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 Ridgewood (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 Ridgewood. 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 and 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.
Ridgewood is located in Luzerne 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 Luzerne County: Carbon, Columbia, Lackawanna, Monroe, Schuylkill, Sullivan & Wyoming.
Below are the counties that are near Ridgewood. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Ridgewood:
- Luzerne County (The home county of Ridgewood)
- The following are listed by their distance from Ridgewood, with the one closest to Ridgewood listed first.
- Laflin
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Laflin is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laflin
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,435 people
- Hilldale
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Hilldale is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilldale
- Port Blanchard
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Port Blanchard is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Port Blanchard
- Miners Mills
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Miners Mills is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Miners Mills
- Plains
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Yatesville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Yatesville is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yatesville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 613 people
- Wyoming
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Port Bowkley
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Port Bowkley is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Port Bowkley
- Exeter
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Pittston
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- West Pittston
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Forty Fort
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Forty Fort is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forty Fort
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,025 people
- Swoyersville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Carbon County
- The following are listed by their distance from Ridgewood, with the one closest to Ridgewood listed first.
- East Side
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- East Side is located in Carbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Side
- Population from the 2020 Census: 301 people
- Leslie Run
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Leslie Run is located in Carbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leslie Run
- Mud Run
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Mud Run is located in Carbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mud Run
- Albrightsville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Unionville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Unionville is located in Carbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unionville
- Penn Haven Junction
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Penn Haven Junction is located in Carbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Penn Haven Junction
- Weatherly
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Meckesville
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Meckesville is located in Carbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meckesville
- Beaver Meadows
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Coxes Village
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Coxes Village is located in Carbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coxes Village
- Coxes Village has also been known as:
- Cross Village
- Hudsondale
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Hudsondale is located in Carbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hudsondale
- Tresckow
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Tresckow is located in Carbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tresckow
- Jim Thorpe
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Jim Thorpe is located in Carbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jim Thorpe
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,650 people
- Former names for Jim Thorpe:
- East Mauch Chunk
- Mauch Chunk
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Jim Thorpe <1>
- Columbia County
- The following are listed by their distance from Ridgewood, with the one closest to Ridgewood listed first.
- Foundryville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Foundryville is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foundryville
- Berwick
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Jonestown
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Jonestown is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jonestown
- Jamison City
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Jamison City is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamison City
- Briar Creek
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Briar Creek is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Briar Creek
- Population from the 2020 Census: 672 people
- Hetlerville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Hetlerville is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hetlerville
- Mifflinville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Benton
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Stillwater
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Zaner
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Zaner is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zaner
- Lackawanna County
- The following are listed by their distance from Ridgewood, with the one closest to Ridgewood listed first.
- Lawrenceville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Lawrenceville is located in Lackawanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawrenceville
- Belian Village
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Belian Village is located in Lackawanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belian Village
- Old Forge
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Moosic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Minooka
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Minooka is located in Lackawanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minooka
- Taylor
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Milwaukee
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Milwaukee is located in Lackawanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milwaukee
- Spring Brook
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Spring Brook is located in Lackawanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Brook
- Scranton
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Yostville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Yostville is located in Lackawanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yostville
- Dunmore
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Green Ridge
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Green Ridge is located in Lackawanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Ridge
- Schultzville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Schultzville is located in Lackawanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Schultzville
- Monroe County
- The following are listed by their distance from Ridgewood, with the one closest to Ridgewood listed first.
- Locust Lakes Village
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Locust Lakes Village is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locust Lakes Village
- Mount Pocono
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Tobyhanna
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Pocono Pines
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Long Pond
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Pocono Summit
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Mountainhome
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Paradise Valley
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Paradise Valley is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paradise Valley
- McMichael
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- McMichael is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McMichael
- Appenzell
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Appenzell is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Appenzell
- Kresgeville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Reeders
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Pike County
- The following are listed by their distance from Ridgewood, with the one closest to Ridgewood listed first.
- La Anna
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- La Anna is located in Pike County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Anna
- South Sterling
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Ledgedale
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Ledgedale is located in Pike County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ledgedale
- Panther
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Panther is located in Pike County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Panther
- Schuylkill County
- The following are listed by their distance from Ridgewood, with the one closest to Ridgewood listed first.
- Kelayres
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Kelayres is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelayres
- McAdoo
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Nuremberg
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Lofty
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Lofty is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lofty
- Oneida
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Oneida is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oneida
- Sheppton
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Susquehanna County
- The following are listed by their distance from Ridgewood, with the one closest to Ridgewood listed first.
- Lenoxville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Lenoxville is located in Susquehanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lenoxville
- Royal
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Royal is located in Susquehanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Royal
- Hop Bottom
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Springville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Tyler
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Tyler is located in Susquehanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tyler
- Wayne County
- The following are listed by their distance from Ridgewood, with the one closest to Ridgewood listed first.
- Hollisterville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Hollisterville is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollisterville
- Sterling
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Maplewood
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Maplewood is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maplewood
- Tresslarville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Tresslarville is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tresslarville
- South Canaan
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- South Canaan is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Canaan
- Lakeville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Waymart
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Wyoming County
- The following are listed by their distance from Ridgewood, with the one closest to Ridgewood listed first.
- Mill City ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Mill City is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mill City
- Beaumont
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Beaumont is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaumont
- Vernon
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Vernon is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vernon
- South Eaton
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- South Eaton is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Eaton
- Lake Winola
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Osterhout
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Osterhout is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osterhout
- Evans Falls
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Evans Falls is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evans Falls
- Jenks
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Jenks is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jenks
- Noxen
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Dixon
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Dixon is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dixon
- Factoryville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Tunkhannock
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Marcy
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Marcy is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marcy
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Ridgewood, see our County-by-County Page for Ridgewood.
Cemeteries Near Ridgewood ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Ridgewood.
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 Ridgewood - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Ridgewood covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Ridgewood, with the one closest to Ridgewood listed first.
- Cooper - Blanchard Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooper - Blanchard Cemetery
- The Cooper - Blanchard Cemetery has also been known as:
- Blanchard - Cooper Cemetery
- Plainsville Cemetery
- Holy Resurrection Russian Orthodox Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Hollenbeck Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- St. Cecilias Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- St. John the Baptist Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- St. John the Evangelist Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Jenkins-Harding Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Forty Fort Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- St. John the Baptist RC Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Sacred Heart Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- St. Michaels Byzantine Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- St. Marys Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Continue List (241 more) ...
- Brick Church Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- St. Ignatius Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for St. Ignatius Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the St. Ignatius Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Pringle.
- The St. Ignatius Cemetery has also been known as:
- St. Ignatius Catholic Church Cemetery
- St. Ignatius Parish Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1975437 <2>
- St. John's Russian Orthodox Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
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 Ridgewood in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Ridgewood.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Ridgewood, with the one closest to Ridgewood listed first.
- Miners Mills
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Miners Mills is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Miners Mills
- Parsons
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Parsons is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parsons
- Port Blanchard
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Port Blanchard is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Port Blanchard
- Laflin
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Laflin is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laflin
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,435 people
- Inkerman
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Inkerman is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Inkerman
- Plains
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Hudson
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Hudson is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hudson
- Wyoming
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Yatesville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Yatesville is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yatesville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 613 people
- Sebastopol
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Sebastopol is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sebastopol
- Port Griffith
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Port Griffith is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Port Griffith
- Plainsville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Plainsville is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plainsville
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Port Bowkley
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Port Bowkley is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Port Bowkley
- Pittston
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- West Pittston
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Ridgewood. See our List of 1890's Communities around Ridgewood.
Newspapers Published in Ridgewood ...
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 101 newspapers that have been published in the area around Ridgewood.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Ridgewood, there are papers which were published within 12 miles [19.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Ridgewood.
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 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 Ridgewood:
- Websites specific to Pennsylvania
- Pages specific to Luzerne County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Carbon County
- Columbia County
- Lackawanna County
- Monroe County
- Pike County
- Schuylkill County
- Susquehanna County
- Wayne County
- Wyoming 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 Ridgewood, 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- Ridgewood) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |