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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 Lauffer (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 Lauffer. 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 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.

Lauffer 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 Lauffer. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Lauffer:

  • Westmoreland County     (The home county of Lauffer)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lauffer, with the one closest to Lauffer listed first.
    • Alverton
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Alverton is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alverton
    • Mount Pleasant
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Hawkeye
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Hawkeye is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hawkeye
    • West Overton
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • West Overton is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Overton
    • Scottdale
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Iron Bridge
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Iron Bridge is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iron Bridge
    • Mount Joy
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Mount Joy is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Joy
    • Hunker
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Hunker is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunker
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 268 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hunker <1>
    • New Stanton
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Youngwood
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Calumet
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Wyano
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Wyano is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyano
  • Allegheny County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lauffer, with the one closest to Lauffer listed first.
    • Buena Vista
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Buena Vista is located in Allegheny County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buena Vista
    • Boston
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Sunny Side
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Sunny Side is located in Allegheny County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunny Side
    • Elizabeth
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Lincoln
      (17 miles [27.4 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
    • Versailles
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Versailles is located in Allegheny County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Versailles
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,452 people
    • Clairton
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Liberty
      (18 miles [29 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
    • West Elizabeth
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • White Oak
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • East McKeesport
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • McKeesport
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
  • Armstrong County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lauffer, with the one closest to Lauffer listed first.
    • Edmon
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Edmon is located in Armstrong County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edmon
    • Apollo
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Apollo is located in Armstrong County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Apollo
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,507 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Apollo <1>
    • North Apollo
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
    • Orchard Hills
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Orchard Hills is located in Armstrong County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orchard Hills
  • Fayette County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lauffer, with the one closest to Lauffer listed first.
    • Everson
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Everson is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Everson
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 744 people
    • Laurelville
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Laurelville is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurelville
    • Bear Rocks
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Bear Rocks is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Rocks
    • Dawson
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Dickerson Run
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Dickerson Run is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dickerson Run
    • Vanderbilt
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Banning
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Banning is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Banning
    • Connellsville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • White
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • White is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White
    • Fuller
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Fuller is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fuller
    • Lynn
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Lynn is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lynn
    • Perryopolis
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Greene County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lauffer, with the one closest to Lauffer listed first.
    • Stringtown
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Stringtown is located in Greene County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stringtown
    • Nemacolin
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Nemacolin is located in Greene County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nemacolin
    • Rices Landing
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Carmichaels
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Cumberland Village
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Cumberland Village is located in Greene County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cumberland Village
    • Chartiers
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Chartiers is located in Greene County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chartiers
    • Clarksville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Fairdale
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Fairdale is located in Greene County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairdale
    • Ceylon
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Ceylon is located in Greene County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ceylon
    • Jefferson
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Jefferson is located in Greene County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jefferson
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 249 people
    • Greensboro
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Khedive
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Khedive is located in Greene County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Khedive
  • Indiana County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lauffer, with the one closest to Lauffer listed first.
    • White
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • White is located in Indiana County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White
    • Bow
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Bow is located in Indiana County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bow
    • Blairsville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Clarksburg
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Robinson
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Robinson is located in Indiana County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robinson
    • Black Lick
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Black Lick is located in Indiana County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Lick
    • Palmertown
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Somerset County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lauffer, with the one closest to Lauffer listed first.
    • Bakersville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Bakersville is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bakersville
    • Laurel Mountain Village
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Draketown
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Draketown is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Draketown
    • New Lexington
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • New Lexington is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Lexington
    • Lavansville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Lavansville is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lavansville
    • Roytown
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Roytown is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roytown
    • New Centerville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • New Centerville is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Centerville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 127 people
    • Husband
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Husband is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Husband
    • Sipesville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Sipesville is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sipesville
    • Casselman
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Casselman is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Casselman
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 97 people
    • Confluence
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jennerstown
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
  • Washington County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lauffer, with the one closest to Lauffer listed first.
    • Donora
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Donora is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Donora
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,546 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Donora <1>
    • Allenport
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Roscoe
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Roscoe is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roscoe
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 791 people
    • Speers
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Speers is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Speers
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,061 people
    • Twilight
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Twilight is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twilight
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 224 people
    • Black Diamond
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Black Diamond is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Diamond
    • California
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Charleroi
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Dunlevy
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Elco
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Elco is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elco
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 305 people
    • Long Branch
      (16 miles [25.7 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
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)

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

Cemeteries Near Lauffer ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Lauffer.

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 Lauffer - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Mt. Lebanon United Methodist Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Polish Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • St. Johns Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Mt. Pleasant Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • St. Johns Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Scottdale Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Fairview Church Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Green Lick Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Stone Hill Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Green Ridge Memorial Park
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Bethel Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Cochran Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (350 more) ...
    • Youngwood Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Yukon Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Hoffman Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • 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 <2>

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 Lauffer in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Lauffer.

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

  • Tarrs
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Morewood
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Morewood is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morewood
  • Hawkeye
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Hawkeye is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hawkeye
  • West Overton
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • West Overton is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Overton
  • Mount Pleasant
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Ruffs Dale
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Scottdale
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Iron Bridge
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Iron Bridge is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iron Bridge
  • New Stanton
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Everson
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Everson is located in Fayette County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Everson
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 744 people
  • Hunker
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Hunker is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunker
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 268 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hunker <1>
  • Southwest
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Southwest is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Southwest
  • Continue List   (18 more) ...
    • Owensdale
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Owensdale is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Owensdale
    • Pennsville
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Pennsville is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pennsville
    • Laurelville
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Laurelville is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurelville

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

Newspapers Published in Lauffer ...

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 48 newspapers that have been published in the area around Lauffer.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Lauffer, there are papers which were published within 10 miles [16.1 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Lauffer.

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 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 Lauffer:

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 Lauffer, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Lauffer) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.