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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 McGovernsville (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 McGovernsville. 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 doctors and hospitals 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.

McGovernsville is located in Lancaster 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 Lancaster County: Cecil (MD), Harford (MD), Berks, Chester, Dauphin, Lebanon & York.

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

  • Lancaster County     (The home county of McGovernsville)
    • The following are listed by their distance from McGovernsville, with the one closest to McGovernsville listed first.
    • Fruitville
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Fruitville is located in Lancaster County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fruitville
    • Rohrerstown
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • East Petersburg
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Kenwick Village
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Kenwick Village is located in Lancaster County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kenwick Village
    • Wheatland
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Wheatland is located in Lancaster County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheatland
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 577 people
    • Landisville
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Lancaster
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Lancaster Junction
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Lancaster Junction is located in Lancaster County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lancaster Junction
    • Millersville
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Mountville
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Windom
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Windom is located in Lancaster County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windom
    • Silver Spring
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Silver Spring is located in Lancaster County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Spring
  • Berks County
    • The following are listed by their distance from McGovernsville, with the one closest to McGovernsville listed first.
    • Adamstown
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Adamstown is located in Berks County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adamstown
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,905 people
      • Adamstown has also been known as:
      • Adamschteddel
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Adamstown <1>
    • Alleghenyville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Alleghenyville is located in Berks County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alleghenyville
    • Robesonia
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Womelsdorf
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Phoebe Berks Village
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Phoebe Berks Village is located in Berks County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Phoebe Berks Village
    • Tallowyck
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Tallowyck is located in Berks County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tallowyck
    • Wernersville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Mount Aetna
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Mohnton
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Morgantown
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Angelica
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Angelica is located in Berks County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Angelica
    • Brownsville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Brownsville is located in Berks County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brownsville
  • Chester County
    • The following are listed by their distance from McGovernsville, with the one closest to McGovernsville listed first.
    • Atglen
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Cambridge
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Cambridge is located in Chester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cambridge
    • Compass
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Compass is located in Chester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Compass
    • Honey Brook
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Lenover
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Lenover is located in Chester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lenover
    • Parkesburg
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Suplee
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Suplee is located in Chester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Suplee
    • Dampman
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Dampman is located in Chester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dampman
    • Sadsburyville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Stottsville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Stottsville is located in Chester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stottsville
    • Mount Vernon
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Mount Vernon is located in Chester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Vernon
    • Tweedale
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Tweedale is located in Chester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tweedale
  • Cumberland County
    • The following are listed by their distance from McGovernsville, with the one closest to McGovernsville listed first.
    • Lemoyne
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Lisburn
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Lisburn is located in Cumberland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lisburn
    • Lower Allen
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Lower Allen is located in Cumberland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lower Allen
    • New Cumberland
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Dauphin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from McGovernsville, with the one closest to McGovernsville listed first.
    • Bachmanville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Bachmanville is located in Dauphin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bachmanville
    • Hershey
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Middletown
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Royalton
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Royalton is located in Dauphin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Royalton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,019 people
    • Clifton
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Clifton is located in Dauphin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clifton
    • Hummelstown
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Union Deposit
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Union Deposit is located in Dauphin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Deposit
    • Highspire
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Rutherford
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Rutherford is located in Dauphin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rutherford
    • Grantville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Lawnton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Lawnton is located in Dauphin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawnton
    • Shellsville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Shellsville is located in Dauphin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shellsville
  • Lebanon County
    • The following are listed by their distance from McGovernsville, with the one closest to McGovernsville listed first.
    • Miners Village
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Miners Village is located in Lebanon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Miners Village
    • Mount Gretna Heights
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Mount Gretna Heights is located in Lebanon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Gretna Heights
    • Mount Gretna
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Timber Hills
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Timber Hills is located in Lebanon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timber Hills
    • Burd Coleman Village
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Burd Coleman Village is located in Lebanon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burd Coleman Village
    • Johnstown
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Johnstown is located in Lebanon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnstown
    • Colebrook
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Colebrook is located in Lebanon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colebrook
    • Lawn
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Cornwall
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Quentin
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Schaefferstown
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Fontana
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Fontana is located in Lebanon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fontana
  • York County
    • The following are listed by their distance from McGovernsville, with the one closest to McGovernsville listed first.
    • East Prospect
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • East Prospect is located in York County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Prospect
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 912 people
    • Wrightsville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Craley
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Craley is located in York County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Craley
    • New Bridgeville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • New Bridgeville is located in York County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Bridgeville
    • Goram
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Goram is located in York County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goram
    • Yorkana
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Yorkana is located in York County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yorkana
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 229 people
    • Hallam
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Hallam is located in York County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hallam
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,634 people
    • Bittersville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Bittersville is located in York County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bittersville
    • Holtz
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Holtz is located in York County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holtz
    • Windsor
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Airville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Springvale
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Springvale is located in York County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springvale
  • Baltimore County (MD)
    • The following are listed by their distance from McGovernsville, with the one closest to McGovernsville listed first.
    • Gorsuch Mills
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Gorsuch Mills is located in Baltimore County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gorsuch Mills
    • Maryland Line
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Maryland Line is located in Baltimore County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maryland Line
    • Trump
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Trump is located in Baltimore County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trump
    • Freeland
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Oakland
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Oakland is located in Baltimore County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakland
    • Shane
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Shane is located in Baltimore County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shane
  • Cecil County (MD)
    • The following are listed by their distance from McGovernsville, with the one closest to McGovernsville listed first.
    • Bald Friar ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Bald Friar is located in Cecil County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bald Friar
    • Rock Springs
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Rock Springs is located in Cecil County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Springs
    • Oakwood
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Oakwood is located in Cecil County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakwood
    • Conowingo
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Mason Dixon Village
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Mason Dixon Village is located in Cecil County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mason Dixon Village
    • Rising Sun
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Sylmar
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Sylmar is located in Cecil County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sylmar
    • Rowlandsville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Rowlandsville is located in Cecil County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rowlandsville
    • Colora
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Harford County (MD)
    • The following are listed by their distance from McGovernsville, with the one closest to McGovernsville listed first.
    • Cambria
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Cambria is located in Harford County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cambria
    • Whiteford
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Pylesville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Street
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Dublin
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Dublin is located in Harford County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dublin
    • Scarboro
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Scarboro is located in Harford County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scarboro
    • Conowingo Village
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Conowingo Village is located in Harford County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conowingo Village
    • Darlington
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
    • Federal Hill
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Federal Hill is located in Harford County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Federal Hill
    • Poole
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Poole is located in Harford County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poole

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

Cemeteries Near McGovernsville ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of McGovernsville.

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

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

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

  • Centerville Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Millersville Mennonite Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Degel Israel Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • St. Josephs New Catholic Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Shreiner - Concord Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • St. James Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Lancaster Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • St. Marys Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Shaurai Shomayim Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Bassler Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bassler Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Bassler Cemetery is located 3 miles [4.8 km]<3> to the southwest of Lititz.
    • The Bassler Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Bassler Graveyard
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2369144 <2>
  • Concordia Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Mountville Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (317 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.<4>

While we didn't find McGovernsville in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of McGovernsville.

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

  • Shreiners
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Shreiners is located in Lancaster County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shreiners
  • Rohrerstown
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Bamford
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Bamford is located in Lancaster County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bamford
  • East Petersburg
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Mechanicsville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Mechanicsville is located in Lancaster County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mechanicsville
  • Lancaster
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Neffsville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Landisville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Hempfield
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Hempfield is located in Lancaster County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hempfield
  • Mountville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Windom
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Windom is located in Lancaster County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windom
  • Millersville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Lancaster Junction
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Lancaster Junction is located in Lancaster County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lancaster Junction
    • Landis Valley
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Salunga
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Salunga is located in Lancaster County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salunga

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

Newspapers Published in McGovernsville ...

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 67 newspapers that have been published in the area around McGovernsville.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of McGovernsville, there are papers which were published within 11 miles [17.7 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for McGovernsville.

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 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 McGovernsville:

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 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- McGovernsville) 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 McGovernsville, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.