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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 Murdock (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 Murdock. 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 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.

Murdock is located in Somerset 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 Somerset County: Allegany (MD), Garrett (MD), Bedford, Cambria, Fayette & Westmoreland.

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

  • Somerset County     (The home county of Murdock)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Murdock, with the one closest to Murdock listed first.
    • Milford
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Milford is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milford
    • Somerset
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Lavansville
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Lavansville is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lavansville
    • Rockwood
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Husband
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Husband is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Husband
    • Althouse
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Althouse is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Althouse
    • Beachdale
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Beachdale is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beachdale
    • New Centerville
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • New Centerville is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Centerville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 127 people
    • Garrett
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Pine Hill
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Pine Hill is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Hill
    • Casselman
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Casselman is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Casselman
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 97 people
    • New Lexington
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • New Lexington is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Lexington
  • Bedford County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Murdock, with the one closest to Murdock listed first.
    • Kegg
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Kegg is located in Bedford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kegg
    • Hyndman
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Cooks Mills
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Cooks Mills is located in Bedford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooks Mills
    • Stringtown
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Stringtown is located in Bedford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stringtown
    • Schellsburg
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • New Paris
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Manns Choice
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Beans Cove
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Beans Cove is located in Bedford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beans Cove
    • Pleasantville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Pleasantville is located in Bedford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasantville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 205 people
    • Wolfsburg
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Wolfsburg is located in Bedford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolfsburg
  • Cambria County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Murdock, with the one closest to Murdock listed first.
    • Ingleside
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Ingleside is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ingleside
    • Elim
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Elim is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elim
    • Ferndale
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Scalp Level
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Scalp Level is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scalp Level
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 691 people
    • Southmont
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Southmont is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Southmont
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,048 people
    • Belmont
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Belmont is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belmont
    • Lorain
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Lorain is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lorain
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 680 people
    • Dale
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Dale is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dale
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,110 people
    • Lilly
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Lilly is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lilly
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 873 people
    • Westmont
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Westmont is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westmont
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,625 people
    • Geistown
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Geistown is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Geistown
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,242 people
    • Brownstown
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
  • Fayette County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Murdock, with the one closest to Murdock listed first.
    • Seven Springs
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Champion
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Indian Head
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Indian Head is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Head
    • White
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • White is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White
    • Ohiopyle
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Bear Rocks
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Bear Rocks is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Rocks
    • Markleysburg
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Laurelville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Laurelville is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurelville
    • South Connellsville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Farmington
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Connellsville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Dunbar
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
  • Indiana County
    • Robinson
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Robinson is located in Indiana County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robinson
  • Westmoreland County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Murdock, with the one closest to Murdock listed first.
    • Rector
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Laughlintown
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Laurel Mountain
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Laurel Mountain is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurel Mountain
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 153 people
      • Laurel Mountain has also been known as:
      • Laurel Mountain Park
    • Donegal
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Stahlstown
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Ligonier
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Oak Grove
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Oak Grove is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
    • Darlington
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Darlington is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Darlington
    • Kecksburg
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Kecksburg is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kecksburg
    • Mount Joy
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Mount Joy is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Joy
    • Lycippus
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Lycippus is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lycippus
    • Calumet
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Allegany County (MD)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Murdock, with the one closest to Murdock listed first.
    • Mount Savage
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Barrelville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Barrelville is located in Allegany County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barrelville
    • Frostburg
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Zihlman
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Zihlman is located in Allegany County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zihlman
    • Midlothian
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Midlothian is located in Allegany County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midlothian
    • Eckhart Mines
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Eckhart Mines is located in Allegany County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eckhart Mines
    • Ellerslie
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Ellerslie is located in Allegany County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellerslie
    • Borden Shaft
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Borden Shaft is located in Allegany County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Borden Shaft
    • Clarysville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Clarysville is located in Allegany County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarysville
    • Corriganville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Corriganville is located in Allegany County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corriganville
    • Klondike
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Klondike is located in Allegany County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Klondike
    • La Vale
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Garrett County (MD)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Murdock, with the one closest to Murdock listed first.
    • Grantsville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Avilton
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Avilton is located in Garrett County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avilton
    • Bittinger
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Accident
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Friendsville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • McHenry
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Mineral County (WV)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Murdock, with the one closest to Murdock listed first.
    • Carpendale
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Carpendale is located in Mineral County (WV)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carpendale
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 900 people
    • Ridgeley
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Wiley Ford
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)

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

Cemeteries Near Murdock ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Murdock.

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 Murdock - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • St. Johns Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Pleasant Hill Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Union Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Husband Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Weller Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Highland Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Garrett Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Listie Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Lichty Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Pike Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Pugh Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • St. Pauls Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (194 more) ...
    • Mt. Zion Reformed Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mt. Zion Reformed Cemetery
      • The Mt. Zion Reformed Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Hays Reformed Cemetery
      • Mt. Zion - Hays Cemetery
      • Mt. Zion United Church of Christ (UCC) Cemetery
    • Mispah Lutheran Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mispah Lutheran Cemetery
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Mispah Lutheran Cemetery is located 2 miles [3.2 km]<3> to the west of Shanksville.
      • The Mispah Lutheran Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Mispah Cemetery
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2188400 <2>
    • Friedens Luthern Church Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friedens Luthern Church Cemetery
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Friedens Luthern Church Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Friedens.
      • The Friedens Luthern Church Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Friedens Cemetery
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2207909 <2>

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.<4>

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

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

  • Shamrock
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Shamrock is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shamrock
  • Somerset
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Gebhart
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Gebhart is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gebhart
  • Rockwood
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Lavansville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Lavansville is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lavansville
  • Husband
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Husband is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Husband
  • Beachdale
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Beachdale is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beachdale
  • Garrett
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Shober
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Shober is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shober
  • Mineral Spring
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Mineral Spring is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mineral Spring
  • Geiger
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Geiger is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Geiger
  • New Lexington
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • New Lexington is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Lexington
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Casselman
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Casselman is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Casselman
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 97 people
    • Pine Hill
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Pine Hill is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Hill
    • Pine Hill Station
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Pine Hill Station is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Hill Station

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

Newspapers Published in Murdock ...

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 51 newspapers that have been published in the area around Murdock.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Murdock, there are papers which were published within 17 miles [27.4 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Murdock.

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 Murdock:

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>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Murdock) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<4>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 Murdock, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.