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 Oakland (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 Oakland. 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 hospitals 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.
Oakland is located in Lawrence 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 Lawrence County: Columbiana (OH), Mahoning (OH), Beaver, Butler & Mercer.
Below are the counties that are near Oakland. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Oakland:
- Lawrence County (The home county of Oakland)
- The following are listed by their distance from Oakland, with the one closest to Oakland listed first.
- Mahoningtown
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Mahoningtown is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mahoningtown
- Oakwood
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Oakwood is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakwood
- West New Castle
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- West New Castle is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West New Castle
- New Castle
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- South New Castle
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- South New Castle is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South New Castle
- Population from the 2020 Census: 659 people
- Edinburg
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Mount Jackson
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Mount Jackson is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Jackson
- Altman
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Altman is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Altman
- East Moravia
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- East Moravia is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Moravia
- McCaslin
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- McCaslin is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McCaslin
- Energy
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Energy is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Energy
- Bessemer
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Hillsville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Hillsville is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillsville
- Allegheny County
- The following are listed by their distance from Oakland, with the one closest to Oakland listed first.
- Bradford Woods
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Bradford Woods is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bradford Woods
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,135 people
- Bell Acres
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Bell Acres is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bell Acres
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,373 people
- Duff City
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Duff City is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duff City
- Wexford
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Leetsdale
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Franklin Park
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Franklin Park is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin Park
- Population from the 2020 Census: 14,883 people
- Beaver County
- The following are listed by their distance from Oakland, with the one closest to Oakland listed first.
- Ellwood City
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- New Galilee
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- New Galilee is located in Beaver County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Galilee
- Population from the 2020 Census: 349 people
- Big Beaver
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Big Beaver is located in Beaver County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Beaver
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,827 people
- Koppel
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Frisco
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Frisco is located in Beaver County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frisco
- North Sewickley
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- North Sewickley is located in Beaver County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Sewickley
- Wurtemburg
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Wurtemburg is located in Beaver County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wurtemburg
- Darlington
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Homewood
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Homewood is located in Beaver County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homewood
- Population from the 2020 Census: 121 people
- Thompson
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Thompson is located in Beaver County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thompson
- Lillyville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Lillyville is located in Beaver County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lillyville
- Cannelton
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Cannelton is located in Beaver County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cannelton
- Goehring
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Goehring is located in Beaver County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goehring
- Butler County
- The following are listed by their distance from Oakland, with the one closest to Oakland listed first.
- Portersville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- West Liberty
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- West Liberty is located in Butler County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Liberty
- Population from the 2020 Census: 328 people
- Prospect
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Slippery Rock
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Harmony
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Whitestown
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Whitestown is located in Butler County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitestown
- Zelienople
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Branchton
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Branchton is located in Butler County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Branchton
- Hallston
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Hallston is located in Butler County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hallston
- Forestville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Forestville is located in Butler County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forestville
- Bovard
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Bovard is located in Butler County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bovard
- Unionville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Unionville is located in Butler County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unionville
- Harrisville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Mercer County
- The following are listed by their distance from Oakland, with the one closest to Oakland listed first.
- Carbon
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Carbon is located in Mercer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carbon
- Leesburg
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Leesburg is located in Mercer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leesburg
- West Middlesex
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Millburn
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Millburn is located in Mercer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millburn
- North Liberty
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- North Liberty is located in Mercer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Liberty
- Wheatland
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Hermitage
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Mercer
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Sharon
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Courtneys Mills
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Courtneys Mills is located in Mercer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Courtneys Mills
- Farrell
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Clark
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Grove City
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Venango County
- The following are listed by their distance from Oakland, with the one closest to Oakland listed first.
- Barkeyville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Nectarine
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Nectarine is located in Venango County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nectarine
- Henderson Station
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Henderson Station is located in Venango County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henderson Station
- Clintonville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Bullion
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Bullion is located in Venango County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bullion
- Pearl
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Pearl is located in Venango County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pearl
- Columbiana County (OH)
- The following are listed by their distance from Oakland, with the one closest to Oakland listed first.
- East Palestine
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- State Line ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- State Line is located in Columbiana County (OH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for State Line
- Unity
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Unity is located in Columbiana County (OH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unity
- New Waterford
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Mill Rock
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Mill Rock is located in Columbiana County (OH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mill Rock
- Columbiana
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- East Carmel
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- East Carmel is located in Columbiana County (OH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Carmel
- Rogers
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Leetonia
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Washingtonville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Franklin Square
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Franklin Square is located in Columbiana County (OH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin Square
- Calcutta
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- East End
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- East End is located in Columbiana County (OH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East End
- Franklin County (OH)
- Hilltop
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Hilltop is located in Franklin County (OH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilltop
- Mahoning County (OH)
- The following are listed by their distance from Oakland, with the one closest to Oakland listed first.
- Lowellville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- New Middletown
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Poland
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Campbell
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Struthers
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Hazelton
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Hazelton is located in Mahoning County (OH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hazelton
- Boardman
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- North Lima
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Youngstown
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- East Lewistown
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- East Lewistown is located in Mahoning County (OH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Lewistown
- Cornersburg
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Cornersburg is located in Mahoning County (OH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cornersburg
- Perkins Corners
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Perkins Corners is located in Mahoning County (OH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perkins Corners
- Canfield
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Trumbull County (OH)
- The following are listed by their distance from Oakland, with the one closest to Oakland listed first.
- Hubbard
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Maplewood Park
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Maplewood Park is located in Trumbull County (OH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maplewood Park
- Masury
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Coalburg
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Coalburg is located in Trumbull County (OH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coalburg
- West Hill
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- West Hill is located in Trumbull County (OH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Hill
- Brookfield Center
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Brookfield Center is located in Trumbull County (OH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookfield Center
- Churchill
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Churchill is located in Trumbull County (OH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Churchill
- Sodom
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Sodom is located in Trumbull County (OH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sodom
- Girard
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Klines Corner
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Klines Corner is located in Trumbull County (OH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Klines Corner
- McDonald
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- McDonald is located in Trumbull County (OH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McDonald
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,019 people
- Paynes Corner
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Paynes Corner is located in Trumbull County (OH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paynes Corner
- Weldon
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Weldon is located in Trumbull County (OH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weldon
- Hancock County (WV)
- The following are listed by their distance from Oakland, with the one closest to Oakland listed first.
- Chester
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Lawrenceville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Lawrenceville is located in Hancock County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawrenceville
- Newell
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Oakland, see our County-by-County Page for Oakland.
Cemeteries Near Oakland ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Oakland.
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 Oakland - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Oakland covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Oakland, with the one closest to Oakland listed first.
- Valley View Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Greenwood Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Madonna Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Tifereth Israel Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tifereth Israel Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Tifereth Israel Cemetery is located in New Castle.
- The Tifereth Israel Cemetery has also been known as:
- Temple Israel Cemetery
- St. Marys Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for St. Marys Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the St. Marys Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located less than 2 miles<2> to the northwest of New Castle.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1222872 <3>
- Savannah Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Oak Park Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- St. Josephs Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Parkside Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- St. Vitus Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Hillview Manor Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Graceland Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graceland Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Graceland Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the northeast of New Castle.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #181852 <3>
- Continue List (382 more) ...
- Castle View Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Mt. Jackson Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Holy Trinity Polish National Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
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 Oakland in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Oakland.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Oakland, with the one closest to Oakland listed first.
- Mahoningtown
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Mahoningtown is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mahoningtown
- New Castle Junction
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- New Castle Junction is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Castle Junction
- New Castle
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- West New Castle
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- West New Castle is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West New Castle
- Mount Jackson
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Mount Jackson is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Jackson
- Edinburg
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Moravia
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Moravia is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moravia
- East Moravia
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- East Moravia is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Moravia
- Eastbrook
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Eastbrook is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastbrook
- Grahms
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Grahms is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grahms
- Nashua
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Nashua is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nashua
- Newport
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Newport is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newport
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- Hillsville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Hillsville is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillsville
- Bessemer
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Wampum
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Oakland. See our List of 1890's Communities around Oakland.
Newspapers Published in Oakland ...
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 68 newspapers that have been published in the area around Oakland.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Oakland, there are papers which were published within 15 miles [24.1 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Oakland.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These websites either 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 Oakland:
- Websites specific to Pennsylvania
- Pages specific to Lawrence County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Allegheny County
- Beaver County
- Butler County
- Mercer County
- Venango County
- Columbiana County
- Franklin County
- Mahoning County
- Trumbull County
- Hancock 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> | 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Oakland) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <3> | 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. |
| <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 Oakland, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |