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 Orchard Beach (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 Orchard Beach. 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.
Name Variations for Orchard Beach ...
When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.
Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might occur.
For example, a typical abbreviation for Orchard Beach: Orchard Bch.
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Orchard Beach. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Orchard Beach.
If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.
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 doctors 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.
Orchard Beach is located in Erie 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 Erie County: Chautauqua (NY), Ashtabula (OH), Crawford (OH) & Warren (OH).
Below are the counties that are near Orchard Beach. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Orchard Beach:
- Erie County (The home county of Orchard Beach)
- The following are listed by their distance from Orchard Beach, with the one closest to Orchard Beach listed first.
- Freeport
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Freeport is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeport
- North East
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Hornby
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Hornby is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hornby
- Lawrence Park
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Lawrence Park is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawrence Park
- Wesleyville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Phillipsville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Phillipsville is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Phillipsville
- Erie
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Wattsburg
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Arbuckle
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Arbuckle is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arbuckle
- Kearsarge
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Kearsarge is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kearsarge
- Lakewood
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Lakewood is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakewood
- West Millcreek
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- West Millcreek is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Millcreek
- Crawford County
- The following are listed by their distance from Orchard Beach, with the one closest to Orchard Beach listed first.
- Canadohta Lake
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Canadohta Lake is located in Crawford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canadohta Lake
- Spartansburg
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Lincolnville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Lincolnville is located in Crawford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincolnville
- Warren County
- The following are listed by their distance from Orchard Beach, with the one closest to Orchard Beach listed first.
- Bear Lake
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Columbus
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Colza
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Colza is located in Warren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colza
- Lottsville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Lottsville is located in Warren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lottsville
- Sugar Grove
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- West Spring Creek
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- West Spring Creek is located in Warren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Spring Creek
- Chautauqua County (NY)
- The following are listed by their distance from Orchard Beach, with the one closest to Orchard Beach listed first.
- Ripley
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Forsyth
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Forsyth is located in Chautauqua County (NY)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forsyth
- Findley Lake
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- French Creek
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- French Creek is located in Chautauqua County (NY)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for French Creek
- Sherman
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Slab City
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Slab City is located in Chautauqua County (NY)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slab City
- Westfield
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Mayville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Stebbins Corners
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Stebbins Corners is located in Chautauqua County (NY)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stebbins Corners
- Bournes Beach
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Bournes Beach is located in Chautauqua County (NY)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bournes Beach
- North Clymer
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- North Clymer is located in Chautauqua County (NY)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Clymer
- Hartfield
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Hartfield is located in Chautauqua County (NY)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartfield
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Orchard Beach, see our County-by-County Page for Orchard Beach.
Cemeteries Near Orchard Beach ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Orchard Beach.
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 Orchard Beach - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Orchard Beach covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Orchard Beach, with the one closest to Orchard Beach listed first.
- Oak Hill Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Phillips Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Northville Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- St. Gregory Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- South Ripley Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Quincy Rural Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Greenfield Baptist Church Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- East Ripley Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Findley Lake Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Eaoaun Bohoslov Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Jacob Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Mina Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Continue List (113 more) ...
- West Mina Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Porter Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Wintergreen Gorge Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
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 Orchard Beach in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Orchard Beach.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Orchard Beach, with the one closest to Orchard Beach listed first.
- North East
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- State Line
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- State Line is located in Chautauqua County (NY)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for State Line
- Moorheadville
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Moorheadville is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moorheadville
- Moorhead
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Moorhead is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moorhead
- South Ripley
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- South Ripley is located in Chautauqua County (NY)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Ripley
- Ripley
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Hornby
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Hornby is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hornby
- Findley Lake
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Lombard
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Lombard is located in Chautauqua County (NY)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lombard
- Mina
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Mina is located in Chautauqua County (NY)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mina
- Wesleyville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Belle Valley
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Belle Valley is located in Erie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belle Valley
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- French Creek
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- French Creek is located in Chautauqua County (NY)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for French Creek
- Sherman
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Summerdale
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Summerdale is located in Chautauqua County (NY)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summerdale
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Orchard Beach. See our List of 1890's Communities around Orchard Beach.
Newspapers Published in Orchard Beach ...
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 40 newspapers that have been published in the area around Orchard Beach.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Orchard Beach, there are papers which were published within 24 miles [38.6 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Orchard Beach.
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 Orchard Beach:
- Websites specific to Pennsylvania
- Pages specific to Erie County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Crawford County
- Warren County
- Chautauqua 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 Orchard Beach, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Orchard Beach) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |