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 Rockdale (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 Rockdale. 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 and hospitals 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.
Rockdale is located in Lackawanna 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 Lackawanna County: Luzerne, Monroe, Susquehanna, Wayne & Wyoming.
Below are the counties that are near Rockdale. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Rockdale:
- Lackawanna County (The home county of Rockdale)
- The following are listed by their distance from Rockdale, with the one closest to Rockdale listed first.
- Spring Brook
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Spring Brook is located in Lackawanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Brook
- Yostville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Yostville is located in Lackawanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yostville
- Daleville
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Moscow
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Elmhurst
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Belian Village
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Belian Village is located in Lackawanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belian Village
- Turnersville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Turnersville is located in Lackawanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turnersville
- Aberdeen
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Aberdeen is located in Lackawanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aberdeen
- Minooka
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Minooka is located in Lackawanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minooka
- Moosic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Lehigh
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Lehigh is located in Lackawanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lehigh
- Dunmore
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Lawrenceville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Lawrenceville is located in Lackawanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawrenceville
- Carbon County
- The following are listed by their distance from Rockdale, with the one closest to Rockdale 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
- Albrightsville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Meckesville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Meckesville is located in Carbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meckesville
- Leslie Run
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Leslie Run is located in Carbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leslie Run
- Mud Run
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Mud Run is located in Carbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mud Run
- Unionville
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Unionville is located in Carbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unionville
- Penn Haven Junction
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Penn Haven Junction is located in Carbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Penn Haven Junction
- Weatherly
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Hudsondale
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Hudsondale is located in Carbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hudsondale
- Jim Thorpe
(29 miles [46.7 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>
- Beaver Meadows
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Coxes Village
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Coxes Village is located in Carbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coxes Village
- Coxes Village has also been known as:
- Cross Village
- Jonesville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Jonesville is located in Carbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jonesville
- Luzerne County
- The following are listed by their distance from Rockdale, with the one closest to Rockdale listed first.
- Langdon
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Langdon is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Langdon
- Avoca
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Houston City
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Houston City is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Houston City
- Dupont
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Duryea
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Hughestown
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Hughestown is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hughestown
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,356 people
- Yatesville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Yatesville is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yatesville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 613 people
- Laflin
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Laflin is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laflin
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,435 people
- Pittston
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Bear Creek Village
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Exeter
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- West Pittston
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Hilldale
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Hilldale is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilldale
- Monroe County
- The following are listed by their distance from Rockdale, with the one closest to Rockdale listed first.
- Locust Lakes Village
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Locust Lakes Village is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locust Lakes Village
- Mount Pocono
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Tobyhanna
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Pocono Pines
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Pocono Summit
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Long Pond
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Mountainhome
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Paradise Valley
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Paradise Valley is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paradise Valley
- Parkside
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Parkside is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkside
- McMichael
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- McMichael is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McMichael
- Reeders
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Appenzell
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Appenzell is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Appenzell
- Brodheadsville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Pike County
- The following are listed by their distance from Rockdale, with the one closest to Rockdale listed first.
- South Sterling
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- La Anna
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- La Anna is located in Pike County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Anna
- Ledgedale
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Ledgedale is located in Pike County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ledgedale
- Panther
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Panther is located in Pike County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Panther
- Paupack
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Tafton
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Blooming Grove
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Blooming Grove is located in Pike County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blooming Grove
- Wilsonville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Wilsonville is located in Pike County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilsonville
- Lords Valley
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Kimble
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Kimble is located in Pike County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kimble
- Susquehanna County
- The following are listed by their distance from Rockdale, with the one closest to Rockdale listed first.
- Forest City
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Lenoxville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Lenoxville is located in Susquehanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lenoxville
- Royal
(25 miles [40.2 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)
- South Gibson
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Union Dale
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Wayne County
- The following are listed by their distance from Rockdale, with the one closest to Rockdale listed first.
- Sterling
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Hollisterville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Hollisterville is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollisterville
- Maplewood
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Maplewood is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maplewood
- Tresslarville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Tresslarville is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tresslarville
- South Canaan
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- South Canaan is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Canaan
- Lakeville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Uswick
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Uswick is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Uswick
- Waymart
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Keen
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Keen is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keen
- Prompton
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Prompton is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prompton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 233 people
- Forest City Station
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Forest City Station is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest City Station
- Hawley
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Honesdale
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Wyoming County
- The following are listed by their distance from Rockdale, with the one closest to Rockdale listed first.
- Lake Winola
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Factoryville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- South Eaton
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- South Eaton is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Eaton
- Vernon
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Vernon is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vernon
- Mill City ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Mill City is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mill City
- Osterhout
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Osterhout is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osterhout
- Beaumont
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Beaumont is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaumont
- Jenks
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Jenks is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jenks
- Dixon
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Dixon is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dixon
- Nicholson
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Evans Falls
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Evans Falls is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evans Falls
- Tunkhannock
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Noxen
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Rockdale, see our County-by-County Page for Rockdale.
Cemeteries Near Rockdale ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Rockdale.
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 Rockdale - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Rockdale covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Rockdale, with the one closest to Rockdale listed first.
- Springbrook Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springbrook Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Springbrook Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located 4 miles [6.4 km]<2> to the west of Daleville.
- The Springbrook Cemetery has also been known as:
- Springbrook Congregational Church Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1370723 <3>
- Maple Lake UMC Upper Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Maple Lake UMC Lower Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Clifton Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Laurel Hill Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Daleville Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- St. Catherines Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Fairview Memorial Estate Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- St. Stanislaus Polish National Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for St. Stanislaus Polish National Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the St. Stanislaus Polish National Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Scranton.
- The St. Stanislaus Polish National Cemetery has also been known as:
- St. Stanislaus Cathedral PNCC Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #641328 <3>
- Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Scranton.
- The Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary Cemetery has also been known as:
- Minooka Polish Cemetery
- Sacred Heart Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #412152 <3>
- St. Josephs RC Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for St. Josephs RC Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the St. Josephs RC Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Scranton.
- The St. Josephs RC Cemetery has also been known as:
- St. Josephs Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1964856 <3>
- Polish National Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Continue List (237 more) ...
- Sacred Heart Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Pine Grove Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- St. Marys Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
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 Rockdale in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Rockdale.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Rockdale, with the one closest to Rockdale listed first.
- Spring Brook
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Spring Brook is located in Lackawanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Brook
- Yostville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Yostville is located in Lackawanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yostville
- Clifton
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Clifton is located in Lackawanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clifton
- Daleville
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Moscow
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Elmhurst
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Nay Aug
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Nay Aug is located in Lackawanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nay Aug
- Minooka
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Minooka is located in Lackawanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minooka
- Moosic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Avoca
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Dupont
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Scranton
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Continue List (19 more) ...
- Lehigh
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Lehigh is located in Lackawanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lehigh
- Freytown
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Freytown is located in Lackawanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freytown
- Madisonville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Madisonville is located in Lackawanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Madisonville
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Rockdale. See our List of 1890's Communities around Rockdale.
Newspapers Published in Rockdale ...
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 87 newspapers that have been published in the area around Rockdale.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Rockdale, there are papers which were published within 14 miles [22.5 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Rockdale.
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 professional and volunteer 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 Rockdale:
- Websites specific to Pennsylvania
- Pages specific to Lackawanna County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Carbon County
- Luzerne County
- Monroe County
- Pike 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> | 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- Rockdale) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <3> | 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. |
| <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 Rockdale, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |