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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 Mifflintown (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 Mifflintown. 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 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.

Mifflintown is located in Juniata County and is the County Seat.

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 Juniata County: Huntingdon, Mifflin, Northumberland, Perry & Snyder.

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

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

Cemeteries Near Mifflintown ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Mifflintown.

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 Mifflintown covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Union Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Union Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Union Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Diven Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Diven Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Diven Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Rothrock Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rothrock Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rothrock Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bookwalter Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bookwalter Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bookwalter Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Cedar Grove Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Church Hill Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Church Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Church Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Adams Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Adams Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Adams Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Stephens Lutheran Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Kilmer Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Kilmer Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Kilmer Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Locust Run Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Alfarata Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Alfarata Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Alfarata Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Lower Tuscarora Church Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (182 more) ...
    • Lantz Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lantz Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lantz Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Lost Creek Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lost Creek Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lost Creek Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Henry Memorial Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Henry Memorial Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Henry Memorial Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Mifflintown had a population of 877 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service. In 2020, Mifflintown had a population of 903 people.

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

  • Mifflin
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Port Royal
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Mexico
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mexico have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mexico
    • Mexico is located in Juniata County
  • Tuscarora
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tuscarora have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tuscarora
    • Tuscarora is located in Juniata County
  • Walnut
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Walnut have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut
    • Walnut is located in Juniata County
  • Vandyke
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vandyke have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vandyke
    • Vandyke is located in Juniata County
  • Van Wert
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Van Wert have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Van Wert
    • Van Wert is located in Juniata County
  • Oakland Mills
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oakland Mills have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakland Mills
    • Oakland Mills is located in Juniata County
  • Academia
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Academia have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Academia
    • Academia is located in Juniata County
  • Paintersville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Shindle
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shindle have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shindle
    • Shindle is located in Mifflin County
  • Spruce Hill
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spruce Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spruce Hill
    • Spruce Hill is located in Juniata County
  • Continue List   (19 more) ...
    • Alfarata
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Alfarata. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alfarata
      • Alfarata is located in Mifflin County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Alfarata
      • From Mifflintown to Alfarata
    • McAlisterville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for McAlisterville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McAlisterville
      • McAlisterville is located in Juniata County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for McAlisterville <1>
    • Wagner
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wagner have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wagner
      • Wagner is located in Mifflin County

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Mifflintown ...

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 102 newspapers that have been published in the area around Mifflintown.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Mifflintown. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Mifflintown and those printed in the larger area surrounding Mifflintown.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 17 miles [27.4 km]<4> of Mifflintown.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These 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 Mifflintown:

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 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.
<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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Mifflintown) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Mifflintown. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.5703, Longitude: -77.3950    
<5>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.
<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 Mifflintown, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.