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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 Sporting Hill (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 Sporting Hill. 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 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 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.

Sporting Hill is located in Lancaster County.

To see how the shape of Pennsylvania's counties have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Lancaster County: Cecil (MD), Harford (MD), Berks, Chester, Dauphin, Lebanon & York.

Below are the counties that are near Sporting Hill. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Sporting Hill:

  • Lancaster County     (The home county of Sporting Hill)
  • Berks County
  • Chester County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sporting Hill, with the one closest to Sporting Hill listed first.
    • Cambridge
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Compass
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Honey Brook
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Honey Brook have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Honey Brook
      • Honey Brook is located in Chester County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,756 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Honey Brook <1>
    • Atglen
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Suplee
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Lenover
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Lenover. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lenover
      • Lenover is located in Chester County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Lenover
      • From Sporting Hill to Lenover
    • Birdell
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Birdell. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Birdell
      • Birdell is located in Chester County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Birdell
      • From Sporting Hill to Birdell
    • Dampman
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Parkesburg
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Parkesburg have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkesburg
      • Parkesburg is located in Chester County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,057 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Parkesburg <1>
    • Cupola
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Cupola. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cupola
      • Cupola is located in Chester County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Cupola
      • From Sporting Hill to Cupola
    • Elverson
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
    • Isabella
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Isabella. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Isabella
      • Isabella is located in Chester County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Isabella
      • From Sporting Hill to Isabella
  • Cumberland County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sporting Hill, with the one closest to Sporting Hill listed first.
    • New Cumberland
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Cumberland have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Cumberland
      • New Cumberland is located in Cumberland County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,300 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for New Cumberland <1>
    • Lower Allen
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lower Allen have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lower Allen
      • Lower Allen is located in Cumberland County
    • Lemoyne
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lemoyne have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lemoyne
      • Lemoyne is located in Cumberland County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,632 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lemoyne <1>
    • Lisburn
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Wormleysburg
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wormleysburg have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wormleysburg
      • Wormleysburg is located in Cumberland County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,062 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wormleysburg <1>
    • Camp Hill
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • West Fairview
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Enola
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Shiremanstown
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shiremanstown have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shiremanstown
      • Shiremanstown is located in Cumberland County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,641 people
    • Allenview
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Sporting Hill
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Westwood Village
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Westwood Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westwood Village
      • Westwood Village is located in Cumberland County
  • Dauphin County
  • Lebanon County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sporting Hill, with the one closest to Sporting Hill listed first.
    • Mount Gretna Heights
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Gretna Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Gretna Heights
      • Mount Gretna Heights is located in Lebanon County
    • Mount Gretna
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Gretna have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Gretna
      • Mount Gretna is located in Lebanon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 209 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mount Gretna <1>
    • Timber Hills
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Timber Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timber Hills
      • Timber Hills is located in Lebanon County
    • Burd Coleman Village
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Burd Coleman Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burd Coleman Village
      • Burd Coleman Village is located in Lebanon County
    • Miners Village
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Miners Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Miners Village
      • Miners Village is located in Lebanon County
    • Colebrook
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Lawn
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Cornwall
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cornwall have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cornwall
      • Cornwall is located in Lebanon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,382 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cornwall <1>
    • Quentin
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Johnstown
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Johnstown have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnstown
      • Johnstown is located in Lebanon County
    • Fontana
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Fontana. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fontana
      • Fontana is located in Lebanon County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Fontana
      • From Sporting Hill to Fontana
    • Campbelltown
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Perry County
    • Marysville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Marysville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marysville
      • Marysville is located in Perry County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,553 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Marysville <1>
  • Schuylkill County
  • York County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sporting Hill, with the one closest to Sporting Hill listed first.
    • East Prospect
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Prospect have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Prospect
      • East Prospect is located in York County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 912 people
    • Wrightsville
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Craley
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Hallam
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hallam have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hallam
      • Hallam is located in York County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,634 people
    • Yorkana
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Yorkana have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yorkana
      • Yorkana is located in York County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 229 people
    • Starview
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • York Haven
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for York Haven have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for York Haven
      • York Haven is located in York County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 691 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for York Haven <1>
    • New Bridgeville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Bittersville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Holtz
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Holtz. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holtz
      • Holtz is located in York County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Holtz
      • From Sporting Hill to Holtz
    • Manchester
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Mount Wolf
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Wolf have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Wolf
      • Mount Wolf is located in York County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,380 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mount Wolf <1>
  • Harford County (MD)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sporting Hill, with the one closest to Sporting Hill listed first.
    • Cambria
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Cambria. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cambria
      • Cambria is located in Harford County (MD)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Cambria
      • From Sporting Hill to Cambria
    • Whiteford
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)

For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Sporting Hill, see our County-by-County Page for Sporting Hill.

Cemeteries Near Sporting Hill ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Sporting Hill.

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.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Sporting Hill covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Sporting Hill, with the one closest to Sporting Hill listed first.

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.<6>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Sporting Hill had a population of 249 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

These communities are listed based on their distance from Sporting Hill, with the one closest to Sporting Hill listed first.

  • Lancaster Junction
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Manheim
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Salunga
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Salunga have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salunga
    • Salunga is located in Lancaster County
  • Mechanicsville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mechanicsville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mechanicsville
    • Mechanicsville is located in Lancaster County
  • Landisville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Fairland
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Mount Joy
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Bamford
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bamford have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bamford
    • Bamford is located in Lancaster County
  • East Petersburg
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Limerock
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Limerock have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Limerock
    • Limerock is located in Lancaster County
  • Elstonville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Farmdale
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Farmdale have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmdale
    • Farmdale is located in Lancaster County
  • Continue List   (18 more) ...
    • Silver Spring
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Mount Hope
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Penryn
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Penryn have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Penryn
      • Penryn is located in Lancaster County

We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Sporting Hill. See our List of 1890's Communities around Sporting Hill.

Newspapers Published in Sporting Hill ...

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 169 newspapers that have been published in the area around Sporting Hill.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Sporting Hill, there are papers which were published within 10 miles [16.1 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Sporting Hill.

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 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 Sporting Hill:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Sporting Hill. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Lancaster County: www.co.lancaster.pa.us/

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.
<2>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<3>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<4>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.
<5>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Sporting Hill) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Sporting Hill. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.1441, Longitude: -76.4200    
<6>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 Sporting Hill, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025