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 Oakville (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 Oakville. 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 and hospitals 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.
Oakville is located in Westmoreland 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 Westmoreland County: Allegheny, Armstrong, Butler, Cambria, Fayette, Indiana & Somerset.
Below are the counties that are near Oakville. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Oakville:
- Westmoreland County (The home county of Oakville)
- The following are listed by their distance from Oakville, with the one closest to Oakville listed first.
- Shafton
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Shafton is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shafton
- North Irwin
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- North Irwin is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Irwin
- Population from the 2020 Census: 780 people
- Manor
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Manor is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manor
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,322 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Manor <1>
- Irwin
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Irwin is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irwin
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,716 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Irwin <1>
- Westmoreland City
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Westmoreland City is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westmoreland City
- Larimer
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Larimer is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Larimer
- Harrison City
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Penn
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Penn is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Penn
- Population from the 2020 Census: 461 people
- Adamsburg
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Adamsburg is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adamsburg
- Population from the 2020 Census: 161 people
- Claridge
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Jeannette
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Trafford
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Rillton
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Allegheny County
- The following are listed by their distance from Oakville, with the one closest to Oakville listed first.
- Pitcairn
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Wall
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Wall is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wall
- Population from the 2020 Census: 553 people
- East McKeesport
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- North Versailles
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Wilmerding
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Buena Vista
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Buena Vista is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buena Vista
- Boston
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- White Oak
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Monroeville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Turtle Creek
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- McKeesport
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Riverton
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Riverton is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverton
- Versailles
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Versailles is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Versailles
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,452 people
- Armstrong County
- The following are listed by their distance from Oakville, with the one closest to Oakville listed first.
- Edmon
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Edmon is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edmon
- Apollo
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Orchard Hills
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Orchard Hills is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orchard Hills
- North Apollo
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Leechburg
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Spring Church
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Freeport
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Olivet
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Olivet is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olivet
- Aladdin
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Aladdin is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aladdin
- Neale
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Neale is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Neale
- Cochrans Mills
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Cochrans Mills is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cochrans Mills
- McVille
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- McVille is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McVille
- Tunnelville ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Tunnelville is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tunnelville
- Butler County
- The following are listed by their distance from Oakville, with the one closest to Oakville listed first.
- Ekastown
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Ekastown is located in Butler County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ekastown
- Monroe
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Monroe is located in Butler County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monroe
- Leasureville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Leasureville is located in Butler County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leasureville
- Valencia
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Saxonburg
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Glade Mills
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Glade Mills is located in Butler County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glade Mills
- Frazier Mill
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Frazier Mill is located in Butler County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frazier Mill
- Mars
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Dennys Mills
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Dennys Mills is located in Butler County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dennys Mills
- Seven Fields
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Seven Fields is located in Butler County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seven Fields
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,740 people
- Fayette County
- The following are listed by their distance from Oakville, with the one closest to Oakville listed first.
- Banning
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Banning is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Banning
- Arnold City
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Arnold City is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arnold City
- Whitsett
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Whitsett is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitsett
- Lynnwood
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Lynnwood is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lynnwood
- Brownstown
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Brownstown is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brownstown
- Fuller
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Fuller is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fuller
- Lynn
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Lynn is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lynn
- Perryopolis
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Laurelville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Laurelville is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurelville
- Belle Vernon
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Fairhope
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Fairhope is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairhope
- Everson
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Everson is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Everson
- Population from the 2020 Census: 744 people
- Fayette City
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Fayette City is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fayette City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 569 people
- Indiana County
- The following are listed by their distance from Oakville, with the one closest to Oakville listed first.
- White
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- White is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White
- Bow
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Bow is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bow
- Clarksburg
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Blairsville
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Saltsburg
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Jacksonville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Jacksonville is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jacksonville
- West Lebanon
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- West Lebanon is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Lebanon
- Aultman
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Aultman is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aultman
- Black Lick
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Black Lick is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Lick
- Josephine
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Josephine is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Josephine
- Palmertown
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Parkwood
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Parkwood is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkwood
- Coral
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Washington County
- The following are listed by their distance from Oakville, with the one closest to Oakville listed first.
- Black Diamond
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Black Diamond is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Diamond
- Donora
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Ellsworth
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Ellsworth is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellsworth
- Population from the 2020 Census: 960 people
- Monongahela
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Riverview
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Riverview is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverview
- New Eagle
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Gastonville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Gastonville is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gastonville
- Baidland
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Baidland is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baidland
- Charleroi
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- North Charleroi
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- North Charleroi is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Charleroi
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,258 people
- Finleyville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Dunlevy
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Sudan
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Sudan is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sudan
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Oakville, see our County-by-County Page for Oakville.
Cemeteries Near Oakville ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Oakville.
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 Oakville - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Oakville covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Oakville, with the one closest to Oakville listed first.
- Immaculate Conception Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Union Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Cemetery
- The Union Cemetery has also been known as:
- Irwin Union Cemetery
- Brush Creek Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brush Creek Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Brush Creek Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the north of Adamsburg.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #44464 <2>
- St. Michael Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Old Brush Creek Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Penn Lincoln Memorial Park
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Pennsylvania Lincoln Memorial Park
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- St. Patrick's Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Sacred Heart Cemetery (New)
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- St. Barbaras Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Dravo Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Old Quaker Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Continue List (434 more) ...
- Old Mars Hill Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Jeannette Memorial Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Greek Orthodox Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greek Orthodox Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Greek Orthodox Cemetery is located outside and to the northeast of Jeannette.
- The Greek Orthodox Cemetery has also been known as:
- Greek Cemetery
- Russian Orthodox Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #44967 <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.<3>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Oakville had railroad service and no post office.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Oakville, with the one closest to Oakville listed first.
- Shafton
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Shafton is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shafton
- Irwin
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Irwin is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irwin
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,716 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Irwin <1>
- Ardara
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Ardara is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ardara
- Circleville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Circleville is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Circleville
- Harrison City
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Stewartsville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Stewartsville is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stewartsville
- Adamsburg
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Adamsburg is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adamsburg
- Population from the 2020 Census: 161 people
- Emblem
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Emblem is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emblem
- Rillton
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Jeannette
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Claridge
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Greenock
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Greenock is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenock
- Continue List (16 more) ...
- Alpsville
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Alpsville is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpsville
- Guffey
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Guffey is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guffey
- Shaner
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Shaner is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shaner
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Oakville. See our List of 1890's Communities around Oakville.
Newspapers Published in Oakville ...
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 49 newspapers that have been published in the area around Oakville.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Oakville, there are papers which were published within 9 miles [14.5 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Oakville.
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 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 Oakville:
- Websites specific to Pennsylvania
- Pages specific to Westmoreland County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Allegheny County
- Armstrong County
- Butler County
- Fayette County
- Indiana County
- Washington 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 Oakville, 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- Oakville) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |