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 Hills (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 Hills. 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 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.
Orchard Hills is located in Berks 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 Berks County : Chester , Lancaster , Lebanon , Lehigh , Montgomery & Schuylkill .
Below are the counties that are near Orchard Hills. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Orchard Hills:
Berks County (The home county of Orchard Hills)
The following are listed by their distance from Orchard Hills, with the one closest to Orchard Hills listed first.
Boyertown (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
Indian Springs Village (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
Colebrookdale (Less than 2 miles to the south)
Colebrookdale is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colebrookdale Bechtelsville (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
Ironstone (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
Ironstone is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ironstone Eshbach (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
Eshbach is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eshbach Lyons (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
Lyons is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyons Population from the 2020 Census: 478 people
Dale (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
Dale is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dale Manatawny (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
Manatawny is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manatawny Pikeville (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
Pikeville is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pikeville Griesemersville (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
Griesemersville is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Griesemersville Yellow House (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
Yellow House is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yellow House Amity Gardens (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
Amity Gardens is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amity Gardens Bucks County
The following are listed by their distance from Orchard Hills, with the one closest to Orchard Hills listed first.
Argus (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
Argus is located in Bucks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Argus Milford Square (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
Milford Square is located in Bucks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milford Square Steinsburg (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
Steinsburg is located in Bucks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Steinsburg Trumbauersville (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
Zionhill (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
Zionhill is located in Bucks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zionhill Derstines (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
Derstines is located in Bucks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Derstines Rich Hill (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
Rich Hill is located in Bucks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rich Hill Sellersville (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
Hilltop (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
Hilltop is located in Bucks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilltop Quakertown (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
Shelly (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
Shelly is located in Bucks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shelly Perkasie (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
Selsie Village (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
Selsie Village is located in Bucks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Selsie Village Carbon County
Germans (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
Germans is located in Carbon County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Germans Chester County
The following are listed by their distance from Orchard Hills, with the one closest to Orchard Hills listed first.
Pottstown Landing (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
Pottstown Landing is located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pottstown Landing South Pottstown (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
South Pottstown is located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Pottstown Kenilworth (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
Kenilworth is located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kenilworth Fricks Lock (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
Fricks Lock is located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fricks Lock Parker Ford (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
Parker Ford is located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parker Ford Slonaker (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
Slonaker is located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slonaker Bucktown (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
Bucktown is located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bucktown Coventryville (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
Coventryville is located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coventryville Pughtown (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
Pughtown is located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pughtown Spring City (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
Knauertown (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
Knauertown is located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knauertown Seven Stars (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
Seven Stars is located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seven Stars Sheeder (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
Sheeder is located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sheeder Delaware County
The following are listed by their distance from Orchard Hills, with the one closest to Orchard Hills listed first.
Saint Davids (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
Ithan (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
Ithan is located in Delaware County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ithan Radnor Station (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
Radnor Station is located in Delaware County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Radnor Station Radnor (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
Wayne (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
Edgemont (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
Edgemont is located in Delaware County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgemont Green Countrie Village (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
Montrose Village (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
Montrose Village is located in Delaware County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montrose Village Rosemont (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
Allgates (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
Allgates is located in Delaware County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allgates Haverford (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
Marple (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
Marple is located in Delaware County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marple Broomall (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
Indiana County
Ernest (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
Ernest is located in Indiana County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ernest Population from the 2020 Census: 431 people
Lancaster County
The following are listed by their distance from Orchard Hills, with the one closest to Orchard Hills listed first.
Churchtown (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
Beartown (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
Beartown is located in Lancaster County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beartown Terre Hill (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
Blue Ball (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
East Earl (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
Red Run (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
Red Run is located in Lancaster County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Run Weaverland (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
Weaverland is located in Lancaster County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weaverland Meadville (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
Meadville is located in Lancaster County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadville Blainsport (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
Blainsport is located in Lancaster County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blainsport Denver (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
Reamstown (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
Hinkletown (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
Hinkletown is located in Lancaster County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hinkletown New Holland (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
Lebanon County
The following are listed by their distance from Orchard Hills, with the one closest to Orchard Hills listed first.
Newmanstown (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
Sheridan (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
Sheridan is located in Lebanon County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sheridan Stricklerstown (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
Stricklerstown is located in Lebanon County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stricklerstown Lehigh County
The following are listed by their distance from Orchard Hills, with the one closest to Orchard Hills listed first.
Hensingersville (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
Hensingersville is located in Lehigh County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hensingersville Hosensack (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
Hosensack is located in Lehigh County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hosensack Powder Valley (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
Powder Valley is located in Lehigh County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powder Valley Alburtis (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
Dillingerville (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
Dillingerville is located in Lehigh County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dillingerville Dillingerville has also been known as:
Dillinger Dillingers Ville Dillingers Dillingersville Stahlers Old Zionsville (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
Old Zionsville is located in Lehigh County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Zionsville Zionsville (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
Macungie (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
Ancient Oaks (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
Ancient Oaks is located in Lehigh County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ancient Oaks Limeport (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
Limeport is located in Lehigh County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Limeport Wallner ‑ Historic(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
Wallner is located in Lehigh County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wallner Wescosville (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
Emmaus (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
Montgomery County
The following are listed by their distance from Orchard Hills, with the one closest to Orchard Hills listed first.
Gilbertsville (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
Congo (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
Congo is located in Montgomery County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Congo Halfway House (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
Halfway House is located in Montgomery County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halfway House New Hanover (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
Anise (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
Anise is located in Montgomery County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anise Pleasant Run (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
Pleasant Run is located in Montgomery County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Run Pottsgrove (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
Pottsgrove is located in Montgomery County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pottsgrove Pottstown (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
Stowe (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
West Pottsgrove (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
West Pottsgrove is located in Montgomery County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Pottsgrove Fagleysville (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
Fagleysville is located in Montgomery County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fagleysville Bramcote (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
Bramcote is located in Montgomery County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bramcote Sanatoga (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
Northampton County
The following are listed by their distance from Orchard Hills, with the one closest to Orchard Hills listed first.
Leithsville (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
Leithsville is located in Northampton County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leithsville Seidersville (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
Seidersville is located in Northampton County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seidersville Star Village (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
Star Village is located in Northampton County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Star Village Hellertown (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
North Catasauqua (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
North Catasauqua is located in Northampton County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Catasauqua Population from the 2020 Census: 2,825 people
Bethlehem (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
Northampton (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
Freemansburg (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
Hanover (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
Hanover is located in Northampton County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hanover Wassergass (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
Wassergass is located in Northampton County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wassergass Howertown (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
Howertown is located in Northampton County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howertown Howertown has also been known as:
Hauertown Howardtown Howartown Howeton Lower Saucon (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
Lower Saucon is located in Northampton County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lower Saucon Middletown (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
Middletown is located in Northampton County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middletown Philadelphia County
The following are listed by their distance from Orchard Hills, with the one closest to Orchard Hills listed first.
Roxborough (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
Roxborough is located in Philadelphia County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roxborough Chestnut Hill (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
Chestnut Hill is located in Philadelphia County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Hill Highland (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
Highland is located in Philadelphia County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland Allen Lane (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
Allen Lane is located in Philadelphia County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allen Lane Manayunk (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
Manayunk is located in Philadelphia County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manayunk Upsal (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
Upsal is located in Philadelphia County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Upsal Schuylkill County
The following are listed by their distance from Orchard Hills, with the one closest to Orchard Hills listed first.
Port Clinton (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
Mantz (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
Mantz is located in Schuylkill County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mantz Andreas (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
Auburn (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
Deer Lake (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
Deer Lake is located in Schuylkill County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Lake Population from the 2020 Census: 645 people
Rauschs (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
Rauschs is located in Schuylkill County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rauschs Rene Mont (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
Rene Mont is located in Schuylkill County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rene Mont Jefferson (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
Jefferson is located in Schuylkill County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jefferson McKeansburg (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
McKeansburg is located in Schuylkill County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McKeansburg New Ringgold (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Orchard Hills, see our County-by-County Page for Orchard Hills .
Cemeteries Near Orchard Hills ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Orchard Hills.
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 Hills - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Orchard Hills covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Orchard Hills, with the one closest to Orchard Hills listed first.
Union Cemetery (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
Fairview Cemetery (Less than 2 miles to the east)
Fritz Cemetery (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
Union Cemetery (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
Hill Church Union Cemetery (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
Hanawas Sachem Cemetery (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
St. Johns Greek Catholic Cemetery (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
Falkner Swamp Cemetery (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falkner Swamp Cemetery To give a relative sense of its location, the Falkner Swamp Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in the vicinity of New Hanover The Falkner Swamp Cemetery has also been known as:
Falker Swamp Cemetery Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #44837 <2>
Falkner Swamp Reformed Church Cemetery (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falkner Swamp Reformed Church Cemetery To give a relative sense of its location, the Falkner Swamp Reformed Church Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in the vicinity of New Hanover The Falkner Swamp Reformed Church Cemetery has also been known as:
Falkner Swamp United Church of Christ Cemetery Hollowbush Cemetery Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2521127 <2>
New Hanover Lutheran Church Cemetery (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
St. Pauls Cemetery (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
Mountain Marys Grave (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
Continue List (400 more) ...
Christ Union Cemetery (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
Weller Cemetery (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
St. Pauls Cemetery (5 miles [8 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 Hills in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Orchard Hills.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Orchard Hills, with the one closest to Orchard Hills listed first.
Boyertown (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
New Berlinville (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
Greshville (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
Greshville is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greshville Little Oley (Less than 2 miles to the south)
Little Oley is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Oley Colebrookdale (Less than 2 miles to the south)
Colebrookdale is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colebrookdale Worman (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
Worman is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Worman Ironstone (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
Ironstone is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ironstone Gilbertsville (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
Bechtelsville (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
Sassamansville (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
Sassamansville is located in Montgomery County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sassamansville Congo (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
Congo is located in Montgomery County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Congo Eshbach (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
Eshbach is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eshbach Continue List (16 more) ...
Shanesville (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
Shanesville is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shanesville Earlville (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
Earlville is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Earlville New Hanover (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Orchard Hills. See our List of 1890's Communities around Orchard Hills .
Newspapers Published in Orchard Hills ...
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 39 newspapers that have been published in the area around Orchard Hills.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Orchard Hills, there are papers which were published within 9 miles [14.5 km]<4> Extended Newspaper List for Orchard Hills.
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 Orchard Hills:
Websites specific to Pennsylvania Pages specific to Berks County Genealogy information for nearby counties
Bucks County Carbon County Chester County Delaware County Indiana County Lancaster County Lebanon County Lehigh County Montgomery County Northampton County Philadelphia County Schuylkill County Cemetery Information and Directories for Pennsylvania Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Orchard Hills. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page .
The official website for Berks County: https://www.berkspa.gov/
The official website for Commonwealth of Pennsylvania: https://www.pa.gov/
Footnotes ...
<1> While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. 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 . 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 Hills, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. 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 Hills) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.