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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 Laflin (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 Laflin. 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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and 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.

Laflin is located in Luzerne County.

To see how the shape of Pennsylvania's counties have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Luzerne County: Carbon, Columbia, Lackawanna, Monroe, Schuylkill, Sullivan & Wyoming.

Below are the counties that are near Laflin. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Laflin:

  • Luzerne County     (The home county of Laflin)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Laflin, with the one closest to Laflin listed first.
    • Yatesville
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Yatesville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yatesville
      • Yatesville is located in Luzerne County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 613 people
    • Port Blanchard
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Hilldale
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Pittston
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • West Pittston
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Hughestown
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hughestown have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hughestown
      • Hughestown is located in Luzerne County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,356 people
    • Exeter
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Exeter have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Exeter
      • Exeter is located in Luzerne County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,519 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Exeter <3>
    • Wyoming
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wyoming have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyoming
      • Wyoming is located in Luzerne County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,004 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wyoming <3>
    • Miners Mills
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Plains
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Dupont
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dupont have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dupont
      • Dupont is located in Luzerne County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,693 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dupont <3>
    • Port Bowkley
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Swoyersville
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Carbon County
  • Columbia County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Laflin, with the one closest to Laflin listed first.
    • Berwick
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Foundryville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Foundryville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foundryville
      • Foundryville is located in Columbia County
    • Jonestown
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jonestown have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jonestown
      • Jonestown is located in Columbia County
    • Jamison City
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jamison City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamison City
      • Jamison City is located in Columbia County
    • Briar Creek
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Hetlerville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Lackawanna County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Laflin, with the one closest to Laflin listed first.
    • Lawrenceville
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Belian Village
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Belian Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belian Village
      • Belian Village is located in Lackawanna County
    • Moosic
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Moosic have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moosic
      • Moosic is located in Lackawanna County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,813 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Moosic <3>
    • Old Forge
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Old Forge have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Forge
      • Old Forge is located in Lackawanna County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,838 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Old Forge <3>
    • Taylor
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Taylor have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taylor
      • Taylor is located in Lackawanna County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,879 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Taylor <3>
    • Milwaukee
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Milwaukee. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milwaukee
      • Milwaukee is located in Lackawanna County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Milwaukee
      • From Laflin to Milwaukee
    • Spring Brook
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Scranton
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Yostville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Dunmore
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Green Ridge
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Green Ridge. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Ridge
      • Green Ridge is located in Lackawanna County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Green Ridge
      • From Laflin to Green Ridge
    • Schultzville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Clarks Summit
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clarks Summit have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarks Summit
      • Clarks Summit is located in Lackawanna County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,843 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clarks Summit <3>
  • Monroe County
  • Pike County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Laflin, with the one closest to Laflin listed first.
    • South Sterling
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • La Anna
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for La Anna. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Anna
      • La Anna is located in Pike County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to La Anna
      • From Laflin to La Anna
    • Ledgedale
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ledgedale. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ledgedale
      • Ledgedale is located in Pike County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Ledgedale
      • From Laflin to Ledgedale
    • Panther
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Panther. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Panther
      • Panther is located in Pike County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Panther
      • From Laflin to Panther
  • Schuylkill County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Laflin, with the one closest to Laflin listed first.
    • McAdoo
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for McAdoo have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McAdoo
      • McAdoo is located in Schuylkill County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,147 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for McAdoo <3>
    • Kelayres
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
  • Susquehanna County
  • Wayne County
  • Wyoming County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Laflin, with the one closest to Laflin listed first.
    • Mill City ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mill City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mill City
      • Mill City is located in Wyoming County
    • Beaumont
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Vernon
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Lake Winola
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Osterhout
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Jenks
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • South Eaton
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for South Eaton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Eaton
      • South Eaton is located in Wyoming County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to South Eaton
      • From Laflin to South Eaton
    • Evans Falls
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Evans Falls. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evans Falls
      • Evans Falls is located in Wyoming County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Evans Falls
      • From Laflin to Evans Falls
    • Noxen
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Factoryville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Tunkhannock
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tunkhannock have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tunkhannock
      • Tunkhannock is located in Wyoming County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,674 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tunkhannock <3>
    • Dixon
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dixon have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dixon
      • Dixon is located in Wyoming County
    • Marcy
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Marcy. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marcy
      • Marcy is located in Wyoming County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Marcy
      • From Laflin to Marcy

For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Laflin, see our County-by-County Page for Laflin.

Cemeteries Near Laflin ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Laflin.

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.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Laflin covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Laflin, with the one closest to Laflin listed first.

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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Laflin had a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Laflin had a population of 1,435 people.

These communities are listed based on their distance from Laflin, with the one closest to Laflin listed first.

  • Inkerman
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Inkerman have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Inkerman
    • Inkerman is located in Luzerne County
  • Port Griffith
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Port Griffith have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Port Griffith
    • Port Griffith is located in Luzerne County
  • Yatesville
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Yatesville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yatesville
    • Yatesville is located in Luzerne County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 613 people
  • Sebastopol
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sebastopol have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sebastopol
    • Sebastopol is located in Luzerne County
  • Port Blanchard
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Plains
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Hudson
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hudson have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hudson
    • Hudson is located in Luzerne County
  • Miners Mills
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • West Pittston
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Exeter
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Exeter have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Exeter
    • Exeter is located in Luzerne County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,519 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Exeter <3>
  • Pittston
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Wyoming
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wyoming have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyoming
    • Wyoming is located in Luzerne County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,004 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wyoming <3>
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Plainsville
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Plainsville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plainsville
      • Plainsville is located in Luzerne County
    • Port Bowkley
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Parsons
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Parsons have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parsons
      • Parsons is located in Luzerne County

We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Laflin. See our List of 1890's Communities around Laflin.

Newspapers Published in Laflin ...

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 105 newspapers that have been published in the area around Laflin.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Laflin, there are papers which were published within 12 miles [19.3 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Laflin.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These professional and volunteer 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 Laflin:

The official website for Laflin: www.laflinboro.com/

The official website for Luzerne County: www.luzernecounty.org/

The official website for Commonwealth of Pennsylvania: https://www.pa.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<2>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>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.
<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 Laflin, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Laflin) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Laflin. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.2909, Longitude: -75.7983    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025