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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 Penn Hill (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 Penn Hill. 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 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.

Penn Hill is located in Lancaster 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 Lancaster County: Cecil (MD), Harford (MD), Berks, Chester, Dauphin, Lebanon & York.

Below are the counties that are near Penn Hill. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Penn Hill:

  • Lancaster County     (The home county of Penn Hill)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Penn Hill, with the one closest to Penn Hill listed first.
    • McSparran
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • McSparran is located in Lancaster County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McSparran
    • Furniss
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Furniss is located in Lancaster County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Furniss
    • Little Britain
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Little Britain is located in Lancaster County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Britain
    • Benton
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Benton is located in Lancaster County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benton
    • Oak Hill
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Oak Hill is located in Lancaster County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Hill
    • Mechanic Grove
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Mechanic Grove is located in Lancaster County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mechanic Grove
    • Kirks Mills
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Kirks Mills is located in Lancaster County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kirks Mills
    • Summerhill
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Summerhill is located in Lancaster County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summerhill
    • Buck
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Buck is located in Lancaster County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buck
    • Quarryville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Truce
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Truce is located in Lancaster County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Truce
    • Mount Nebo
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Mount Nebo is located in Lancaster County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Nebo
  • Berks County
  • Chester County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Penn Hill, with the one closest to Penn Hill listed first.
    • Glen Roy
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Glen Roy is located in Chester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Roy
    • Hopewell
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Hopewell is located in Chester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopewell
    • Mount Vernon
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Mount Vernon is located in Chester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Vernon
    • Tweedale
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Tweedale is located in Chester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tweedale
    • Barnsley
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Barnsley is located in Chester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barnsley
    • Chrome
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Chrome is located in Chester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chrome
    • Oxford
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Elkview
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Elkview is located in Chester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkview
    • Atglen
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Daleville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Daleville is located in Chester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Daleville
    • Jennersville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Jennersville is located in Chester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jennersville
    • Lenover
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Lenover is located in Chester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lenover
  • York County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Penn Hill, with the one closest to Penn Hill listed first.
    • Slate Hill
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Slate Hill is located in York County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slate Hill
    • Delta
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Castle Fin
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Castle Fin is located in York County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Castle Fin
    • Slab
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Slab is located in York County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slab
    • Bryansville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Bryansville is located in York County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bryansville
    • Susquehanna Trails
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Susquehanna Trails is located in York County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Susquehanna Trails
    • Kyleville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Kyleville is located in York County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kyleville
    • Airville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Goram
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Goram is located in York County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goram
    • Bruce
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Bruce is located in York County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bruce
    • Fawn Grove
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • New Freedom
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
  • New Castle County (DE)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Penn Hill, with the one closest to Penn Hill listed first.
    • Newark
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Newark is located in New Castle County (DE)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newark
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 33,849 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Newark <1>
    • York Towne
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • York Towne is located in New Castle County (DE)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for York Towne
    • North Star
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • North Star is located in New Castle County (DE)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Star
    • Southwood
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Southwood is located in New Castle County (DE)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Southwood
    • Wilson
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Wilson is located in New Castle County (DE)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilson
    • Brookside
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Brookside is located in New Castle County (DE)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookside
    • English Village
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • English Village is located in New Castle County (DE)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for English Village
    • Hockessin
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Mendenhall Village
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Mendenhall Village is located in New Castle County (DE)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mendenhall Village
    • Pike Creek
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Pike Creek is located in New Castle County (DE)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pike Creek
    • The Village of Drummond Hill
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Pencader Village
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Pencader Village is located in New Castle County (DE)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pencader Village
  • Baltimore County (MD)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Penn Hill, with the one closest to Penn Hill listed first.
    • Gorsuch Mills
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Gorsuch Mills is located in Baltimore County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gorsuch Mills
    • Shane
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Shane is located in Baltimore County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shane
    • Trump
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Trump is located in Baltimore County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trump
    • Stablersville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Stablersville is located in Baltimore County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stablersville
    • Baldwin
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Fork
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Franklinville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Franklinville is located in Baltimore County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklinville
    • Jerusalem Mills
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Jerusalem Mills is located in Baltimore County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jerusalem Mills
    • Maryland Line
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Maryland Line is located in Baltimore County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maryland Line
    • Bradshaw
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Hydes
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Kingsville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Cecil County (MD)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Penn Hill, with the one closest to Penn Hill listed first.
    • Rock Springs
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Rock Springs is located in Cecil County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Springs
    • Bald Friar ‑ Historic
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Bald Friar is located in Cecil County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bald Friar
    • Oakwood
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Oakwood is located in Cecil County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakwood
    • Conowingo
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Mason Dixon Village
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Mason Dixon Village is located in Cecil County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mason Dixon Village
    • Rowlandsville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Rowlandsville is located in Cecil County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rowlandsville
    • Colora
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Rising Sun
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Sylmar
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Sylmar is located in Cecil County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sylmar
    • Liberty Grove
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Liberty Grove is located in Cecil County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty Grove
    • Rock Run
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Rock Run is located in Cecil County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Run
    • Calvert
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Calvert is located in Cecil County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calvert
  • Harford County (MD)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Penn Hill, with the one closest to Penn Hill listed first.
    • Conowingo Village
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Conowingo Village is located in Harford County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conowingo Village
    • Darlington
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Stafford ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Stafford is located in Harford County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stafford
    • Cambria
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Cambria is located in Harford County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cambria
    • Dublin
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Dublin is located in Harford County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dublin
    • Poole
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Poole is located in Harford County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poole
    • Whiteford
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Glenville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Glenville is located in Harford County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenville
    • Scarboro
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Scarboro is located in Harford County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scarboro
    • Lapidum
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Lapidum is located in Harford County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lapidum
    • Pylesville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Garland
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Garland is located in Harford County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garland
  • Kent County (MD)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Penn Hill, with the one closest to Penn Hill listed first.
    • Betterton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Coleman
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Coleman is located in Kent County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coleman
  • Montgomery County (MD)
    • High Point Estates
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • High Point Estates is located in Montgomery County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Point Estates

For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Penn Hill, see our County-by-County Page for Penn Hill.

Cemeteries Near Penn Hill ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Penn Hill.

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 Penn Hill - one of the links might be able to help.

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Penn Hill covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Penn Hill, with the one closest to Penn Hill listed first.

  • Chestnut Level Presbyterian Church Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Coopers Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Bethesda Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bethesda Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Bethesda Cemetery is located less than 2 miles<3> to the northwest of Conowingo (MD).
    • The Bethesda Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Oakwood Bethesda Methodist Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #80777 <2>
  • Drumore Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Mt. Zoar Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Conowingo Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Mt. Zion Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Tabernacle Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Nottingham Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • St. Catherines Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Mt. Vernon Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Hosanna Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (282 more) ...
    • Mt. Pleasant Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • New Bridge Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Krauss Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 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 Penn Hill in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Penn Hill.

These communities are listed based on their distance from Penn Hill, with the one closest to Penn Hill listed first.

  • Wakefield
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Wakefield is located in Lancaster County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wakefield
  • Eldora
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Eldora is located in Lancaster County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eldora
  • Goshen
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Goshen is located in Lancaster County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goshen
  • McSparran
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • McSparran is located in Lancaster County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McSparran
  • Furniss
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Furniss is located in Lancaster County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Furniss
  • Pleasant Grove
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Pleasant Grove is located in Lancaster County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Grove
  • Wrightsdale
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Wrightsdale is located in Lancaster County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wrightsdale
  • Hensel
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Hensel is located in Lancaster County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hensel
  • Little Britain
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Little Britain is located in Lancaster County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Britain
  • Chestnut Level
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Chestnut Level is located in Lancaster County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Level
  • Benton
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Benton is located in Lancaster County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benton
  • Rock Springs
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Rock Springs is located in Cecil County (MD)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Springs
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Kirks Mills
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Kirks Mills is located in Lancaster County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kirks Mills
    • Oak Hill
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Oak Hill is located in Lancaster County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Hill
    • Unicorn
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Unicorn is located in Lancaster County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unicorn

We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Penn Hill. See our List of 1890's Communities around Penn Hill.

Newspapers Published in Penn Hill ...

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 20 newspapers that have been published in the area around Penn Hill.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Penn Hill, there are papers which were published within 10 miles [16.1 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Penn Hill.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin 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 Penn Hill:

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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Penn Hill) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Penn Hill, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.