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 Laurel (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 Laurel. 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 northwest 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 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 west 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.
Laurel is located in Chester 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 Chester County : New Castle (DE) , Cecil (MD) , Berks , Delaware , Lancaster & Montgomery .
Below are the counties that are near Laurel. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Laurel:
Chester County (The home county of Laurel)
The following are listed by their distance from Laurel, with the one closest to Laurel listed first.
Mortonville (Less than 2 miles to the north)
Mortonville is located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mortonville Modena (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
Modena is located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Modena Population from the 2020 Census: 528 people
Youngsburg (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
Youngsburg is located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Youngsburg Caln (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
Caln is located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caln South Coatesville (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
South Coatesville is located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Coatesville Population from the 2020 Census: 1,499 people
Unionville (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
Unionville is located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unionville Buck Run (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
Buck Run is located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buck Run Thorndale (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
Coatesville (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
Marlboro (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
Marlboro is located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marlboro Clonmell (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
Clonmell is located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clonmell Corinne (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
Corinne is located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corinne Allegheny County
Overbrook (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
Overbrook is located in Allegheny County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Overbrook Berks County
The following are listed by their distance from Laurel, with the one closest to Laurel listed first.
Joanna (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
Joanna is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joanna Kenneys (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
Kenneys is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kenneys Morgantown (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
New Morgan (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
New Morgan is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Morgan Population from the 2020 Census: 76 people
Geigertown (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
Geigertown is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Geigertown Bally (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
Plowville (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
Plowville is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plowville Scarlets Mill (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
Scarlets Mill is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scarlets Mill Beckersville (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
Beckersville is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beckersville Birdsboro (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
Monocacy (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
Monocacy is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monocacy Alleghenyville (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
Alleghenyville is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alleghenyville Delaware County
The following are listed by their distance from Laurel, with the one closest to Laurel listed first.
Glen Mills (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
Chelsea (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
Chelsea is located in Delaware County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chelsea Chester Heights (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
Zebleys Corner (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
Zebleys Corner is located in Delaware County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zebleys Corner Aston Mills (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
Aston Mills is located in Delaware County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aston Mills Edgemont (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
Edgemont is located in Delaware County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgemont Garnet Valley (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
Lima (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
Lima is located in Delaware County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lima Glen Riddle (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
Glen Riddle is located in Delaware County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Riddle Rockdale (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
Rockdale is located in Delaware County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockdale Village Green (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
Village Green is located in Delaware County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Village Green Creekside Village at Naamans (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
Indiana County
Ernest (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
Ernest is located in Indiana County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ernest Population from the 2020 Census: 431 people
Lancaster County
The following are listed by their distance from Laurel, with the one closest to Laurel listed first.
Christiana (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
Gap (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
Meadville (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
Meadville is located in Lancaster County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadville Ninepoints (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
Ninepoints is located in Lancaster County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ninepoints Smyrna (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
Smyrna is located in Lancaster County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smyrna Buyerstown (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
Buyerstown is located in Lancaster County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buyerstown Kinzers (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
Beartown (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
Beartown is located in Lancaster County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beartown Churchtown (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
East Earl (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
Intercourse (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
Leaman Place (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
Leaman Place is located in Lancaster County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leaman Place Montgomery County
The following are listed by their distance from Laurel, with the one closest to Laurel listed first.
Port Providence (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
Port Providence is located in Montgomery County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Port Providence Mingo (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
Mingo is located in Montgomery County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mingo Bramcote (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
Bramcote is located in Montgomery County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bramcote Royersford (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
Pottstown (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
Stowe (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
West Pottsgrove (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
West Pottsgrove is located in Montgomery County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Pottsgrove Audubon (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
Colonial Village (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
Colonial Village is located in Montgomery County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colonial Village King - of - Prussia (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
Brandywine Village (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
Brandywine Village is located in Montgomery County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brandywine Village Gulph Mills Village (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
Gulph Mills Village is located in Montgomery County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gulph Mills Village Philadelphia County
The following are listed by their distance from Laurel, with the one closest to Laurel listed first.
Bartram Village (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
Bartram Village is located in Philadelphia County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bartram Village Manayunk (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
Manayunk is located in Philadelphia County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manayunk Roxborough (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
Roxborough is located in Philadelphia County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roxborough University City (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
University City is located in Philadelphia County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for University City York County
Slate Hill (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
Slate Hill is located in York County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slate Hill New Castle County (DE)
The following are listed by their distance from Laurel, with the one closest to Laurel listed first.
Vintage Village (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
Vintage Village is located in New Castle County (DE) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vintage Village Yorklyn (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
Hockessin (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
Southwood (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
Southwood is located in New Castle County (DE) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Southwood Ashland (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
Ashland is located in New Castle County (DE) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashland Centreville (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
North Star (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
North Star is located in New Castle County (DE) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Star York Towne (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
York Towne is located in New Castle County (DE) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for York Towne Cokesbury Village (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
Cokesbury Village is located in New Castle County (DE) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cokesbury Village Mount Cuba (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
Mount Cuba is located in New Castle County (DE) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Cuba Mendenhall Village (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
Mendenhall Village is located in New Castle County (DE) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mendenhall Village Winterthur (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
Cecil County (MD)
The following are listed by their distance from Laurel, with the one closest to Laurel listed first.
Appleton (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
Appleton is located in Cecil County (MD) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Appleton Fair Hill (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
Fair Hill is located in Cecil County (MD) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fair Hill Old Line Village of Fair Hill (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
Blake (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
Blake is located in Cecil County (MD) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blake Andora (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
Andora is located in Cecil County (MD) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Andora Barksdale (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
Barksdale is located in Cecil County (MD) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barksdale Blue Ball Village (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
Blue Ball Village is located in Cecil County (MD) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Ball Village Bank ‑ Historic(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
Bank is located in Cecil County (MD) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bank Cherry Hill (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
Cherry Hill is located in Cecil County (MD) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Hill Elk Mills (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
West Creek Village (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
West Creek Village is located in Cecil County (MD) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Creek Village Calvert (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
Calvert is located in Cecil County (MD) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calvert Harford County (MD)
The following are listed by their distance from Laurel, with the one closest to Laurel listed first.
Conowingo Village (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
Conowingo Village is located in Harford County (MD) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conowingo Village Darlington (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
Lapidum (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
Lapidum is located in Harford County (MD) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lapidum Stafford ‑ Historic(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
Stafford is located in Harford County (MD) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stafford Gloucester County (NJ)
The following are listed by their distance from Laurel, with the one closest to Laurel listed first.
Bridgeport (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
Bridgeport is located in Gloucester County (NJ) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bridgeport Cooper (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
Cooper is located in Gloucester County (NJ) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooper Beckett (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
Beckett is located in Gloucester County (NJ) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beckett Gibbstown (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
Gibbstown is located in Gloucester County (NJ) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gibbstown Mickleton (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
Mickleton is located in Gloucester County (NJ) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mickleton Salem County (NJ)
The following are listed by their distance from Laurel, with the one closest to Laurel listed first.
Carneys Point (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
Carneys Point is located in Salem County (NJ) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carneys Point Pennsville (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
Pennsville is located in Salem County (NJ) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pennsville Auburn (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
Auburn is located in Salem County (NJ) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Auburn Pointers (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
Pointers is located in Salem County (NJ) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pointers Salem (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
Salem is located in Salem County (NJ) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salem Population from the 2020 Census: 4,713 people
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Laurel, see our County-by-County Page for Laurel .
Cemeteries Near Laurel ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Laurel.
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 Laurel - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Laurel covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Laurel, with the one closest to Laurel listed first.
Doe Run Cemetery (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doe Run Cemetery To give a relative sense of its location, the Doe Run Cemetery is located 2 miles [3.2 km]<2> Coatesville . The Doe Run Cemetery has also been known as:
Doe Run Presbyterian Church Cemetery Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2244008 <3>
Fairview Cemetery (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
Fallowfield Cemetery (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
St. Malachi Catholic Cemetery (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
Jump to our Gazetteer entry for St. Malachi Catholic Cemetery To give a relative sense of its location, the St. Malachi Catholic Cemetery is located 3 miles [4.8 km]<2> Chatham . The St. Malachi Catholic Cemetery has also been known as:
Doe Run Catholic Cemetery Doe Run Catholic Church Cemetery St. Malachi Church Cemetery Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2192550 <3>
Mt. Olive African American Methodist Episcopal Cemetery (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
West Marlborough AME Cemetery (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
St. Cecilia Cemetery (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
St. Joseph Cemetery (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
Friendship Cemetery (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
Marshallton UMC Cemetery (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
Polish Cemetery (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
Ukrainian Cemetery (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
Continue List (377 more) ...
Londonderry Cemetery (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
Union Hill Cemetery (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
St. Patrick's Cemetery (6 miles [9.7 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 in 1895, Laurel had railroad service and no post office.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Laurel, with the one closest to Laurel listed first.
Mortonville (Less than 2 miles to the north)
Mortonville is located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mortonville Romansville (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
Romansville is located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Romansville Doe Run (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
Doe Run is located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doe Run Embreeville (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
Embreeville is located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Embreeville Modena (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
Modena is located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Modena Population from the 2020 Census: 528 people
Buck Run (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
Buck Run is located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buck Run Caln (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
Caln is located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caln Unionville (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
Unionville is located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unionville Glenhall (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
Glenhall is located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenhall Ercildoun (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
Ercildoun is located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ercildoun Clonmell (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
Clonmell is located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clonmell Marlboro (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
Marlboro is located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marlboro Continue List (19 more) ...
Northbrook (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
Northbrook is located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Northbrook Gallagherville (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
Gallagherville is located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gallagherville Thorndale (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Laurel. See our List of 1890's Communities around Laurel .
Newspapers Published in Laurel ...
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 46 newspapers that have been published in the area around Laurel.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Laurel, there are papers which were published within 9 miles [14.5 km]<2> Extended Newspaper List for Laurel.
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 Laurel:
Websites specific to Pennsylvania Pages specific to Chester County Genealogy information for nearby counties
Allegheny County Berks County Delaware County Indiana County Lancaster County Montgomery County Philadelphia County York County New Castle County Cecil County Harford County Gloucester County Salem County Cemetery Information and Directories for Pennsylvania Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Laurel. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page .
The official website for Chester County: https://www.chesco.org/
The official website for Commonwealth of Pennsylvania: https://www.pa.gov/
Footnotes ...
<1> While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Laurel) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. 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 . 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 Laurel, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.