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 Old Side (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 Old Side. 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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.
Old Side 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 Old Side. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Old Side:
- Centre County (The home county of Old Side)
- The following are listed by their distance from Old Side, with the one closest to Old Side listed first.
- Poorman Side
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Poorman Side is located in Centre County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poorman Side
- Clarence
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Pancake
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Pancake is located in Centre County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pancake
- Snow Shoe
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Moshannon
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Moshannon is located in Centre County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moshannon
- Pine Glen
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Pine Glen is located in Centre County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Glen
- Central City
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Central City is located in Centre County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central City
- Wingate
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Wingate is located in Centre County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wingate
- Unionville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Milesburg
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Monument
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Monument is located in Centre County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monument
- Curtin
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Curtin is located in Centre County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Curtin
- Bellefonte
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Cameron County
- The following are listed by their distance from Old Side, with the one closest to Old Side listed first.
- Wyside
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Wyside is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyside
- Driftwood
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Mix Run
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Mix Run is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mix Run
- Huntley
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Huntley is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huntley
- Cameron
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Cameron is located in Cameron County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cameron
- Clearfield County
- The following are listed by their distance from Old Side, with the one closest to Old Side listed first.
- Pottersdale
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Pottersdale is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pottersdale
- Keewaydin
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Keewaydin is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keewaydin
- Kylertown
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Morrisdale
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Shiloh
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Shiloh is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shiloh
- Chester Hill
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Chester Hill is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chester Hill
- Population from the 2020 Census: 820 people
- West Decatur
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- 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
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Wallaceton is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wallaceton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 300 people
- Woodland
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Osceola Mills
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Barrett
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Barrett is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barrett
- Ashland
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Ashland is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashland
- Mount Joy
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Mount Joy is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Joy
- Clinton County
- The following are listed by their distance from Old Side, with the one closest to Old Side listed first.
- Keating
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Keating is located in Clinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keating
- Cooks Run
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Cooks Run is located in Clinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooks Run
- Bitumen
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Bitumen is located in Clinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bitumen
- Westport
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Abdera
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Abdera is located in Clinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abdera
- Beech Creek
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Renovo
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- South Renovo
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- South Renovo is located in Clinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Renovo
- Population from the 2020 Census: 422 people
- Lamar
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Farwell
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Farwell is located in Clinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farwell
- Farrandsville
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Farrandsville is located in Clinton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farrandsville
- Mill Hall
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- North Bend
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Elk County
- The following are listed by their distance from Old Side, with the one closest to Old Side listed first.
- Dents Run
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Dents Run is located in Elk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dents Run
- Grant
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Grant is located in Elk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grant
- Benezette
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Huntingdon County
- The following are listed by their distance from Old Side, with the one closest to Old Side listed first.
- Dungarvin
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Dungarvin is located in Huntingdon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dungarvin
- Pennington
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Pennington is located in Huntingdon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pennington
- Seven Stars
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Seven Stars is located in Huntingdon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seven Stars
- Ennisville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Ennisville is located in Huntingdon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ennisville
- Huntingdon Furnace
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Huntingdon Furnace is located in Huntingdon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huntingdon Furnace
- Neffs Mills
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Neffs Mills is located in Huntingdon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Neffs Mills
- Mifflin County
- Milroy
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Old Side, see our County-by-County Page for Old Side.
Cemeteries Near Old Side ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Old Side.
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 Old Side - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Old Side covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Old Side, with the one closest to Old Side listed first.
- St. Michaels Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- St. Marys Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Askey Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- St. Severin Old Log Church Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- St. Severins Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Ganoe Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Trcziyulny Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Oak Ridge Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Lucas Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Keewaydin Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Kylertown Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Nelson Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Continue List (129 more) ...
- Immanuel Cemetery
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Henderson Cemetery
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Campbell Cemetery
(13 miles [20.9 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 Old Side in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Old Side.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Old Side, with the one closest to Old Side listed first.
- Clarence
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Fountain
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Fountain is located in Centre County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fountain
- Snow Shoe
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Butts
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Butts is located in Centre County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Butts
- Moshannon
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Moshannon is located in Centre County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moshannon
- Gillintown
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Gillintown is located in Centre County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gillintown
- Rhoads
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Rhoads is located in Centre County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rhoads
- Pine Glen
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Pine Glen is located in Centre County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Glen
- Gum Stump
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Gum Stump is located in Centre County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gum Stump
- Peale
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Peale is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peale
- Belford
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Belford is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belford
- Pottersdale
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Pottersdale is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pottersdale
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Karthaus
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Wingate
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Wingate is located in Centre County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wingate
- Unionville
(11 miles [17.7 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 Old Side. See our List of 1890's Communities around Old Side.
Newspapers Published in Old Side ...
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 58 newspapers that have been published in the area around Old Side.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Old Side, there are papers which were published within 18 miles [29 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Old Side.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These helpful 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 Old Side:
- Websites specific to Pennsylvania
- Pages specific to Centre County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Cameron County
- Clearfield County
- Clinton County
- Elk County
- Huntingdon County
- Mifflin 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 Old Side, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Old Side) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |