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 Shoemakersville (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 Shoemakersville. 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 southeast 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 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 east 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.
Shoemakersville 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 Shoemakersville. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Shoemakersville:
Berks County (The home county of Shoemakersville)
The following are listed by their distance from Shoemakersville, with the one closest to Shoemakersville listed first.
Berne (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
Berne is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berne Centerport (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
Hamburg (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
Windsor Castle (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
Windsor Castle is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windsor Castle Dauberville (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
Dauberville is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dauberville Leesport (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
Moselem (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
Moselem is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moselem Ededburg (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
Ededburg is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ededburg Ontelaunee (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
Ontelaunee is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ontelaunee Rickenbach (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
Rickenbach is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rickenbach Georgetown Village (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
Georgetown Village is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Georgetown Village Garfield (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
Garfield is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garfield Bucks County
The following are listed by their distance from Shoemakersville, with the one closest to Shoemakersville listed first.
Steinsburg (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
Steinsburg is located in Bucks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Steinsburg Hilltop (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
Hilltop is located in Bucks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilltop Milford Square (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
Milford Square is located in Bucks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milford Square Zionhill (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
Zionhill is located in Bucks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zionhill Carbon County
The following are listed by their distance from Shoemakersville, with the one closest to Shoemakersville listed first.
New Mahoning (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
New Mahoning is located in Carbon County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Mahoning Germans (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
Germans is located in Carbon County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Germans Lansford (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
Ashfield (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
Ashfield is located in Carbon County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashfield Mertz Town (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
Mertz Town is located in Carbon County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mertz Town Kittatinny (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
Kittatinny is located in Carbon County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kittatinny Nesquehoning (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
Summit Hill (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
Hazard (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
Hazard is located in Carbon County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hazard Lehighton (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
Parryville (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
Weissport (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
Chester County
The following are listed by their distance from Shoemakersville, with the one closest to Shoemakersville listed first.
Elverson (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
Pottstown Landing (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
Pottstown Landing is located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pottstown Landing South Pottstown (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
South Pottstown is located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Pottstown Kenilworth (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
Kenilworth is located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kenilworth Loag (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
Loag is located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loag Coventryville (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
Coventryville is located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coventryville Knauertown (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
Knauertown is located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knauertown Dampman (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
Dampman is located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dampman Isabella (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
Isabella is located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Isabella Bucktown (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
Bucktown is located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bucktown Fricks Lock (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
Fricks Lock is located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fricks Lock Cupola (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
Cupola is located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cupola Columbia County
The following are listed by their distance from Shoemakersville, with the one closest to Shoemakersville listed first.
Centralia (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
Locustdale (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
Aristes (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
Aristes is located in Columbia County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aristes Lancaster County
The following are listed by their distance from Shoemakersville, with the one closest to Shoemakersville listed first.
Blainsport (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
Blainsport is located in Lancaster County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blainsport Cocalico (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
Cocalico is located in Lancaster County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cocalico Denver (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
Reamstown (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
Red Run (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
Red Run is located in Lancaster County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Run Stevens (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
Terre Hill (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
Clay (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
Clay is located in Lancaster County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clay Ephrata (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
Hopeland (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
Hopeland is located in Lancaster County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopeland Churchtown (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
Brickerville (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
Lebanon County
The following are listed by their distance from Shoemakersville, with the one closest to Shoemakersville listed first.
Newmanstown (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
Sheridan (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
Sheridan is located in Lebanon County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sheridan Richland (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
Stricklerstown (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
Stricklerstown is located in Lebanon County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stricklerstown Myerstown (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
Greble (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
Greble is located in Lebanon County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greble Prescott (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
Prescott is located in Lebanon County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prescott Schaefferstown (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
Mount Zion (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
Mount Zion is located in Lebanon County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Zion Avon Heights (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
Avon Heights is located in Lebanon County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avon Heights Johnstown (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
Johnstown is located in Lebanon County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnstown Avon (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
Avon is located in Lebanon County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avon Lehigh County
The following are listed by their distance from Shoemakersville, with the one closest to Shoemakersville listed first.
Jacksonville (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
Jacksonville is located in Lehigh County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jacksonville New Smithville (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
New Smithville is located in Lehigh County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Smithville Stines Corner (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
Stines Corner is located in Lehigh County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stines Corner Hynemansville (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
Hynemansville is located in Lehigh County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hynemansville Weisenberg (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
Weisenberg is located in Lehigh County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weisenberg Seipstown (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
Seipstown is located in Lehigh County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seipstown Wallner ‑ Historic(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
Wallner is located in Lehigh County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wallner Lochland (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
Lochland is located in Lehigh County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lochland Alburtis (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
Hensingersville (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
Hensingersville is located in Lehigh County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hensingersville Weidasville (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
Weidasville is located in Lehigh County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weidasville Ancient Oaks (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
Ancient Oaks is located in Lehigh County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ancient Oaks Luzerne County
The following are listed by their distance from Shoemakersville, with the one closest to Shoemakersville listed first.
Newtown (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
Newtown is located in Luzerne County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newtown Harwood (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
Harwood is located in Luzerne County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harwood Montgomery County
The following are listed by their distance from Shoemakersville, with the one closest to Shoemakersville listed first.
Congo (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
Congo is located in Montgomery County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Congo Gilbertsville (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
Halfway House (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
Halfway House is located in Montgomery County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halfway House West Pottsgrove (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
West Pottsgrove is located in Montgomery County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Pottsgrove Fruitville (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
Fruitville is located in Montgomery County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fruitville Palm (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
Bramcote (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
Bramcote is located in Montgomery County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bramcote Stowe (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
New Hanover (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
Pleasant Run (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
Pleasant Run is located in Montgomery County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Run Pottsgrove (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
Pottsgrove is located in Montgomery County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pottsgrove Pottstown (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
Northampton County
The following are listed by their distance from Shoemakersville, with the one closest to Shoemakersville listed first.
Lockport (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
Lockport is located in Northampton County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lockport Walnutport (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
Berlinsville (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
Berlinsville is located in Northampton County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berlinsville Northampton (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
Cherryville (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
North Catasauqua (28 miles [45.1 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
Howertown (29 miles [46.7 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 Kreidersville (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
Kreidersville is located in Northampton County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kreidersville Weaversville (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
Weaversville is located in Northampton County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weaversville Danielsville (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
Schuylkill County
The following are listed by their distance from Shoemakersville, with the one closest to Shoemakersville listed first.
Port Clinton (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
Auburn (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
Deer Lake (9 miles [14.5 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
Jefferson (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
Jefferson is located in Schuylkill County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jefferson Rauschs (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
Rauschs is located in Schuylkill County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rauschs Aucheys (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
Aucheys is located in Schuylkill County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aucheys Landingville (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
Landingville is located in Schuylkill County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Landingville Population from the 2020 Census: 149 people
McKeansburg (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
McKeansburg is located in Schuylkill County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McKeansburg New Ringgold (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
Rene Mont (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
Rene Mont is located in Schuylkill County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rene Mont Lake Wynonah (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
Lake Wynonah is located in Schuylkill County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Wynonah Orwigsburg (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Shoemakersville, see our County-by-County Page for Shoemakersville .
Cemeteries Near Shoemakersville ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Shoemakersville.
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 Shoemakersville - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Shoemakersville covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Shoemakersville, with the one closest to Shoemakersville listed first.
St. Lukes Cemetery (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
Viewpoint Cemetery (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
Birch Hill Cemetery (Less than 2 miles to the south)
St. Johns Church Cemetery (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
Leesport Cemetery (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
St. John's Lutheran Church Cemetery (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
St. Johns Cemetery (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
Fairview Cemetery (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
St. Michaels Union Cemetery (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
Greenwood Catholic Cemetery (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
Maidencreek Cemetery (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
Continue List (318 more) ...
Beckers St. Peters Church Cemetery (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
St. Peters Reformed Church Cemetery (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
Good Shepherd Cemetery (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
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 Shoemakersville had a population of 502 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service. In 2020, Shoemakersville had a population of 1,384 people.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Shoemakersville, with the one closest to Shoemakersville listed first.
Mohrsville (Less than 2 miles to the south)
Mohrsville is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mohrsville Five Locks (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
Five Locks is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Locks Centerport (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
Berne (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
Berne is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berne Hamburg (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
Dauberville (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
Dauberville is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dauberville Leesport (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
Windsor Castle (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
Windsor Castle is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windsor Castle West Leesport (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
West Leesport is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Leesport Evansville (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
Evansville is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evansville Molltown (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
Molltown is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Molltown Moselem (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
Moselem is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moselem Continue List (14 more) ...
Rickenbach (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
Rickenbach is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rickenbach Ontelaunee (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
Ontelaunee is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ontelaunee Berkley (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
Berkley is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berkley
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Shoemakersville. See our List of 1890's Communities around Shoemakersville .
Newspapers Published in Shoemakersville ...
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 133 newspapers that have been published in the area around Shoemakersville.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Shoemakersville, there are papers which were published within 12 miles [19.3 km]<4> Extended Newspaper List for Shoemakersville.
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 Shoemakersville:
Websites specific to Pennsylvania Pages specific to Berks County Genealogy information for nearby counties
Bucks County Carbon County Chester County Columbia County Lancaster County Lebanon County Lehigh County Luzerne 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 Shoemakersville. 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 . 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 Shoemakersville, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. 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- Shoemakersville) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.