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 Shanesville (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 Shanesville. 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 southwest 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 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 west 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.
Shanesville is located in Berks 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 Berks County : Chester , Lancaster , Lebanon , Lehigh , Montgomery & Schuylkill .
Below are the counties that are near Shanesville. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Shanesville:
Berks County (The home county of Shanesville)
The following are listed by their distance from Shanesville, with the one closest to Shanesville listed first.
Manatawny (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
Manatawny is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manatawny Pikeville (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
Pikeville is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pikeville Bechtelsville (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
Lobachsville (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
Lobachsville is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lobachsville Boyertown (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
Indian Springs Village (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
Griesemersville (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
Griesemersville is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Griesemersville Eshbach (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
Eshbach is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eshbach Landis Store (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
Landis Store is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Landis Store Ironstone (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
Ironstone is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ironstone Colebrookdale (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
Colebrookdale is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colebrookdale Oley (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
Bucks County
The following are listed by their distance from Shanesville, with the one closest to Shanesville listed first.
Argus (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
Argus is located in Bucks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Argus Milford Square (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
Milford Square is located in Bucks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milford Square Steinsburg (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
Steinsburg is located in Bucks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Steinsburg Trumbauersville (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
Zionhill (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
Zionhill is located in Bucks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zionhill Hilltop (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
Hilltop is located in Bucks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilltop Shelly (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
Shelly is located in Bucks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shelly Quakertown (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
Rich Hill (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
Rich Hill is located in Bucks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rich Hill Derstines (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
Derstines is located in Bucks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Derstines Sellersville (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
Passer (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
Passer is located in Bucks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Passer Carbon County
The following are listed by their distance from Shanesville, with the one closest to Shanesville listed first.
Germans (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
Germans is located in Carbon County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Germans Ashfield (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
Ashfield is located in Carbon County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashfield Hazard (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
Hazard is located in Carbon County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hazard Kittatinny (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
Kittatinny is located in Carbon County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kittatinny Bowmanstown (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
New Mahoning (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
New Mahoning is located in Carbon County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Mahoning Palmerton (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
Palmerton is located in Carbon County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palmerton Population from the 2020 Census: 5,321 people
Chester County
The following are listed by their distance from Shanesville, with the one closest to Shanesville listed first.
Pottstown Landing (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
Pottstown Landing is located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pottstown Landing South Pottstown (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
South Pottstown is located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Pottstown Kenilworth (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
Kenilworth is located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kenilworth Fricks Lock (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
Fricks Lock is located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fricks Lock Parker Ford (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
Parker Ford is located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parker Ford Bucktown (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
Bucktown is located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bucktown Coventryville (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
Coventryville is located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coventryville Knauertown (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
Knauertown is located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knauertown Pughtown (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
Pughtown is located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pughtown Slonaker (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
Slonaker is located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slonaker Seven Stars (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
Seven Stars is located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seven Stars Spring City (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
Delaware County
The following are listed by their distance from Shanesville, with the one closest to Shanesville listed first.
Saint Davids (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
Ithan (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
Ithan is located in Delaware County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ithan Radnor Station (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
Radnor Station is located in Delaware County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Radnor Station Radnor (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
Wayne (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
Edgemont (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
Edgemont is located in Delaware County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgemont Green Countrie Village (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
Montrose Village (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
Montrose Village is located in Delaware County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montrose Village Rosemont (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
Indiana County
Ernest (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
Ernest is located in Indiana County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ernest Population from the 2020 Census: 431 people
Lancaster County
The following are listed by their distance from Shanesville, with the one closest to Shanesville listed first.
Churchtown (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
Beartown (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
Beartown is located in Lancaster County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beartown Red Run (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
Red Run is located in Lancaster County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Run Terre Hill (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
East Earl (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
Reamstown (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
Weaverland (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
Weaverland is located in Lancaster County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weaverland Blainsport (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
Blainsport is located in Lancaster County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blainsport Denver (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
Blue Ball (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
Meadville (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
Meadville is located in Lancaster County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadville Hinkletown (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
Hinkletown is located in Lancaster County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hinkletown Lebanon County
The following are listed by their distance from Shanesville, with the one closest to Shanesville listed first.
Newmanstown (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
Sheridan (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
Sheridan is located in Lebanon County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sheridan Stricklerstown (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
Stricklerstown is located in Lebanon County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stricklerstown Richland (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
Lehigh County
The following are listed by their distance from Shanesville, with the one closest to Shanesville listed first.
Hensingersville (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
Hensingersville is located in Lehigh County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hensingersville Alburtis (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
Powder Valley (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
Powder Valley is located in Lehigh County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powder Valley Hosensack (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
Hosensack is located in Lehigh County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hosensack Macungie (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
Old Zionsville (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
Old Zionsville is located in Lehigh County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Zionsville Zionsville (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
Ancient Oaks (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
Ancient Oaks is located in Lehigh County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ancient Oaks Dillingerville (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
Dillingerville is located in Lehigh County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dillingerville Dillingerville has also been known as:
Dillinger Dillingers Ville Dillingers Dillingersville Stahlers New Smithville (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
New Smithville is located in Lehigh County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Smithville Wallner ‑ Historic(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
Wallner is located in Lehigh County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wallner Hynemansville (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
Hynemansville is located in Lehigh County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hynemansville Montgomery County
The following are listed by their distance from Shanesville, with the one closest to Shanesville listed first.
Gilbertsville (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
Congo (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
Congo is located in Montgomery County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Congo Halfway House (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
Halfway House is located in Montgomery County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halfway House Stowe (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
West Pottsgrove (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
West Pottsgrove is located in Montgomery County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Pottsgrove New Hanover (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
Anise (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
Anise is located in Montgomery County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anise Fruitville (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
Fruitville is located in Montgomery County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fruitville Pleasant Run (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
Pleasant Run is located in Montgomery County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Run Bramcote (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
Bramcote is located in Montgomery County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bramcote Pottstown (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
Pottsgrove (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
Pottsgrove is located in Montgomery County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pottsgrove Northampton County
The following are listed by their distance from Shanesville, with the one closest to Shanesville listed first.
Seidersville (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
Seidersville is located in Northampton County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seidersville Star Village (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
Star Village is located in Northampton County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Star Village Hellertown (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
Leithsville (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
Leithsville is located in Northampton County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leithsville North Catasauqua (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
North Catasauqua is located in Northampton County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Catasauqua Population from the 2020 Census: 2,825 people
Bethlehem (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
Northampton (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
Freemansburg (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
Hanover (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
Hanover is located in Northampton County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hanover Howertown (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
Howertown is located in Northampton County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howertown Howertown has also been known as:
Hauertown Howardtown Howartown Howeton Weaversville (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
Weaversville is located in Northampton County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weaversville Kreidersville (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
Kreidersville is located in Northampton County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kreidersville Schuylkill County
The following are listed by their distance from Shanesville, with the one closest to Shanesville listed first.
Port Clinton (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
Deer Lake (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
Deer Lake is located in Schuylkill County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Lake Population from the 2020 Census: 645 people
Rauschs (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
Rauschs is located in Schuylkill County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rauschs Rene Mont (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
Rene Mont is located in Schuylkill County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rene Mont Mantz (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
Mantz is located in Schuylkill County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mantz Auburn (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
Andreas (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
Jefferson (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
Jefferson is located in Schuylkill County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jefferson McKeansburg (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
McKeansburg is located in Schuylkill County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McKeansburg New Ringgold (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
Aucheys (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
Aucheys is located in Schuylkill County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aucheys Landingville (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
Landingville is located in Schuylkill County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Landingville Population from the 2020 Census: 149 people
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Shanesville, see our County-by-County Page for Shanesville .
Cemeteries Near Shanesville ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Shanesville.
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 Shanesville - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Shanesville covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Shanesville, with the one closest to Shanesville listed first.
Hill Church Union Cemetery (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
Mountain Marys Grave (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
Oley Cemetery (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
Union Cemetery (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
Fairview Cemetery (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
Union Cemetery (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
Weller Cemetery (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
St. Pauls Cemetery (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
Lesher Cemetery (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
Hoch - DeTurk - Schenkel Cemetery (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
Union Cemetery (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
St. Pauls Cemetery (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
Continue List (378 more) ...
Fritz Cemetery (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
Friedens Church Cemetery (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friedens Church Cemetery To give a relative sense of its location, the Friedens Church Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Oley . The Friedens Church Cemetery has also been known as:
Friedens Cemetery Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2211517 <2>
St. Pauls Cemetery (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
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>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Shanesville had a population of 189 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Shanesville, with the one closest to Shanesville listed first.
Spangsville (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
Spangsville is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spangsville Pikeville (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
Pikeville is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pikeville Manatawny (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
Manatawny is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manatawny Griesemersville (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
Griesemersville is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Griesemersville Earlville (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
Earlville is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Earlville Worman (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
Worman is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Worman Greshville (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
Greshville is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greshville Boyertown (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
New Berlinville (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
Bechtelsville (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
Lobachsville (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
Lobachsville is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lobachsville Yellow House (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
Yellow House is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yellow House Continue List (18 more) ...
Ironstone (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
Ironstone is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ironstone Colebrookdale (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
Colebrookdale is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colebrookdale Little Oley (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
Little Oley is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Oley
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Shanesville. See our List of 1890's Communities around Shanesville .
Newspapers Published in Shanesville ...
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 37 newspapers that have been published in the area around Shanesville.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Shanesville, there are papers which were published within 8 miles [12.9 km]<3> Extended Newspaper List for Shanesville.
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 Shanesville:
Websites specific to Pennsylvania Pages specific to Berks County Genealogy information for nearby counties
Bucks County Carbon County Chester County Delaware County Indiana County Lancaster County Lebanon County Lehigh County Montgomery County Northampton County Schuylkill County Cemetery Information and Directories for Pennsylvania Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Shanesville. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page .
The official website for Berks County: https://www.berkspa.gov/
The official website for Commonwealth of Pennsylvania: https://www.pa.gov/
Footnotes ...
<1> While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. 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 . 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 from Point A (ie- Shanesville) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. 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 Shanesville, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.