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 Merrittstown (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 Merrittstown. While we don't have information that is specific to any given person or family, we intend to expand our understanding about where and how people lived.
Neighboring Counties ...
When searching for family records, we have frequently made the mistake of not checking the neighboring counties.
For example, we have great-grandparents who lived in the northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors were in the next county to the west. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the county to the north.
So when searching for records, we had our best success by looking in neighboring counties instead of the county in which they lived: their home county contained property and probate records; the county to the west contained birth and death records; the county to the north contained their burial records. If we hadn't included the neighboring counties, we would have missed many valuable sources of information.
If you're in a similar situation, we hope that the following information helps.
Merrittstown is located in Fayette 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 Fayette County: Garrett (MD), Greene, Somerset, Washington, Westmoreland, Monongalia (WV) & Preston (WV).
Below are the counties that are near Merrittstown. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Merrittstown:
- Fayette County (The home county of Merrittstown)
- The following are listed by their distance from Merrittstown, with the one closest to Merrittstown listed first.
- Republic
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Republic is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Republic
- Dunlap Creek Village
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Dunlap Creek Village is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunlap Creek Village
- Hiller
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Fairbank
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Fairbank is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairbank
- Heistersburg
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Heistersburg is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heistersburg
- Brownsville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Grindstone
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Alicia
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Alicia is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alicia
- Buffington
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Buffington is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffington
- New Salem
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Isabella
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Isabella is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Isabella
- Arensburg
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Arensburg is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arensburg
- Allegheny County
- The following are listed by their distance from Merrittstown, with the one closest to Merrittstown listed first.
- Sunny Side
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Sunny Side is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunny Side
- Elizabeth
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- West Elizabeth
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Buena Vista
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Buena Vista is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buena Vista
- Clairton
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Cochrans Mill
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Cochrans Mill is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cochrans Mill
- Jefferson Hills
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Jefferson Hills is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jefferson Hills
- Population from the 2020 Census: 11,136 people
- Jefferson Hills has also been known as:
- Jefferson
- Lincoln
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Lincoln is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,013 people
- Mendelssohn
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Mendelssohn is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mendelssohn
- Boston
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Coal Valley
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Coal Valley is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coal Valley
- Library
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Greene County
- The following are listed by their distance from Merrittstown, with the one closest to Merrittstown listed first.
- Stringtown
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Stringtown is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stringtown
- Nemacolin
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Nemacolin is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nemacolin
- Cumberland Village
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Cumberland Village is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cumberland Village
- Rices Landing
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Carmichaels
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Fairdale
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Fairdale is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairdale
- Clarksville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Ceylon
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Ceylon is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ceylon
- Chartiers
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Chartiers is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chartiers
- Jefferson
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Jefferson is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jefferson
- Population from the 2020 Census: 249 people
- Khedive
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Khedive is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Khedive
- Greensboro
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Somerset County
- The following are listed by their distance from Merrittstown, with the one closest to Merrittstown listed first.
- Draketown
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Draketown is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Draketown
- Confluence
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Washington County
- The following are listed by their distance from Merrittstown, with the one closest to Merrittstown listed first.
- Blainsburg
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Blainsburg is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blainsburg
- West Brownsville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- West Brownsville is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Brownsville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 960 people
- California
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Coal Center
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Daisytown
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Fredericktown - Millsboro
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Millsboro
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Elco
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Elco is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elco
- Population from the 2020 Census: 305 people
- Speers
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Speers is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Speers
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,061 people
- Centerville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Centerville is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,133 people
- Deemston
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Deemston is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deemston
- Population from the 2020 Census: 696 people
- Allenport
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Westmoreland County
- The following are listed by their distance from Merrittstown, with the one closest to Merrittstown listed first.
- North Belle Vernon
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- North Belle Vernon is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Belle Vernon
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,842 people
- Gibsonton
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Gibsonton is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gibsonton
- Monessen
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Webster
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Webster is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Webster
- Smithton
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- West Newton
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Scottdale
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Sutersville
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Hawkeye
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Hawkeye is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hawkeye
- Wyano
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Wyano is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyano
- Blackburn ‑ Historic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Blackburn is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackburn
- Alverton
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Alverton is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alverton
- Monongalia County (WV)
- The following are listed by their distance from Merrittstown, with the one closest to Merrittstown listed first.
- Bowlby
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Bowlby is located in Monongalia County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowlby
- Maidsville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Maidsville is located in Monongalia County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maidsville
- Baker Ridge
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Baker Ridge is located in Monongalia County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baker Ridge
- Canyon
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Canyon is located in Monongalia County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canyon
- Cheat Lake
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Cheat Lake is located in Monongalia County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cheat Lake
- Osage
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Osage is located in Monongalia County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osage
- Star City
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Star City is located in Monongalia County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Star City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,984 people
- Granville
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Granville is located in Monongalia County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Granville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,156 people
- Westover
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Cassville
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Cassville is located in Monongalia County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cassville
- Brookhaven
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Brookhaven is located in Monongalia County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookhaven
- Morgantown
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Preston County (WV)
- The following are listed by their distance from Merrittstown, with the one closest to Merrittstown listed first.
- Clifton Mills
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Clifton Mills is located in Preston County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clifton Mills
- Rockville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Rockville is located in Preston County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockville
- Brandonville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Brandonville is located in Preston County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brandonville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 105 people
- Bruceton Mills
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Little Sandy
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Little Sandy is located in Preston County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Sandy
- Hazelton
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Masontown
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Morgans Glade
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Morgans Glade is located in Preston County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morgans Glade
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Merrittstown, see our County-by-County Page for Merrittstown.
Cemeteries Near Merrittstown ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Merrittstown.
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 Merrittstown - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Merrittstown covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Merrittstown, with the one closest to Merrittstown listed first.
- Bridgeport Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- St. Mary Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- St. Marys Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Green Lane Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- St. Nicholas Byzantine Catholic Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Woodlawn Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodlawn Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Woodlawn Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the east of Hiller.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2153919 <2>
- Moore Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- St. Peters Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Redstone Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Christ Episcopal Church Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- St. Procopius RC Church Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- St. Mary Assumption Byzantine Catholic Church Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for St. Mary Assumption Byzantine Catholic Church Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the St. Mary Assumption Byzantine Catholic Church Cemetery is located outside and to the southwest of New Salem.
- The St. Mary Assumption Byzantine Catholic Church Cemetery has also been known as:
- St. Mary Byzantine Catholic Church Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2431011 <2>
- Continue List (447 more) ...
- St. Mary's Catholic Church Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Lackey Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Grace Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
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>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Merrittstown had a population of 71 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Merrittstown, with the one closest to Merrittstown listed first.
- Davidson
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Davidson is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Davidson
- Heistersburg
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Heistersburg is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heistersburg
- East Riverside
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- East Riverside is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Riverside
- New Salem
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Searights
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Searights is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Searights
- Grindstone
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Linn
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Linn is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Linn
- Brownsville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Dearth
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Dearth is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dearth
- West Brownsville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- West Brownsville is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Brownsville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 960 people
- Adah
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Adah is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adah
- McClellandtown
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Continue List (16 more) ...
- Smock
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Tippecanoe
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Tippecanoe is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tippecanoe
- Chamouni
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Chamouni is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chamouni
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Merrittstown. See our List of 1890's Communities around Merrittstown.
Newspapers Published in Merrittstown ...
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 37 newspapers that have been published in the area around Merrittstown.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Merrittstown, there are papers which were published within 8 miles [12.9 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Merrittstown.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we begin 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 Merrittstown:
- Websites specific to Pennsylvania
- Pages specific to Fayette County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Allegheny County
- Greene County
- Somerset County
- Washington County
- Westmoreland County
- Monongalia County
- Preston 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> | 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 Merrittstown, 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- Merrittstown) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |