RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> Commonwealth of Pennsylvania >> Westmoreland County >> Lower Whyel >> Genealogy HelperIndex...

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 Lower Whyel (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 Lower Whyel. 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.

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

  • Westmoreland County     (The home county of Lower Whyel)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lower Whyel, with the one closest to Lower Whyel listed first.
    • Yukon
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Madison
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Wyano
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • Wyano is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyano
    • Hunker
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • 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
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Arona
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Arona is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arona
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 343 people
    • Herminie
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Blackburn ‑ Historic
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Blackburn is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackburn
    • West Newton
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Youngwood
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Rillton
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Smithton
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Adamsburg
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Adamsburg is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adamsburg
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 161 people
  • Allegheny County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lower Whyel, with the one closest to Lower Whyel listed first.
    • Buena Vista
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Buena Vista is located in Allegheny County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buena Vista
    • Boston
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Lincoln
      (10 miles [16.1 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
      (10 miles [16.1 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
    • White Oak
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Sunny Side
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Sunny Side is located in Allegheny County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunny Side
    • Clairton
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Liberty
      (11 miles [17.7 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
    • Elizabeth
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • West Elizabeth
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • East McKeesport
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • McKeesport
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Mendelssohn
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Mendelssohn is located in Allegheny County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mendelssohn
  • Armstrong County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lower Whyel, with the one closest to Lower Whyel listed first.
    • Edmon
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Edmon is located in Armstrong County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edmon
    • Apollo
      (25 miles [40.2 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
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Orchard Hills
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Orchard Hills is located in Armstrong County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orchard Hills
    • Leechburg
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Spring Church
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Olivet
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Olivet is located in Armstrong County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olivet
  • Fayette County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lower Whyel, with the one closest to Lower Whyel listed first.
    • Banning
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Banning is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Banning
    • Whitsett
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Whitsett is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitsett
    • Fuller
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Fuller is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fuller
    • Lynn
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Lynn is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lynn
    • Perryopolis
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Everson
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Everson is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Everson
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 744 people
    • Arnold City
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Arnold City is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arnold City
    • Lynnwood
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Lynnwood is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lynnwood
    • Laurelville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Laurelville is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurelville
    • Belle Vernon
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Brownstown
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Brownstown is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brownstown
    • Fairhope
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Fairhope is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairhope
    • Fayette City
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Fayette City is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fayette City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 569 people
  • Greene County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lower Whyel, with the one closest to Lower Whyel listed first.
    • Clarksville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Rices Landing
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Stringtown
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Stringtown is located in Greene County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stringtown
    • Chartiers
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Chartiers is located in Greene County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chartiers
    • Carmichaels
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Cumberland Village
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Cumberland Village is located in Greene County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cumberland Village
    • Fairdale
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Fairdale is located in Greene County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairdale
    • Nemacolin
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Nemacolin is located in Greene County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nemacolin
    • Jefferson
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Jefferson is located in Greene County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jefferson
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 249 people
    • Ceylon
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Ceylon is located in Greene County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ceylon
    • Khedive
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Khedive is located in Greene County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Khedive
    • Lippincott
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Lippincott is located in Greene County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lippincott
  • Indiana County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lower Whyel, with the one closest to Lower Whyel listed first.
    • White
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • White is located in Indiana County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White
    • Bow
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Bow is located in Indiana County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bow
    • Blairsville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Clarksburg
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Saltsburg
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • 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
    • Jacksonville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Jacksonville is located in Indiana County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jacksonville
  • Somerset County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lower Whyel, with the one closest to Lower Whyel listed first.
    • Bakersville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Bakersville is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bakersville
    • Laurel Mountain Village
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Roytown
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Roytown is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roytown
    • Draketown
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Draketown is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Draketown
    • New Lexington
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • New Lexington is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Lexington
  • Washington County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lower Whyel, with the one closest to Lower Whyel listed first.
    • Donora
      (9 miles [14.5 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>
    • Black Diamond
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Black Diamond is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Diamond
    • Charleroi
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Twilight
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Twilight is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twilight
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 224 people
    • Monongahela
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Riverview
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Riverview is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverview
    • Allenport
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Dunlevy
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • North Charleroi
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • North Charleroi is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Charleroi
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,258 people
    • Roscoe
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Roscoe is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roscoe
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 791 people
    • Speers
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Speers is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Speers
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,061 people
    • Elco
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Elco is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elco
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 305 people
    • Ellsworth
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Ellsworth is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellsworth
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 960 people

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

Cemeteries Near Lower Whyel ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Lower Whyel.

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 Lower Whyel - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Yukon Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Milbell Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Markle Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Errett Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Madison Union Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Old Mars Hill Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Wineland Grove Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Milliron Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Old Quaker Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • West Newton Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • St. Timothys Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Hoffman Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • 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>
  • Continue List   (429 more) ...

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

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

  • Waltz Mill
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Waltz Mill is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waltz Mill
  • Madison
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Mendon
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Mendon is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mendon
  • Hunker
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • 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
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Dick
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Dick is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dick
  • West Newton
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Blackburn ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Blackburn is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackburn
  • Port Royal
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Port Royal is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Port Royal
  • Fitz Henry
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Fitz Henry is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fitz Henry
  • Smithton
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Ruffs Dale
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (18 more) ...
    • Tarrs
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Foxtown
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Foxtown is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foxtown
    • Youngwood
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)

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

Newspapers Published in Lower Whyel ...

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 50 newspapers that have been published in the area around Lower Whyel.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Lower Whyel, there are papers which were published within 9 miles [14.5 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Lower Whyel.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to 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 Lower Whyel:

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 Lower Whyel, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Lower Whyel) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.