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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 Ralston (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 Ralston. 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 doctors 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.

Ralston is located in Lycoming County.

To see how the shape of Pennsylvania's counties have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Lycoming County: Bradford, Clinton, Columbia, Montour, Northumberland, Potter, Sullivan, Tioga & Union.

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

  • Lycoming County     (The home county of Ralston)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ralston, with the one closest to Ralston listed first.
    • Wallis Run
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Wallis Run. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wallis Run
      • Wallis Run is located in Lycoming County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Wallis Run
      • From Ralston to Wallis Run
    • Ellenton
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ellenton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellenton
      • Ellenton is located in Lycoming County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Ellenton
      • From Ralston to Ellenton
    • Chemung
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Proctor
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Warrensville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Fairlawn
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Jersey Shore
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jersey Shore have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jersey Shore
      • Jersey Shore is located in Lycoming County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,132 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Jersey Shore <3>
    • Montgomery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Montgomery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montgomery
      • Montgomery is located in Lycoming County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,502 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Montgomery <3>
    • Picture Rocks
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Picture Rocks have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Picture Rocks
      • Picture Rocks is located in Lycoming County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 643 people
    • White Pine
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for White Pine. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Pine
      • White Pine is located in Lycoming County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to White Pine
      • From Ralston to White Pine
    • Faxon
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Brookside
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Brookside. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookside
      • Brookside is located in Lycoming County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Brookside
      • From Ralston to Brookside
    • Lorenton
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
  • Bradford County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ralston, with the one closest to Ralston listed first.
    • Canton
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Minnequa
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Minnequa. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minnequa
      • Minnequa is located in Bradford County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Minnequa
      • From Ralston to Minnequa
    • Alba
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • West Leroy
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Windfall
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Windfall. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windfall
      • Windfall is located in Bradford County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Windfall
      • From Ralston to Windfall
    • Covert
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Covert. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Covert
      • Covert is located in Bradford County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Covert
      • From Ralston to Covert
    • Sylvania
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sylvania have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sylvania
      • Sylvania is located in Bradford County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 209 people
    • Troy
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Long Valley
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Long Valley. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Valley
      • Long Valley is located in Bradford County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Long Valley
      • From Ralston to Long Valley
    • Overton
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Overton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Overton
      • Overton is located in Bradford County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Overton
      • From Ralston to Overton
    • Austinville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Columbia Cross Roads
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Franklindale
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
  • Clinton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ralston, with the one closest to Ralston listed first.
    • Avis
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Avis have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avis
      • Avis is located in Clinton County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,476 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Avis <3>
    • Rauchtown
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Montour County
  • Northumberland County
  • Sullivan County
  • Tioga County
  • Union County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ralston, with the one closest to Ralston listed first.
    • Alvira ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Alvira. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alvira
      • Alvira is located in Union County
      • Former name for Alvira:
      • Wisetown
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Alvira
      • From Ralston to Alvira
    • Allenwood
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)

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

Cemeteries Near Ralston ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Ralston.

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.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

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

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

  • Pennsdale Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pennsdale Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pennsdale Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Beech Valley Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Beech Valley Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Beech Valley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Friedens Evangelical Lutheran Church Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Steam Valley Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • North Union Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the North Union Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the North Union Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Whipple Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Whipple Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Whipple Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Park Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Park Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Park Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Michaels Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Michaels Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Michaels Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Stolz Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Stolz Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Stolz Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Quaker Hill Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Quaker Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Quaker Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Christian Hill Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Christian Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Christian Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Arbon Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (125 more) ...
    • St. Andrews Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Andrews Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Andrews Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • St. Marys Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Union Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Union Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Union Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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.<5>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Ralston had a population of 394 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service.

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

  • Langdon
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Langdon have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Langdon
    • Langdon is located in Lycoming County
  • Marsh Hill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Marsh Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marsh Hill
    • Marsh Hill is located in Lycoming County
  • Bodines
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bodines have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bodines
    • Bodines is located in Lycoming County
  • Roaring Branch
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Roaring Branch have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roaring Branch
    • Roaring Branch is located in Lycoming County
  • Kellyburg
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kellyburg have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kellyburg
    • Kellyburg is located in Lycoming County
  • Wallis Run
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Wallis Run. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wallis Run
    • Wallis Run is located in Lycoming County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Wallis Run
    • From Ralston to Wallis Run
  • East Point
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Ogdensburg
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ogdensburg. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ogdensburg
    • Ogdensburg is located in Tioga County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Ogdensburg
    • From Ralston to Ogdensburg
  • Ellenton
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ellenton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellenton
    • Ellenton is located in Lycoming County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Ellenton
    • From Ralston to Ellenton
  • Chemung
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Grover
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grover have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grover
    • Grover is located in Bradford County
  • Gleason
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Gleason. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gleason
    • Gleason is located in Tioga County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Gleason
    • From Ralston to Gleason
  • Continue List   (20 more) ...
    • Liberty
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Liberty have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty
      • Liberty is located in Tioga County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 230 people
    • Steam Valley
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Steam Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Steam Valley
      • Steam Valley is located in Lycoming County
    • Trout Run
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Trout Run have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trout Run
      • Trout Run is located in Lycoming County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Trout Run <3>

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

Newspapers Published in Ralston ...

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 76 newspapers that have been published in the area around Ralston.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Ralston, there are papers which were published within 20 miles [32.2 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Ralston.

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 Ralston:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Ralston. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Lycoming County: www.lyco.org/

The official website for Commonwealth of Pennsylvania: https://www.pa.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<2>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>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.
<5>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 Ralston, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Ralston) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Ralston. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.5062, Longitude: -76.9543    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025