See our List of 1890's Communities around Jacobs Creek.
Newspapers Published in Jacobs Creek ...
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 38 newspapers that have been published in the area around Jacobs Creek.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Jacobs Creek, there are papers which were published within 9 miles [14.5 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Jacobs Creek.
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 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 Jacobs Creek:
- Websites specific to Pennsylvania
- Pages specific to Westmoreland County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Allegheny County
- Armstrong County
- Fayette County
- Greene County
- Indiana County
- Somerset County
- Washington County
- Preston County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Pennsylvania
Footnotes ...
| <1> | It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties). |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 Jacobs Creek, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <5> | 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Jacobs Creek) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |