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 James City (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 James City. 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 James City ...
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.
While the name of this community is James City, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So James City may originally have been Jame's City.
Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case James City might be written as Jame City.
You might be interested in other communities that are also named James City. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for James City.
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.
James City is located in Elk 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 Elk County: Cameron, Clearfield, Forest, Jefferson, McKean & Warren.
Below are the counties that are near James City. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to James City:
- Elk County (The home county of James City)
- The following are listed by their distance from James City, with the one closest to James City listed first.
- McKinley
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- McKinley is located in Elk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McKinley
- Windy City
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Windy City is located in Elk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windy City
- Russell City
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Russell City is located in Elk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Russell City
- Wilcox
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Streights
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Streights is located in Elk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Streights
- Johnsonburg
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Johnsonburg is located in Elk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnsonburg
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,264 people
- Whistletown
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Whistletown is located in Elk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whistletown
- Instanter
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Instanter is located in Elk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Instanter
- Ridgway
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Hallton
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Hallton is located in Elk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hallton
- Lake City
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Saint Marys
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Cameron County
- The following are listed by their distance from James City, with the one closest to James City listed first.
- Beechwood
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Beechwood is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beechwood
- Weber City
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Weber City is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weber City
- Clarion County
- The following are listed by their distance from James City, with the one closest to James City listed first.
- Cooksburg
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Crown
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Crown is located in Clarion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crown
- Leeper
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Newmansville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Newmansville is located in Clarion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newmansville
- Clearfield County
- Tyler
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Tyler is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tyler
- Forest County
- The following are listed by their distance from James City, with the one closest to James City listed first.
- Sheffield Junction
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Sheffield Junction is located in Forest County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sheffield Junction
- Iron City
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Iron City is located in Forest County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iron City
- Balltown
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Balltown is located in Forest County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Balltown
- Marienville
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Marienville is located in Forest County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marienville
- Roses
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Roses is located in Forest County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roses
- Gilfoyle
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Gilfoyle is located in Forest County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilfoyle
- Redclyffe
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Redclyffe is located in Forest County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redclyffe
- Clarington
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Trunkeyville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Trunkeyville is located in Forest County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trunkeyville
- Fagundus
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Fagundus is located in Forest County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fagundus
- Jefferson County
- The following are listed by their distance from James City, with the one closest to James City listed first.
- Schoffner Corner
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Schoffner Corner is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Schoffner Corner
- Munderf
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Munderf is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Munderf
- Brockway
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Crenshaw
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Crenshaw is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crenshaw
- Sigel
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Warsaw
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Warsaw is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warsaw
- Ella
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Ella is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ella
- Allens Mills
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Allens Mills is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allens Mills
- Hazen
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Hazen is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hazen
- McKean County
- The following are listed by their distance from James City, with the one closest to James City listed first.
- Kane
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Coontown
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Coontown is located in McKean County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coontown
- Kanesholm
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Kanesholm is located in McKean County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kanesholm
- Freeman
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Freeman is located in McKean County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeman
- Hutchins
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Hutchins is located in McKean County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hutchins
- Westline
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Tallyho
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Tallyho is located in McKean County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tallyho
- Mount Jewett
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Timbuck
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Timbuck is located in McKean County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timbuck
- Big Shanty
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Big Shanty is located in McKean County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Shanty
- Clermont
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Clermont is located in McKean County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clermont
- Lewis Run
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Warren County
- The following are listed by their distance from James City, with the one closest to James City listed first.
- Roystone
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Roystone is located in Warren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roystone
- Donaldson
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Donaldson is located in Warren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Donaldson
- Barnes
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Barnes is located in Warren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barnes
- Henrys Mills
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Henrys Mills is located in Warren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henrys Mills
- Hoover
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Hoover is located in Warren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hoover
- Sheffield
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Saybrook
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Saybrook is located in Warren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saybrook
- Kinzua ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Kinzua is located in Warren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kinzua
- Big Bend
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Big Bend is located in Warren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Bend
- Clarendon
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Stoneham
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Stoneham is located in Warren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stoneham
- Hermit Spring
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Hermit Spring is located in Warren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hermit Spring
- Cattaraugus County (NY)
- The following are listed by their distance from James City, with the one closest to James City listed first.
- Elko ‑ Historic
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Elko is located in Cattaraugus County (NY)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elko
- Elko has also been known as:
- Wolf Run
- Onoville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Onoville is located in Cattaraugus County (NY)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Onoville
- Limestone
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- New Ireland ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- New Ireland is located in Cattaraugus County (NY)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Ireland
- New Ireland has also been known as:
- Irish Town
- Little Ireland
- Quaker Bridge ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Quaker Bridge is located in Cattaraugus County (NY)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quaker Bridge
- Quaker Bridge has also been known as:
- Tunesassa
- Harrisburg
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Harrisburg is located in Cattaraugus County (NY)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrisburg
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to James City, see our County-by-County Page for James City.
Cemeteries Near James City ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of James City.
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 James City - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for James City covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from James City, with the one closest to James City listed first.
- Mt. Tabor Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- St. Callistus Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Forest Lawn Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Highland Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Greendale Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Brookston Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Moriah Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Wardvale United Methodist Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wardvale United Methodist Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Wardvale United Methodist Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the north of Johnsonburg.
- The Wardvale United Methodist Cemetery has also been known as:
- Johnsonburg United Methodist Cemetery
- Rolfe United Methodist Cemetery
- Wardville Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2159320 <3>
- Holy Rosary Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holy Rosary Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Holy Rosary Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the north of Johnsonburg.
- The Holy Rosary Cemetery has also been known as:
- Wardvale Catholic Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1968966 <3>
- St. John's Lutheran Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for St. John's Lutheran Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the St. John's Lutheran Cemetery is located outside and to the north of Johnsonburg.
- The St. John's Lutheran Cemetery has also been known as:
- St. John's Cemetery
- Wardvale Lutheran Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2159321 <3>
- Lone Pine Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Pine Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Lone Pine Cemetery is located 8 miles [12.9 km]<4> to the northwest of Kane.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2198998 <3>
- Ott Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Continue List (66 more) ...
- Holy Cross Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Laurel Hill Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Bridge View Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 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.<5>
While we didn't find James City in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of James City.
These communities are listed based on their distance from James City, with the one closest to James City listed first.
- Carlson
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Carlson is located in Elk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carlson
- Kane
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Sergeant
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Sergeant is located in McKean County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sergeant
- Greendale
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Greendale is located in McKean County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greendale
- Chaffee
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Chaffee is located in Elk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chaffee
- Wetmore
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Wetmore is located in McKean County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wetmore
- Sackett
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Sackett is located in Elk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sackett
- Dahoga
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Dahoga is located in Elk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dahoga
- Kanesholm
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Kanesholm is located in McKean County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kanesholm
- Brookston
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Brookston is located in Forest County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookston
- Sheffield Junction
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Sheffield Junction is located in Forest County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sheffield Junction
- Wilcox
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- Griffiths
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Griffiths is located in McKean County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Griffiths
- Corduroy
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Corduroy is located in Elk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corduroy
- Ludlow
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around James City. See our List of 1890's Communities around James City.
Newspapers Published in James City ...
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 40 newspapers that have been published in the area around James City.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of James City, there are papers which were published within 19 miles [30.6 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for James City.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we 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 James City:
- Websites specific to Pennsylvania
- Pages specific to Elk County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Cameron County
- Clarion County
- Clearfield County
- Forest County
- Jefferson County
- McKean County
- Warren County
- Cattaraugus 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> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- James City) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <5> | 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 James City, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |