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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 Mechanicsville (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 Mechanicsville. 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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors were in the next county to the east. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the county to the 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 east 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.

Mechanicsville is located in Schuylkill County.

To see how the shape of Pennsylvania's counties 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 Mechanicsville. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Mechanicsville:

  • Schuylkill County     (The home county of Mechanicsville)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mechanicsville, with the one closest to Mechanicsville listed first.
    • Palo Alto
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Palo Alto have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palo Alto
      • Palo Alto is located in Schuylkill County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 975 people
    • Pottsville
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Port Carbon
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Port Carbon have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Port Carbon
      • Port Carbon is located in Schuylkill County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,769 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Port Carbon <2>
    • Mount Carbon
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Carbon have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Carbon
      • Mount Carbon is located in Schuylkill County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 85 people
    • Saint Clair
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Seltzer
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • New Castle ‑ Historic
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Renningers
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Renningers have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Renningers
      • Renningers is located in Schuylkill County
    • Marlin
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Marlin have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marlin
      • Marlin is located in Schuylkill County
    • Minersville
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Minersville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minersville
      • Minersville is located in Schuylkill County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,133 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Minersville <2>
    • New Philadelphia
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Cressona
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Llewellyn
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Berks County
  • Carbon County
  • Columbia County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mechanicsville, with the one closest to Mechanicsville listed first.
    • Aristes
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Aristes have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aristes
      • Aristes is located in Columbia County
    • Centralia
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Locustdale
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Locustdale have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locustdale
      • Locustdale is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Locustdale <2>
    • Newlin
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Numidia
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Slabtown
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Slabtown have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slabtown
      • Slabtown is located in Columbia County
    • Shumans
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Shumans. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shumans
      • Shumans is located in Columbia County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Shumans
      • From Mechanicsville to Shumans
    • Queen City
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Queen City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Queen City
      • Queen City is located in Columbia County
    • Hetlerville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Mainville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mainville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mainville
      • Mainville is located in Columbia County
    • Catawissa
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Almedia
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Espy
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
  • Dauphin County
  • Lancaster County
  • Lebanon County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mechanicsville, with the one closest to Mechanicsville listed first.
    • Greble
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Fredericksburg
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fredericksburg have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fredericksburg
      • Fredericksburg is located in Lebanon County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fredericksburg <2>
    • Myerstown
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Inwood
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Inwood. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Inwood
      • Inwood is located in Lebanon County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Inwood
      • From Mechanicsville to Inwood
    • Mount Zion
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Murray
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Murray. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Murray
      • Murray is located in Lebanon County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Murray
      • From Mechanicsville to Murray
    • Newmanstown
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Newmanstown have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newmanstown
      • Newmanstown is located in Lebanon County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Newmanstown <2>
    • Richland
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Sheridan
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Sheridan. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sheridan
      • Sheridan is located in Lebanon County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Sheridan
      • From Mechanicsville to Sheridan
    • Lickdale
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Lickdale. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lickdale
      • Lickdale is located in Lebanon County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Lickdale
      • From Mechanicsville to Lickdale
    • Prescott
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Green Point
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Jonestown
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jonestown have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jonestown
      • Jonestown is located in Lebanon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,031 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Jonestown <2>
  • Lehigh County
  • Luzerne County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mechanicsville, with the one closest to Mechanicsville listed first.
    • Newtown
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Newtown. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newtown
      • Newtown is located in Luzerne County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Newtown
      • From Mechanicsville to Newtown
    • Tomhicken
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Harwood
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Mountain Grove
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • West Hazleton
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for West Hazleton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Hazleton
      • West Hazleton is located in Luzerne County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,318 people
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to West Hazleton
      • From Mechanicsville to West Hazleton
    • Conyngham
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Conyngham have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conyngham
      • Conyngham is located in Luzerne County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,858 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Conyngham <2>
    • Hazleton
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Sybertsville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Harleigh
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Ebervale
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • East Berwick
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Berwick have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Berwick
      • East Berwick is located in Luzerne County
    • Nescopeck
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nescopeck have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nescopeck
      • Nescopeck is located in Luzerne County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,522 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Nescopeck <2>
    • Jeddo
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jeddo have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jeddo
      • Jeddo is located in Luzerne County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 92 people
  • Montour County
  • Northumberland County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mechanicsville, with the one closest to Mechanicsville listed first.
    • Dooleyville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Mount Carmel
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Carmel have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Carmel
      • Mount Carmel is located in Northumberland County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,708 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mount Carmel <2>
    • Locust Gap
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Natalie
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Gowen City
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gowen City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gowen City
      • Gowen City is located in Northumberland County
    • Bear Gap
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Marshallton
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Marshallton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marshallton
      • Marshallton is located in Northumberland County
    • Shamokin
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Kulpmont
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kulpmont have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kulpmont
      • Kulpmont is located in Northumberland County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,735 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kulpmont <2>
    • Bear Valley
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Edgewood
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Edgewood have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgewood
      • Edgewood is located in Northumberland County
    • Elysburg
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elysburg have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elysburg
      • Elysburg is located in Northumberland County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elysburg <2>
    • Leck Kill
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)

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

Cemeteries Near Mechanicsville ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Mechanicsville.

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.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

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

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

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.<6>

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

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

  • Pottsville
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Palo Alto
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Palo Alto have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palo Alto
    • Palo Alto is located in Schuylkill County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 975 people
  • Mount Carbon
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Carbon have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Carbon
    • Mount Carbon is located in Schuylkill County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 85 people
  • Port Carbon
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Port Carbon have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Port Carbon
    • Port Carbon is located in Schuylkill County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,769 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Port Carbon <2>
  • Cumbola
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cumbola have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cumbola
    • Cumbola is located in Schuylkill County
  • Saint Clair
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • New Castle ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Minersville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Minersville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minersville
    • Minersville is located in Schuylkill County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,133 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Minersville <2>
  • Llewellyn
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Wetherill Junction
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wetherill Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wetherill Junction
    • Wetherill Junction is located in Schuylkill County
  • Silverton
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Silverton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silverton
    • Silverton is located in Schuylkill County
  • Cressona
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (22 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in Mechanicsville ...

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 122 newspapers that have been published in the area around Mechanicsville.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Mechanicsville, there are papers which were published within 11 miles [17.7 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Mechanicsville.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These professional and volunteer 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 Mechanicsville:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Mechanicsville. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Schuylkill County: www.co.schuylkill.pa.us/

The official website for Commonwealth of Pennsylvania: https://www.pa.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<4>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.
<5>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Mechanicsville) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Mechanicsville. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.6897, Longitude: -76.1863    
<6>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 Mechanicsville, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025