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 Midvale (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 Midvale. 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 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.
Midvale is located in Luzerne 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 Luzerne County: Carbon, Columbia, Lackawanna, Monroe, Schuylkill, Sullivan & Wyoming.
Below are the counties that are near Midvale. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Midvale:
- Luzerne County (The home county of Midvale)
- The following are listed by their distance from Midvale, with the one closest to Midvale listed first.
- Plains
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Port Bowkley
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Port Bowkley is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Port Bowkley
- Miners Mills
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Miners Mills is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Miners Mills
- Swoyersville
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Forty Fort
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Forty Fort is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forty Fort
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,025 people
- Wilkes-Barre
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Kingston
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Pringle
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Pringle is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pringle
- Population from the 2020 Census: 913 people
- Hilldale
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Hilldale is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilldale
- Courtdale
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Courtdale is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Courtdale
- Population from the 2020 Census: 711 people
- Luzerne
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Edwardsville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Carbon County
- The following are listed by their distance from Midvale, with the one closest to Midvale listed first.
- East Side
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- East Side is located in Carbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Side
- Population from the 2020 Census: 301 people
- Leslie Run
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Leslie Run is located in Carbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leslie Run
- Mud Run
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Mud Run is located in Carbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mud Run
- Weatherly
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Albrightsville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Unionville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Unionville is located in Carbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unionville
- Beaver Meadows
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Coxes Village
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Coxes Village is located in Carbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coxes Village
- Coxes Village has also been known as:
- Cross Village
- Penn Haven Junction
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Penn Haven Junction is located in Carbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Penn Haven Junction
- Hudsondale
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Hudsondale is located in Carbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hudsondale
- Tresckow
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Tresckow is located in Carbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tresckow
- Meckesville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Meckesville is located in Carbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meckesville
- Columbia County
- The following are listed by their distance from Midvale, with the one closest to Midvale listed first.
- Foundryville
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Foundryville is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foundryville
- Berwick
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Jonestown
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Jonestown is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jonestown
- Jamison City
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Jamison City is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamison City
- Briar Creek
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Briar Creek is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Briar Creek
- Population from the 2020 Census: 672 people
- Hetlerville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Hetlerville is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hetlerville
- Benton
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Stillwater
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Zaner
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Zaner is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zaner
- Mifflinville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Lime Ridge
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Lime Ridge is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lime Ridge
- Waller
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Waller is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waller
- Lackawanna County
- The following are listed by their distance from Midvale, with the one closest to Midvale listed first.
- Lawrenceville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Lawrenceville is located in Lackawanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawrenceville
- Belian Village
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Belian Village is located in Lackawanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belian Village
- Old Forge
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Moosic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Milwaukee
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Milwaukee is located in Lackawanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milwaukee
- Minooka
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Minooka is located in Lackawanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minooka
- Taylor
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Spring Brook
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Spring Brook is located in Lackawanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Brook
- Scranton
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Schultzville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Schultzville is located in Lackawanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Schultzville
- Dunmore
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Green Ridge
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Green Ridge is located in Lackawanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Ridge
- Monroe County
- The following are listed by their distance from Midvale, with the one closest to Midvale listed first.
- Locust Lakes Village
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Locust Lakes Village is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locust Lakes Village
- Mount Pocono
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Tobyhanna
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Pocono Pines
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Long Pond
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Pocono Summit
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- McMichael
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- McMichael is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McMichael
- Pike County
- The following are listed by their distance from Midvale, with the one closest to Midvale listed first.
- South Sterling
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- La Anna
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- La Anna is located in Pike County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Anna
- Ledgedale
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Ledgedale is located in Pike County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ledgedale
- Panther
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Panther is located in Pike County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Panther
- Schuylkill County
- The following are listed by their distance from Midvale, with the one closest to Midvale listed first.
- Kelayres
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Kelayres is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelayres
- McAdoo
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Nuremberg
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Lofty
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Lofty is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lofty
- Oneida
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Oneida is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oneida
- Sheppton
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Coaldale
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Girard Manor
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Girard Manor is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Girard Manor
- Zion Grove
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Sullivan County
- The following are listed by their distance from Midvale, with the one closest to Midvale listed first.
- Bernice
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Bernice is located in Sullivan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bernice
- Shinerville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Shinerville is located in Sullivan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shinerville
- Susquehanna County
- The following are listed by their distance from Midvale, with the one closest to Midvale listed first.
- Springville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Lenoxville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Lenoxville is located in Susquehanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lenoxville
- Hop Bottom
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Royal
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Royal is located in Susquehanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Royal
- Wayne County
- The following are listed by their distance from Midvale, with the one closest to Midvale listed first.
- Hollisterville
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Hollisterville is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollisterville
- Maplewood
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Maplewood is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maplewood
- Sterling
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Tresslarville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Tresslarville is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tresslarville
- South Canaan
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- South Canaan is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Canaan
- Wyoming County
- The following are listed by their distance from Midvale, with the one closest to Midvale listed first.
- Mill City ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Mill City is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mill City
- Beaumont
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Beaumont is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaumont
- Vernon
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Vernon is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vernon
- Noxen
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- South Eaton
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- South Eaton is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Eaton
- Evans Falls
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Evans Falls is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evans Falls
- Jenks
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Jenks is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jenks
- Lake Winola
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Osterhout
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Osterhout is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osterhout
- Tunkhannock
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Dixon
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Dixon is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dixon
- Factoryville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Midvale, see our County-by-County Page for Midvale.
Cemeteries Near Midvale ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Midvale.
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 Midvale - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Midvale covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Midvale, with the one closest to Midvale listed first.
- Hollenbeck Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Forty Fort Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Holy Resurrection Russian Orthodox Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Cooper - Blanchard Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooper - Blanchard Cemetery
- The Cooper - Blanchard Cemetery has also been known as:
- Blanchard - Cooper Cemetery
- Plainsville Cemetery
- St. Johns Slovak of Luzerne Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- St. Ignatius Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for St. Ignatius Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the St. Ignatius Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Pringle.
- The St. Ignatius Cemetery has also been known as:
- St. Ignatius Catholic Church Cemetery
- St. Ignatius Parish Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1975437 <2>
- St. Mary's Annunciation Church Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- St. John's Russian Orthodox Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Temple B'nai B'rith Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Oak Lawn Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- St. Marys Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Maple Hill Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Hill Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Maple Hill Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Wilkes-Barre.
- The Maple Hill Cemetery has also been known as:
- Ashley Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #45352 <2>
- Continue List (242 more) ...
- St. John the Baptist RC Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- St. Cecilias Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- St. John the Baptist Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
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 Midvale in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Midvale.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Midvale, with the one closest to Midvale listed first.
- Plains
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Port Bowkley
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Port Bowkley is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Port Bowkley
- Kingston
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Wilkes-Barre
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Parsons
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Parsons is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parsons
- Miners Mills
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Miners Mills is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Miners Mills
- Hudson
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Hudson is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hudson
- Plainsville
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Plainsville is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plainsville
- Forty Fort
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Forty Fort is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forty Fort
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,025 people
- Luzerne
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Plymouth Junction
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Plymouth Junction is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plymouth Junction
- Laurel Run
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Laflin
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Laflin is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laflin
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,435 people
- Inkerman
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Inkerman is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Inkerman
- Port Blanchard
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Port Blanchard is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Port Blanchard
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Midvale. See our List of 1890's Communities around Midvale.
Newspapers Published in Midvale ...
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 110 newspapers that have been published in the area around Midvale.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Midvale, 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 Midvale.
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 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 Midvale:
- Websites specific to Pennsylvania
- Pages specific to Luzerne County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Carbon County
- Columbia County
- Lackawanna County
- Monroe County
- Pike County
- Schuylkill County
- Sullivan County
- Susquehanna County
- Wayne County
- Wyoming 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 Midvale, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | 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 from Point A (ie- Midvale) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |