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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 Oak Hall (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 Oak Hall. 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 and hospitals 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.

Oak Hall is located in Centre 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 Centre County: Blair, Cambria, Clearfield, Clinton, Huntingdon, Mifflin & Union.

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

  • Centre County     (The home county of Oak Hall)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oak Hall, with the one closest to Oak Hall listed first.
    • Panorama Village
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • Panorama Village is located in Centre County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Panorama Village
    • Lemont
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Boalsburg
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Linden Hall
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Linden Hall is located in Centre County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Linden Hall
    • Houserville
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Houserville is located in Centre County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Houserville
    • State College
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Bloomsdorf
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Bloomsdorf is located in Centre County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bloomsdorf
    • Krumrine
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Krumrine is located in Centre County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Krumrine
    • Pleasant Gap
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Axemann
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Axemann is located in Centre County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Axemann
    • Pine Grove Mills
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Park Forest Village
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Park Forest Village is located in Centre County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park Forest Village
    • Centre Hall
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Blair County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oak Hall, with the one closest to Oak Hall listed first.
    • Tyrone Forge
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Tyrone Forge is located in Blair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tyrone Forge
    • Tyrone
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Grazierville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Grazierville is located in Blair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grazierville
    • Covedale
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Covedale is located in Blair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Covedale
    • Culp
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Culp is located in Blair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Culp
    • Tipton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Bellwood
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Clearfield County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oak Hall, with the one closest to Oak Hall listed first.
    • Kylertown
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Chester Hill
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Chester Hill is located in Clearfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chester Hill
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 820 people
    • Morrisdale
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Osceola Mills
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • West Decatur
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • West Decatur is located in Clearfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Decatur
      • West Decatur has also been known as:
      • Blue Ball
      • Decatur
    • Wallaceton
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Wallaceton is located in Clearfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wallaceton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 300 people
    • Keewaydin
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Keewaydin is located in Clearfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keewaydin
    • Ashland
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Ashland is located in Clearfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashland
    • Parsonsville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Parsonsville is located in Clearfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parsonsville
    • Pottersdale
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Pottersdale is located in Clearfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pottersdale
    • Brisbin
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Brisbin is located in Clearfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brisbin
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 385 people
    • Ginter
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Ginter is located in Clearfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ginter
    • Houtzdale
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Clinton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oak Hall, with the one closest to Oak Hall listed first.
    • Abdera
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Abdera is located in Clinton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abdera
    • Lamar
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Tylersville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Tylersville is located in Clinton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tylersville
    • Beech Creek
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Cedar Springs
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Cedar Springs is located in Clinton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Springs
    • Salona
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Salona is located in Clinton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salona
    • Greenburr
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Greenburr is located in Clinton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenburr
    • Mill Hall
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Flemington
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Flemington is located in Clinton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flemington
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,312 people
    • Rote
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Rote is located in Clinton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rote
    • Castanea
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Lock Haven
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Farrandsville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Farrandsville is located in Clinton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farrandsville
  • Huntingdon County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oak Hall, with the one closest to Oak Hall listed first.
    • Ennisville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Ennisville is located in Huntingdon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ennisville
    • Neffs Mills
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Neffs Mills is located in Huntingdon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Neffs Mills
    • Dungarvin
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Dungarvin is located in Huntingdon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dungarvin
    • Donation
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Donation is located in Huntingdon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Donation
    • Seven Stars
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Seven Stars is located in Huntingdon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seven Stars
    • Huntingdon Furnace
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Huntingdon Furnace is located in Huntingdon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huntingdon Furnace
    • Petersburg
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Pennington
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Pennington is located in Huntingdon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pennington
    • Alexandria
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Birmingham
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Birmingham is located in Huntingdon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Birmingham
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 87 people
    • Huntingdon
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Water Street
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Water Street is located in Huntingdon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Water Street
    • Mill Creek
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
  • Juniata County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oak Hall, with the one closest to Oak Hall listed first.
    • Mifflin
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Mifflin is located in Juniata County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mifflin
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 606 people
    • Doyles Mills
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Doyles Mills is located in Juniata County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doyles Mills
    • Mifflintown
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Reeds Gap
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Reeds Gap is located in Juniata County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reeds Gap
    • McCullochs Mills
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • McCullochs Mills is located in Juniata County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McCullochs Mills
    • Old Port
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Old Port is located in Juniata County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Port
    • Port Royal
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • McAlisterville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Peru Mills
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Peru Mills is located in Juniata County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peru Mills
    • Mexico
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Mexico is located in Juniata County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mexico
  • Mifflin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oak Hall, with the one closest to Oak Hall listed first.
    • Milroy
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Belleville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Kishacoquillas
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Kishacoquillas is located in Mifflin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kishacoquillas
    • Menno
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Menno is located in Mifflin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Menno
    • Honey Creek
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Honey Creek is located in Mifflin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Honey Creek
    • Lumber City
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Lumber City is located in Mifflin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lumber City
    • Reedsville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Yeagertown
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Burnham
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Allensville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Highland Park
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Highland Park is located in Mifflin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland Park
    • Juniata Terrace
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Juniata Terrace is located in Mifflin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Juniata Terrace
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 533 people
    • Lewistown Junction
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Lewistown Junction is located in Mifflin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lewistown Junction
  • Snyder County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oak Hall, with the one closest to Oak Hall listed first.
    • Bannerville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Bannerville is located in Snyder County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bannerville
    • McClure
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Middle Creek
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Middle Creek is located in Snyder County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middle Creek
  • Union County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oak Hall, with the one closest to Oak Hall listed first.
    • Cherry Run
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Cherry Run is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Run
    • Pardee
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Pardee is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pardee

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

Cemeteries Near Oak Hall ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Oak Hall.

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 Oak Hall - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Slab Cabin Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Shiloh Lutheran Church Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shiloh Lutheran Church Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Shiloh Lutheran Church Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the northeast of State College.
    • The Shiloh Lutheran Church Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Shiloh Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1885601 <2>
  • Centre County Memorial Park
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Pine Hall Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Benner Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Meyer Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Centre Hill Presbyterian Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Oak Ridge Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • St. Johns Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Union Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Campbell Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Bennett Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (195 more) ...
    • Rudy Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • St. Stephens Lutheran Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Greenlee Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 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.<4>

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

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

  • Boalsburg
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Linden Hall
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Linden Hall is located in Centre County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Linden Hall
  • Houserville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Houserville is located in Centre County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Houserville
  • Dale Summit
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Dale Summit is located in Centre County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dale Summit
  • Krumrine
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Krumrine is located in Centre County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Krumrine
  • Pleasant Gap
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Fillmore
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Fillmore is located in Centre County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fillmore
  • Pine Grove Mills
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Tusseyville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Tusseyville is located in Centre County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tusseyville
  • Axemann
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Axemann is located in Centre County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Axemann
  • Centre Hall
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Waddle
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Waddle is located in Centre County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waddle
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Fairbrook
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Fairbrook is located in Centre County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairbrook
    • Unionville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Centre Hill
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Centre Hill is located in Centre County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centre Hill

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

Newspapers Published in Oak Hall ...

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 Oak Hall.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Oak Hall, there are papers which were published within 18 miles [29 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Oak Hall.

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 Oak Hall:

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 '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- Oak Hall) 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 Oak Hall, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.