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 Moonstown (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 Moonstown. 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 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.
Moonstown is located in Lebanon 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 Lebanon County: Berks, Dauphin, Lancaster & Schuylkill.
Below are the counties that are near Moonstown. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Moonstown:
- Lebanon County (The home county of Moonstown)
- The following are listed by their distance from Moonstown, with the one closest to Moonstown listed first.
- Johnstown
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Johnstown is located in Lebanon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnstown
- Schaefferstown
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Miners Village
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Miners Village is located in Lebanon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Miners Village
- Richland
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Stricklerstown
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Stricklerstown is located in Lebanon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stricklerstown
- Prescott
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Prescott is located in Lebanon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prescott
- Burd Coleman Village
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Burd Coleman Village is located in Lebanon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burd Coleman Village
- Cornwall
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Myerstown
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Avon Heights
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Avon Heights is located in Lebanon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avon Heights
- Avon
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Avon is located in Lebanon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avon
- Lebanon
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Berks County
- The following are listed by their distance from Moonstown, with the one closest to Moonstown listed first.
- Womelsdorf
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Mount Aetna
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Wintersville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Wintersville is located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wintersville
- Robesonia
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Phoebe Berks Village
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Wernersville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Rehrersburg
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Rehrersburg is located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rehrersburg
- North Heidelberg
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- North Heidelberg is located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Heidelberg
- Adamstown
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- 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>
- Bethel
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Meckville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Meckville is located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meckville
- Brownsville
(13 miles [20.9 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 Moonstown, with the one closest to Moonstown listed first.
- Cambridge
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Cambridge is located in Chester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cambridge
- Honey Brook
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Dampman
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Dampman is located in Chester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dampman
- Suplee
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Suplee is located in Chester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Suplee
- Elverson
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Compass
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Compass is located in Chester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Compass
- Birdell
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Birdell is located in Chester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Birdell
- Cupola
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Cupola is located in Chester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cupola
- Isabella
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Isabella is located in Chester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Isabella
- Rockville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Rockville is located in Chester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockville
- Loag
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Loag is located in Chester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loag
- Atglen
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Cumberland County
- New Cumberland
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Dauphin County
- The following are listed by their distance from Moonstown, with the one closest to Moonstown listed first.
- Bachmanville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Bachmanville is located in Dauphin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bachmanville
- Grantville
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Hershey
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Union Deposit
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Union Deposit is located in Dauphin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Deposit
- Shellsville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Shellsville is located in Dauphin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shellsville
- Hummelstown
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Clifton
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Clifton is located in Dauphin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clifton
- Manadahill
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Manadahill is located in Dauphin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manadahill
- Skyline View
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Skyline View is located in Dauphin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skyline View
- Middletown
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Royalton
(23 miles [37 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
- Rutherford
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Rutherford is located in Dauphin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rutherford
- Lancaster County
- The following are listed by their distance from Moonstown, with the one closest to Moonstown listed first.
- Brickerville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Poplar Grove
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Poplar Grove is located in Lancaster County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poplar Grove
- Hopeland
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Hopeland is located in Lancaster County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopeland
- Cocalico
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Cocalico is located in Lancaster County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cocalico
- Elm
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Elm is located in Lancaster County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elm
- Clay
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Clay is located in Lancaster County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clay
- Brunnerville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Elstonville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Elstonville is located in Lancaster County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elstonville
- Mount Hope
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Mount Hope is located in Lancaster County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Hope
- Blainsport
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Blainsport is located in Lancaster County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blainsport
- Lititz
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Denver
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Luzerne County
- Newtown
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Newtown is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newtown
- Schuylkill County
- The following are listed by their distance from Moonstown, with the one closest to Moonstown listed first.
- Irving
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Irving is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irving
- Marstown
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Marstown is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marstown
- Pine Grove
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Suedberg
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Suedberg is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Suedberg
- Beuchler
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Beuchler is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beuchler
- Moyers
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Moyers is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moyers
- Paradise
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Paradise is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paradise
- Ravine
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Ravine is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ravine
- Summit Station
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Summit Station is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summit Station
- Aucheys
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Aucheys is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aucheys
- Echo Valley
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Echo Valley is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Echo Valley
- Friedensburg
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- York County
- The following are listed by their distance from Moonstown, with the one closest to Moonstown listed first.
- Wrightsville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- East Prospect
(22 miles [35.4 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
- Hallam
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Hallam is located in York County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hallam
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,634 people
- York Haven
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Craley
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Craley is located in York County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Craley
- Mount Wolf
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Starview
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Starview is located in York County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Starview
- Yorkana
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Yorkana is located in York County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yorkana
- Population from the 2020 Census: 229 people
- Goldsboro
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Goldsboro is located in York County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goldsboro
- Population from the 2020 Census: 938 people
- Manchester
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Bittersville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Bittersville is located in York County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bittersville
- Marsh Run
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Marsh Run is located in York County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marsh Run
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Moonstown, see our County-by-County Page for Moonstown.
Cemeteries Near Moonstown ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Moonstown.
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 Moonstown - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Moonstown covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Moonstown, with the one closest to Moonstown listed first.
- Horst Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horst Cemetery
- The Horst Cemetery has also been known as:
- Snavely Cemetery
- Lapps Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Hopeland UMC Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopeland UMC Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Hopeland UMC Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the southeast of Hopeland.
- The Hopeland UMC Cemetery has also been known as:
- Hopeland Brethren Church Cemetery
- Hopeland Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2154417 <2>
- Cornwall Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Holy Savior Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Miners Village Mennonite Church Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Union Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Hebron Moravian Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Bethel Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Brunnerville United Methodist Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Christ Lutheran Church Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Kimmerlings Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kimmerlings Cemetery
- The Kimmerlings Cemetery has also been known as:
- St. Jacob's Kimmerlings Church Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #292170 <2>
- Continue List (281 more) ...
- Mt. Lebanon Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Mt. Hope Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Moravian Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
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 Moonstown in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Moonstown.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Moonstown, with the one closest to Moonstown listed first.
- Schaefferstown
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Brickerville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Kleinfeltersville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Reistville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Reistville is located in Lebanon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reistville
- Rexmont
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Rexmont is located in Lebanon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rexmont
- Miners Village
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Miners Village is located in Lebanon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Miners Village
- Iona
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Iona is located in Lebanon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iona
- Clay
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Clay is located in Lancaster County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clay
- Durlach
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Durlach is located in Lancaster County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Durlach
- Cocalico
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Cocalico is located in Lancaster County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cocalico
- Prescott
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Prescott is located in Lebanon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prescott
- Millbach
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Millbach is located in Lebanon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millbach
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- North Cornwall
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- North Cornwall is located in Lebanon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Cornwall
- Cornwall
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Penryn
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Penryn is located in Lancaster County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Penryn
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Moonstown. See our List of 1890's Communities around Moonstown.
Newspapers Published in Moonstown ...
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 89 newspapers that have been published in the area around Moonstown.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Moonstown, there are papers which were published within 11 miles [17.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Moonstown.
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 Moonstown:
- Websites specific to Pennsylvania
- Pages specific to Lebanon County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Berks County
- Chester County
- Cumberland County
- Dauphin County
- Lancaster County
- Luzerne County
- Schuylkill County
- York 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 Moonstown, 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Moonstown) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |