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 Rathmel (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 Rathmel. 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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.
Rathmel is located in Jefferson 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 Jefferson County: Armstrong, Clarion, Clearfield, Elk, Forest & Indiana.
Below are the counties that are near Rathmel. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Rathmel:
- Jefferson County (The home county of Rathmel)
- The following are listed by their distance from Rathmel, with the one closest to Rathmel listed first.
- Prescottville
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Prescottville is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prescottville
- Pancoast
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Pancoast is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pancoast
- Reynoldsville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Falls Creek
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Sandy Valley
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Sandy Valley is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Valley
- Sykesville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Red Mill
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Red Mill is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Mill
- Wishaw
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Wishaw is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wishaw
- Panic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Panic is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Panic
- Fuller
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Fuller is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fuller
- Allens Mills
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Allens Mills is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allens Mills
- Albion
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Albion is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albion
- Armstrong County
- The following are listed by their distance from Rathmel, with the one closest to Rathmel listed first.
- McWilliams
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- McWilliams is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McWilliams
- Eddyville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Eddyville is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eddyville
- Millville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Millville is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millville
- Dayton
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Putneyville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Putneyville is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Putneyville
- South Bethlehem
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- South Bethlehem is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Bethlehem
- Population from the 2020 Census: 443 people
- Barnards
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Barnards is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barnards
- Bryan
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Bryan is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bryan
- Muff
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Muff is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Muff
- Echo
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Echo is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Echo
- Deanville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Deanville is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deanville
- Cambria County
- The following are listed by their distance from Rathmel, with the one closest to Rathmel listed first.
- Garmantown
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Garmantown is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garmantown
- Barnesboro
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Barnesboro is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barnesboro
- Hastings
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Northern Cambria
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Northern Cambria is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Northern Cambria
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,456 people
- West Branch
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- West Branch is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Branch
- Clarion County
- The following are listed by their distance from Rathmel, with the one closest to Rathmel listed first.
- Crates
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Crates is located in Clarion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crates
- Day
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Day is located in Clarion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Day
- Hawthorn
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Frogtown
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Frogtown is located in Clarion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frogtown
- Waterson
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Waterson is located in Clarion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterson
- Cooksburg
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Fairmont City
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Mechanicsville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Mechanicsville is located in Clarion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mechanicsville
- New Bethlehem
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Strattanville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Brinkerton
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Brinkerton is located in Clarion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brinkerton
- Helen Furnace
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Helen Furnace is located in Clarion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helen Furnace
- Clearfield County
- The following are listed by their distance from Rathmel, with the one closest to Rathmel listed first.
- Sandy
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Sandy is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy
- Stanley
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Stanley is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stanley
- DuBois
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Helvetia
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Helvetia is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helvetia
- Troutville
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Troutville is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Troutville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 222 people
- Luthersburg
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Treasure Lake
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Treasure Lake is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Treasure Lake
- Rockton
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Rockton is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockton
- Laborde
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Laborde is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laborde
- Winterburn
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Winterburn is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winterburn
- Grampian
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Curry Run
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Curry Run is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Curry Run
- Elk County
- The following are listed by their distance from Rathmel, with the one closest to Rathmel listed first.
- Brockport
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Shawmut
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Shawmut is located in Elk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shawmut
- Horton City
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Horton City is located in Elk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horton City
- Challenge
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Challenge is located in Elk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Challenge
- Lake City
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Kylers Corners
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Kylers Corners is located in Elk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kylers Corners
- Scattertown
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Scattertown is located in Elk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scattertown
- Hallton
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Hallton is located in Elk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hallton
- Dagus Mines
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Dagus Mines is located in Elk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dagus Mines
- Millstone
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Millstone is located in Elk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millstone
- Byrnedale
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Caledonia
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Caledonia is located in Elk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caledonia
- Forest County
- The following are listed by their distance from Rathmel, with the one closest to Rathmel listed first.
- Clarington
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Redclyffe
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Redclyffe is located in Forest County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redclyffe
- Gilfoyle
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Gilfoyle is located in Forest County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilfoyle
- Marienville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Marienville is located in Forest County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marienville
- Roses
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Roses is located in Forest County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roses
- Indiana County
- The following are listed by their distance from Rathmel, with the one closest to Rathmel listed first.
- Johnsonburg
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Johnsonburg is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnsonburg
- Rossiter
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Urey
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Urey is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Urey
- Marchand
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Marchand is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marchand
- Glen Campbell
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Trade City
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Trade City is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trade City
- Hooverhurst
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Hooverhurst is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hooverhurst
- Rochester Mills
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Rochester Mills is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rochester Mills
- Savan
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Savan is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Savan
- Mottarns Mill
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Mottarns Mill is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mottarns Mill
- Georgeville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Georgeville is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Georgeville
- Hillsdale
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Hillsdale is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillsdale
- Lawrence County
- Big Run
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Big Run is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Run
- Population from the 2020 Census: 594 people
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Rathmel, see our County-by-County Page for Rathmel.
Cemeteries Near Rathmel ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Rathmel.
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 Rathmel - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Rathmel covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Rathmel, with the one closest to Rathmel listed first.
- Prospect Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Beulah Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Reynoldsville Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Soldier Hill Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Holy Trinity Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- St. Marys Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for St. Marys Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the St. Marys Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the north of Reynoldsville.
- The St. Marys Cemetery has also been known as:
- St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1111986 <2>
- Lakelawn Memorial Park
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Shaffer Memorial Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Salem Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Rumbarger Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- St. Catherines Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- St. Josephs Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Continue List (157 more) ...
- St. Michaels Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Beechwoods Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Union Cemetery
(5 miles [8 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.<3>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Rathmel had a post office and railroad service.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Rathmel, with the one closest to Rathmel listed first.
- Prescottville
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Prescottville is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prescottville
- Pancoast
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Pancoast is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pancoast
- Reynoldsville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Sykesville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Stanley
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Stanley is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stanley
- Falls Creek
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Sandy Valley
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Sandy Valley is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Valley
- Helvetia
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Helvetia is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helvetia
- DuBois
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Cramer
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Cramer is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cramer
- Troutville
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Troutville is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Troutville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 222 people
- Panic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Panic is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Panic
- Continue List (17 more) ...
- Luthersburg
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Harveys Run
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Harveys Run is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harveys Run
- Narrows Creek
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Narrows Creek is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Narrows Creek
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Rathmel. See our List of 1890's Communities around Rathmel.
Newspapers Published in Rathmel ...
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 57 newspapers that have been published in the area around Rathmel.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Rathmel, there are papers which were published within 14 miles [22.5 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Rathmel.
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 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 Rathmel:
- Websites specific to Pennsylvania
- Pages specific to Jefferson County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Armstrong County
- Cambria County
- Clarion County
- Clearfield County
- Elk County
- Forest County
- Indiana County
- Lawrence County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Pennsylvania
Footnotes ...
| <1> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <2> | The Find-a-Grave website is an excellent research tool with information about a cemetery's location and interments. They also offer a forum for their members which can provide additional help. More information about Find-a-Grave can be found on their website: findagrave.com. |
| <3> | We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Rathmel, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Rathmel) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |