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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 Pleasant 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 Pleasant 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 southeast 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 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 east 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.

Pleasant Hills is located in Allegheny 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 Allegheny County: Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Washington & Westmoreland.

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

  • Allegheny County     (The home county of Pleasant Hills)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pleasant Hills, with the one closest to Pleasant Hills listed first.
    • Willock
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Willock is located in Allegheny County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willock
    • Baldwin
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Baldwin is located in Allegheny County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baldwin
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 19,419 people
    • Whitehall
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Cochrans Mill
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Cochrans Mill is located in Allegheny County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cochrans Mill
    • Jefferson Hills
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Jefferson Hills is located in Allegheny County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jefferson Hills
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 11,136 people
      • Jefferson Hills has also been known as:
      • Jefferson
    • Coal Valley
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Coal Valley is located in Allegheny County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coal Valley
    • Dravosburg
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Glassport
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Brentwood
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Mendelssohn
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Mendelssohn is located in Allegheny County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mendelssohn
    • Library
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Brightwood
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Brightwood is located in Allegheny County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brightwood
  • Armstrong County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pleasant Hills, with the one closest to Pleasant Hills listed first.
    • Apollo
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Apollo is located in Armstrong County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Apollo
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,507 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Apollo <1>
    • Edmon
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Edmon is located in Armstrong County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edmon
    • Freeport
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Leechburg
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • North Apollo
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Orchard Hills
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Orchard Hills is located in Armstrong County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orchard Hills
    • Aladdin
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Aladdin is located in Armstrong County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aladdin
  • Beaver County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pleasant Hills, with the one closest to Pleasant Hills listed first.
    • Ambridge
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • South Heights
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • South Heights is located in Beaver County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Heights
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 437 people
    • Gringo
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Gringo is located in Beaver County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gringo
    • Crestmont Village
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Crestmont Village is located in Beaver County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crestmont Village
    • Economy
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Economy is located in Beaver County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Economy
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,022 people
    • Aliquippa
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Baden
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • New Sheffield
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • New Sheffield is located in Beaver County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Sheffield
    • Wallace City
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Wallace City is located in Beaver County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wallace City
    • Conway
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Harshaville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Harshaville is located in Beaver County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harshaville
    • Freedom
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Butler County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pleasant Hills, with the one closest to Pleasant Hills listed first.
    • Valencia
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Mars
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Mars is located in Butler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mars
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,608 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mars <1>
    • Seven Fields
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Seven Fields is located in Butler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seven Fields
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,740 people
    • Fernway
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Fernway is located in Butler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fernway
    • Fox Run
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Fox Run is located in Butler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox Run
    • Ogle
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Ogle is located in Butler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ogle
    • Ekastown
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Ekastown is located in Butler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ekastown
    • Glade Mills
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Glade Mills is located in Butler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glade Mills
    • Myoma
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Myoma is located in Butler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Myoma
    • Callery
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • 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
    • Monroe
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Monroe is located in Butler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monroe
  • Fayette County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pleasant Hills, with the one closest to Pleasant Hills listed first.
    • Belle Vernon
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Lynnwood
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Lynnwood is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lynnwood
    • Arnold City
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Arnold City is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arnold City
    • Brownstown
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Brownstown is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brownstown
    • Fairhope
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Fairhope is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairhope
    • Fayette City
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Fayette City is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fayette City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 569 people
    • Newell
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Newell is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newell
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 492 people
    • Banning
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Banning is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Banning
    • Whitsett
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Whitsett is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitsett
    • Chamouni
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Chamouni is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chamouni
    • Kenneth
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Kenneth is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kenneth
    • Fuller
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Fuller is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fuller
  • Greene County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pleasant Hills, with the one closest to Pleasant Hills listed first.
    • Chartiers
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Chartiers is located in Greene County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chartiers
    • Clarksville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Rices Landing
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • West Union
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • West Union is located in Greene County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Union
    • Jefferson
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Jefferson is located in Greene County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jefferson
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 249 people
    • Lippincott
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Lippincott is located in Greene County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lippincott
    • Carmichaels
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Cumberland Village
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Cumberland Village is located in Greene County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cumberland Village
    • Stringtown
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Stringtown is located in Greene County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stringtown
    • Fairdale
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Fairdale is located in Greene County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairdale
    • Swarts
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Swarts is located in Greene County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swarts
  • Indiana County
    • White
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • White is located in Indiana County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White
  • Washington County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pleasant Hills, with the one closest to Pleasant Hills listed first.
    • Ellsworth
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Ellsworth is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellsworth
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 960 people
    • Gastonville
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Gastonville is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gastonville
    • Finleyville
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • McMurray
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • New Eagle
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Thompsonville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Thompsonville is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thompsonville
    • Baidland
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Baidland is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baidland
    • Black Diamond
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Black Diamond is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Diamond
    • Monongahela
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Riverview
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Riverview is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverview
    • Gilkeson
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Gilkeson is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilkeson
    • Dunningsville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Dunningsville is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunningsville
  • Westmoreland County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pleasant Hills, with the one closest to Pleasant Hills listed first.
    • Shaner
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Shaner is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shaner
    • Sutersville
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Trafford
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Blackburn ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Blackburn is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackburn
    • Webster
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Webster is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Webster
    • Larimer
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Larimer is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Larimer
    • Rillton
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Monessen
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Herminie
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Irwin
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • 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>
    • North Irwin
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • North Irwin is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Irwin
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 780 people
    • Shafton
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Shafton is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shafton

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

Cemeteries Near Pleasant Hills ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Pleasant 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 Pleasant Hills - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

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 Pleasant Hills in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Pleasant Hills.

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

  • Broughton
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Broughton is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Broughton
  • Surgeon Hall
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Surgeon Hall is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Surgeon Hall
  • New England
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • New England is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New England
  • Option
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Option is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Option
  • Willock
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Willock is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willock
  • Curry
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Curry is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Curry
  • Gill Hall
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Gill Hall is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gill Hall
  • Cochrans Mill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Cochrans Mill is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cochrans Mill
  • Baldwin
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Baldwin is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baldwin
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 19,419 people
  • Whitehall
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Library
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Snowden
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Snowden is located in Allegheny County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Snowden
  • Continue List   (23 more) ...
    • Mendelssohn
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Mendelssohn is located in Allegheny County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mendelssohn
    • Wilson
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Wilson is located in Allegheny County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilson
    • Coal Valley
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Coal Valley is located in Allegheny County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coal Valley

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

Newspapers Published in Pleasant 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 455 newspapers that have been published in the area around Pleasant Hills.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Pleasant Hills, there are papers which were published within 8 miles [12.9 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Pleasant Hills.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to 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 Pleasant Hills:

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 Pleasant Hills, 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- Pleasant Hills) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.