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 Lorraine (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 Lorraine. 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 and hospitals 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.
Lorraine is located in Schuylkill 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 Schuylkill County: Berks, Carbon, Columbia, Dauphin, Lebanon, Lehigh, Luzerne & Northumberland.
Below are the counties that are near Lorraine. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Lorraine:
- Schuylkill County (The home county of Lorraine)
- The following are listed by their distance from Lorraine, with the one closest to Lorraine listed first.
- Saint Clair
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Mechanicsville
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Palo Alto
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Palo Alto is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palo Alto
- Population from the 2020 Census: 975 people
- Port Carbon
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- New Castle ‑ Historic
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- New Castle is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Castle
- Pottsville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- New Philadelphia
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Mount Carbon
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Mount Carbon is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Carbon
- Population from the 2020 Census: 85 people
- Seltzer
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Seltzer is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seltzer
- Renningers
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Renningers is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Renningers
- Marlin
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Marlin is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marlin
- Minersville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Altamont
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Altamont is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Altamont
- Berks County
- The following are listed by their distance from Lorraine, with the one closest to Lorraine listed first.
- Shartlesville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Schubert
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Schubert is located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Schubert
- Strausstown
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Ededburg
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Ededburg is located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ededburg
- Hamburg
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Quaker City
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Quaker City is located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quaker City
- Berne
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Berne is located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berne
- Bethel
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- New Schaefferstown
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- New Schaefferstown is located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Schaefferstown
- Windsor Castle
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Windsor Castle is located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windsor Castle
- Rehrersburg
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Rehrersburg is located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rehrersburg
- Centerport
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Lenhartsville
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Carbon County
- The following are listed by their distance from Lorraine, with the one closest to Lorraine listed first.
- Lansford
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Tresckow
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Tresckow is located in Carbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tresckow
- New Mahoning
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- New Mahoning is located in Carbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Mahoning
- Beaver Meadows
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Coxes Village
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Coxes Village is located in Carbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coxes Village
- Coxes Village has also been known as:
- Cross Village
- Hudsondale
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Hudsondale is located in Carbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hudsondale
- Nesquehoning
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Summit Hill
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Germans
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Germans is located in Carbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Germans
- Mertz Town
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Mertz Town is located in Carbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mertz Town
- Ashfield
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Ashfield is located in Carbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashfield
- Weatherly
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Jim Thorpe
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Jim Thorpe is located in Carbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jim Thorpe
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,650 people
- Former names for Jim Thorpe:
- East Mauch Chunk
- Mauch Chunk
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Jim Thorpe <1>
- Columbia County
- The following are listed by their distance from Lorraine, with the one closest to Lorraine listed first.
- Centralia
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Aristes
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Aristes is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aristes
- Locustdale
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Newlin
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Newlin is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newlin
- Numidia
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Numidia is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Numidia
- Shumans
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Shumans is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shumans
- Slabtown
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Slabtown is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slabtown
- Queen City
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Queen City is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Queen City
- Mainville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Mainville is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mainville
- Hetlerville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Hetlerville is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hetlerville
- Mifflinville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Catawissa
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Almedia
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Almedia is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Almedia
- Dauphin County
- The following are listed by their distance from Lorraine, with the one closest to Lorraine listed first.
- Williamstown
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Dayton
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Dayton is located in Dauphin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dayton
- Erdman
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Erdman is located in Dauphin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erdman
- Gratz
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Lykens
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Lancaster County
- The following are listed by their distance from Lorraine, with the one closest to Lorraine listed first.
- Cocalico
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Cocalico is located in Lancaster County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cocalico
- Blainsport
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Blainsport is located in Lancaster County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blainsport
- Lebanon County
- The following are listed by their distance from Lorraine, with the one closest to Lorraine listed first.
- Greble
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Greble is located in Lebanon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greble
- Fredericksburg
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Gold Mine
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Gold Mine is located in Lebanon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gold Mine
- Murray
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Murray is located in Lebanon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Murray
- Myerstown
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Richland
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Sheridan
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Sheridan is located in Lebanon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sheridan
- Inwood
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Inwood is located in Lebanon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Inwood
- Mount Zion
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Mount Zion is located in Lebanon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Zion
- Newmanstown
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Green Point
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Green Point is located in Lebanon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Point
- Jonestown
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Lickdale
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Lickdale is located in Lebanon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lickdale
- Lehigh County
- The following are listed by their distance from Lorraine, with the one closest to Lorraine listed first.
- Jacksonville
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Jacksonville is located in Lehigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jacksonville
- Stines Corner
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Stines Corner is located in Lehigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stines Corner
- Lochland
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Lochland is located in Lehigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lochland
- Hynemansville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Hynemansville is located in Lehigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hynemansville
- New Smithville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- New Smithville is located in Lehigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Smithville
- Weisenberg
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Weisenberg is located in Lehigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weisenberg
- Seipstown
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Seipstown is located in Lehigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seipstown
- Slatedale
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Slatedale is located in Lehigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slatedale
- Custer
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Custer is located in Lehigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Custer
- Emerald
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Emerald is located in Lehigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emerald
- Newside
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Newside is located in Lehigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newside
- Wallner ‑ Historic
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Wallner is located in Lehigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wallner
- Weidasville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Weidasville is located in Lehigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weidasville
- Luzerne County
- The following are listed by their distance from Lorraine, with the one closest to Lorraine listed first.
- Newtown
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Newtown is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newtown
- Harwood
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Harwood is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harwood
- Mountain Grove
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Mountain Grove is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Grove
- Tomhicken
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Tomhicken is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tomhicken
- West Hazleton
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- West Hazleton is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Hazleton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,318 people
- Conyngham
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Sybertsville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Hazleton
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Harleigh
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Ebervale
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Ebervale is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ebervale
- Nescopeck
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Beach Haven
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Beach Haven is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beach Haven
- East Berwick
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- East Berwick is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Berwick
- Montour County
- The following are listed by their distance from Lorraine, with the one closest to Lorraine listed first.
- Mechanicsville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Mechanicsville is located in Montour County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mechanicsville
- Danville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Northumberland County
- The following are listed by their distance from Lorraine, with the one closest to Lorraine listed first.
- Mount Carmel
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Alaska
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Alaska is located in Northumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alaska
- Dooleyville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Dooleyville is located in Northumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dooleyville
- Locust Gap
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Locust Gap is located in Northumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locust Gap
- Natalie
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Natalie is located in Northumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Natalie
- Bear Gap
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Bear Gap is located in Northumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Gap
- Gowen City
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Gowen City is located in Northumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gowen City
- Marshallton
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Marshallton is located in Northumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marshallton
- Shamokin
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Bear Valley
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Bear Valley is located in Northumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Valley
- Edgewood
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Edgewood is located in Northumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgewood
- Kulpmont
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Elysburg
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Lorraine, see our County-by-County Page for Lorraine.
Cemeteries Near Lorraine ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Lorraine.
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 Lorraine - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Lorraine covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Lorraine, with the one closest to Lorraine listed first.
- St. Patricks Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- St. Marys Catholic Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Friends Burying Ground
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Yorkville Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Our Lady of Mount Carmel Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Welsh Baptist Church Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Mt. Peace Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- St. Nicholas Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- German Protestant Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- St. Joseph Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Zions Red Church Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zions Red Church Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Zions Red Church Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located less than 2 miles<3> to the southeast of Orwigsburg.
- The Zions Red Church Cemetery has also been known as:
- Red Church Cemetery
- Zions Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #171238 <2>
- Steigerwalts Church of God Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Continue List (217 more) ...
- St. Bertha Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- St. Peters United Church Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Old St. Casmir's Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 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.<4>
While we didn't find Lorraine in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Lorraine.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Lorraine, with the one closest to Lorraine listed first.
- Saint Clair
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Palo Alto
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Palo Alto is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palo Alto
- Population from the 2020 Census: 975 people
- Port Carbon
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Pottsville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Cumbola
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Cumbola is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cumbola
- Silver Creek
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Silver Creek is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Creek
- New Castle ‑ Historic
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- New Castle is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Castle
- Mount Carbon
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Mount Carbon is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Carbon
- Population from the 2020 Census: 85 people
- Wetherill Junction
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Wetherill Junction is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wetherill Junction
- New Philadelphia
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Minersville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Llewellyn
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (16 more) ...
- Cressona
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Schuylkill Haven
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Orwigsburg
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Lorraine. See our List of 1890's Communities around Lorraine.
Newspapers Published in Lorraine ...
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 117 newspapers that have been published in the area around Lorraine.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Lorraine, there are papers which were published within 10 miles [16.1 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Lorraine.
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 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 Lorraine:
- Websites specific to Pennsylvania
- Pages specific to Schuylkill County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Berks County
- Carbon County
- Columbia County
- Dauphin County
- Lancaster County
- Lebanon County
- Lehigh County
- Luzerne County
- Montour County
- Northumberland 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> | 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- Lorraine) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <4> | 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 Lorraine, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |