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 Jerkwater (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 Jerkwater. 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.
Jerkwater is located in Bedford 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 Bedford County: Allegany (MD), Blair, Cambria, Fulton, Huntingdon & Somerset.
Below are the counties that are near Jerkwater. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Jerkwater:
- Bedford County (The home county of Jerkwater)
- The following are listed by their distance from Jerkwater, with the one closest to Jerkwater listed first.
- Langdondale
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Langdondale is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Langdondale
- Saxton
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Riddlesburg
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Riddlesburg is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riddlesburg
- Coaldale
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Coaldale is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coaldale
- Population from the 2020 Census: 151 people
- Marble City
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Marble City is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marble City
- Graceville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Graceville is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graceville
- Hopewell
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Yellow Creek
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Yellow Creek is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yellow Creek
- Woodbury
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Loysburg
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Waterside
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Waterside is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterside
- Breezewood
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Blair County
- The following are listed by their distance from Jerkwater, with the one closest to Jerkwater listed first.
- Clover Creek
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Clover Creek is located in Blair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clover Creek
- Martinsburg
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- East Sharpsburg
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- East Sharpsburg is located in Blair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Sharpsburg
- Claysburg
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Cotton Town
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Cotton Town is located in Blair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cotton Town
- Roaring Spring
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Beavertown
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Beavertown is located in Blair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beavertown
- Oreminea
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Oreminea is located in Blair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oreminea
- Shellytown
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Shellytown is located in Blair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shellytown
- Brooks Mill
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Brooks Mill is located in Blair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brooks Mill
- Royer
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Royer is located in Blair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Royer
- Newry
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Cambria County
- The following are listed by their distance from Jerkwater, with the one closest to Jerkwater listed first.
- Puritan
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Puritan is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Puritan
- Beaverdale
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Beaverdale is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaverdale
- Bens Creek
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Bens Creek is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bens Creek
- Dunlo
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Dunlo is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunlo
- Oil City
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Oil City is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oil City
- Scarlan Hill
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Scarlan Hill is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scarlan Hill
- Sonman
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Sonman is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sonman
- Spring Hill
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Spring Hill is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Hill
- Summit
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Summit is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summit
- Cresson
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Portage
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Salix
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Salix is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salix
- Franklin County
- The following are listed by their distance from Jerkwater, with the one closest to Jerkwater listed first.
- Cowans Village
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Cowans Village is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cowans Village
- Metal
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Metal is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Metal
- Freestone
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Freestone is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freestone
- Fort Loudon
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Cove Gap
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Cove Gap is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cove Gap
- Dickey
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Dickey is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dickey
- Dry Run
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Dry Run is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dry Run
- Markes
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Markes is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Markes
- Doylestown
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Doylestown is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doylestown
- Keefers
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Keefers is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keefers
- Newbridge
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Newbridge is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newbridge
- Mercersburg
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Fulton County
- The following are listed by their distance from Jerkwater, with the one closest to Jerkwater listed first.
- Wells Tannery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Wells Tannery is located in Fulton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wells Tannery
- Valley-Hi
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Valley-Hi is located in Fulton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley-Hi
- Population from the 2020 Census: 15 people
- Waterfall
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Akersville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Akersville is located in Fulton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Akersville
- Laidig
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Laidig is located in Fulton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laidig
- Crystal Spring
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Crystal Spring is located in Fulton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Spring
- Clear Ridge
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Clear Ridge is located in Fulton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clear Ridge
- Harrisonville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Harrisonville is located in Fulton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrisonville
- Emmaville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Emmaville is located in Fulton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emmaville
- Fort Littleton
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Sipes Mill
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Sipes Mill is located in Fulton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sipes Mill
- Pleasant Ridge
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Pleasant Ridge is located in Fulton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Ridge
- Huntingdon County
- The following are listed by their distance from Jerkwater, with the one closest to Jerkwater listed first.
- Coalmont
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Coalmont is located in Huntingdon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coalmont
- Population from the 2020 Census: 98 people
- Dudley
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Dudley is located in Huntingdon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dudley
- Population from the 2020 Census: 176 people
- Middletown
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Middletown is located in Huntingdon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middletown
- Broad Top City
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Broad Top City is located in Huntingdon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Broad Top City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 443 people
- Robertsdale
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Robertsdale is located in Huntingdon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robertsdale
- Cooks
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Cooks is located in Huntingdon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooks
- Joller ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Joller is located in Huntingdon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joller
- Kimmel
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Kimmel is located in Huntingdon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kimmel
- Rocky Ridge ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Rocky Ridge is located in Huntingdon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Ridge
- Coles ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Coles is located in Huntingdon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coles
- Salter
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Salter is located in Huntingdon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salter
- Todd
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Todd is located in Huntingdon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Todd
- Mifflin County
- The following are listed by their distance from Jerkwater, with the one closest to Jerkwater listed first.
- Kistler
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Kistler is located in Mifflin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kistler
- Population from the 2020 Census: 315 people
- Newton Hamilton
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Newton Hamilton is located in Mifflin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newton Hamilton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 198 people
- Somerset County
- The following are listed by their distance from Jerkwater, with the one closest to Jerkwater listed first.
- Ogletown
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Ogletown is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ogletown
- Central City
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- New Baltimore
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- New Baltimore is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Baltimore
- Population from the 2020 Census: 167 people
- Washington County (MD)
- Hancock
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Morgan County (WV)
- Hancock
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Hancock is located in Morgan County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hancock
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Jerkwater, see our County-by-County Page for Jerkwater.
Cemeteries Near Jerkwater ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Jerkwater.
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 Jerkwater - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Jerkwater covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Jerkwater, with the one closest to Jerkwater listed first.
- Hopewell Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- St. Pauls Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for St. Pauls Cemetery
- The St. Pauls Cemetery has also been known as:
- Yellow Creek Reformed Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #46229 <2>
- Bunker Hill Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Evans Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Duvalls Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Steele Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- St. Michaels Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Dudley Methodist Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Colmont Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- St. Lukes Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Robertsdale Italian Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Broad Top IOOF Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Continue List (245 more) ...
- Ave Maria Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Rhoat Family Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Granview Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
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 Jerkwater in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Jerkwater.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Jerkwater, with the one closest to Jerkwater listed first.
- Saxton
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Kearney
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Kearney is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kearney
- Riddlesburg
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Riddlesburg is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riddlesburg
- Defiance
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Defiance is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Defiance
- Cypher
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Cypher is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cypher
- Graceville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Graceville is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graceville
- Hopewell
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Wells Tannery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Wells Tannery is located in Fulton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wells Tannery
- Yellow Creek
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Yellow Creek is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yellow Creek
- Woodbury
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Enid
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Enid is located in Fulton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Enid
- Dudley
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Dudley is located in Huntingdon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dudley
- Population from the 2020 Census: 176 people
- Continue List (16 more) ...
- Coalmont
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Coalmont is located in Huntingdon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coalmont
- Population from the 2020 Census: 98 people
- Tatesville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Tatesville is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tatesville
- Robertsdale
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Robertsdale is located in Huntingdon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robertsdale
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Jerkwater. See our List of 1890's Communities around Jerkwater.
Newspapers Published in Jerkwater ...
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 44 newspapers that have been published in the area around Jerkwater.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Jerkwater, there are papers which were published within 16 miles [25.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Jerkwater.
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 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 Jerkwater:
- Websites specific to Pennsylvania
- Pages specific to Bedford County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Blair County
- Cambria County
- Franklin County
- Fulton County
- Huntingdon County
- Mifflin County
- Somerset County
- Washington County
- Morgan 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 Jerkwater, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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- Jerkwater) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |