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 Sunset Valley (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 Sunset Valley. 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.
Name Variations for Sunset Valley ...
When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.
For example, a typical abbreviation for Sunset Valley: Sunset Vly. (or less commonly used: Sunset Vally. or Sunset Vlly.)
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Sunset Valley. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Sunset Valley.
If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.
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.
Sunset Valley is located in Westmoreland 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 Westmoreland County: Allegheny, Armstrong, Butler, Cambria, Fayette, Indiana & Somerset.
Below are the counties that are near Sunset Valley. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Sunset Valley:
- Westmoreland County (The home county of Sunset Valley)
- The following are listed by their distance from Sunset Valley, with the one closest to Sunset Valley listed first.
- Rillton
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Larimer
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Larimer is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Larimer
- Irwin
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Irwin is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irwin
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,716 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Irwin <1>
- North Irwin
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- North Irwin is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Irwin
- Population from the 2020 Census: 780 people
- Shaner
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Shaner is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shaner
- Shafton
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Shafton is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shafton
- Westmoreland City
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Westmoreland City is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westmoreland City
- Herminie
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Adamsburg
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Adamsburg is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adamsburg
- Population from the 2020 Census: 161 people
- Manor
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Manor is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manor
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,322 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Manor <1>
- Blackburn ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Blackburn is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackburn
- Arona
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Arona is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arona
- Population from the 2020 Census: 343 people
- Allegheny County
- The following are listed by their distance from Sunset Valley, with the one closest to Sunset Valley listed first.
- Buena Vista
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Buena Vista is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buena Vista
- White Oak
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Boston
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Versailles
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Versailles is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Versailles
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,452 people
- Lincoln
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Lincoln is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,013 people
- Wall
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Wall is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wall
- Population from the 2020 Census: 553 people
- East McKeesport
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- McKeesport
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- North Versailles
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Riverton
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Riverton is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverton
- Liberty
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Liberty is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,438 people
- Clairton
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Armstrong County
- The following are listed by their distance from Sunset Valley, with the one closest to Sunset Valley listed first.
- Edmon
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Edmon is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edmon
- Apollo
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- North Apollo
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Orchard Hills
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Orchard Hills is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orchard Hills
- Leechburg
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Spring Church
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Freeport
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Olivet
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Olivet is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olivet
- Aladdin
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Aladdin is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aladdin
- McVille
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- McVille is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McVille
- Neale
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Neale is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Neale
- Cochrans Mills
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Cochrans Mills is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cochrans Mills
- Butler County
- The following are listed by their distance from Sunset Valley, with the one closest to Sunset Valley listed first.
- Monroe
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Monroe is located in Butler County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monroe
- Ekastown
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Ekastown is located in Butler County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ekastown
- Valencia
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Glade Mills
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Glade Mills is located in Butler County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glade Mills
- Leasureville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Leasureville is located in Butler County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leasureville
- Saxonburg
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Mars
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Fayette County
- The following are listed by their distance from Sunset Valley, with the one closest to Sunset Valley listed first.
- Banning
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Banning is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Banning
- Arnold City
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Arnold City is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arnold City
- Whitsett
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Whitsett is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitsett
- Belle Vernon
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Lynnwood
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Lynnwood is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lynnwood
- Brownstown
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Brownstown is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brownstown
- Fairhope
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Fairhope is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairhope
- Fuller
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Fuller is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fuller
- Lynn
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Lynn is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lynn
- Fayette City
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Fayette City is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fayette City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 569 people
- Perryopolis
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Everson
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Everson is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Everson
- Population from the 2020 Census: 744 people
- Greene County
- The following are listed by their distance from Sunset Valley, with the one closest to Sunset Valley listed first.
- Chartiers
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Chartiers is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chartiers
- Clarksville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Rices Landing
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Stringtown
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Stringtown is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stringtown
- Carmichaels
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Cumberland Village
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Cumberland Village is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cumberland Village
- Jefferson
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Jefferson is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jefferson
- Population from the 2020 Census: 249 people
- Indiana County
- The following are listed by their distance from Sunset Valley, with the one closest to Sunset Valley listed first.
- White
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- White is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White
- Bow
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Bow is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bow
- Clarksburg
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Blairsville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Saltsburg
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- West Lebanon
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- West Lebanon is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Lebanon
- Jacksonville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Jacksonville is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jacksonville
- Aultman
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Aultman is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aultman
- Black Lick
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Black Lick is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Lick
- Washington County
- The following are listed by their distance from Sunset Valley, with the one closest to Sunset Valley listed first.
- Black Diamond
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Black Diamond is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Diamond
- Donora
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Monongahela
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Riverview
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Riverview is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverview
- Ellsworth
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Ellsworth is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellsworth
- Population from the 2020 Census: 960 people
- New Eagle
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- North Charleroi
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- North Charleroi is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Charleroi
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,258 people
- Gastonville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Gastonville is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gastonville
- Baidland
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Baidland is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baidland
- Charleroi
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Finleyville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Dunlevy
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Sunset Valley, see our County-by-County Page for Sunset Valley.
Cemeteries Near Sunset Valley ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Sunset Valley.
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 Sunset Valley - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Sunset Valley covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Sunset Valley, with the one closest to Sunset Valley listed first.
- Dravo Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Old Quaker Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Old Mars Hill Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Immaculate Conception Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Union Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Cemetery
- The Union Cemetery has also been known as:
- Irwin Union Cemetery
- St. Patrick's Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Wineland Grove Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Penn Lincoln Memorial Park
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Pennsylvania Lincoln Memorial Park
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Old Brush Creek Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Mt. Vernon Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Guffey Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (437 more) ...
- Madison Union Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Brush Creek Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brush Creek Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Brush Creek Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the north of Adamsburg.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #44464 <2>
- St. Michael Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 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.<3>
While we didn't find Sunset Valley in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Sunset Valley.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Sunset Valley, with the one closest to Sunset Valley listed first.
- Guffey
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Guffey is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guffey
- Yohoghany
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Yohoghany is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yohoghany
- Rillton
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Circleville
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Circleville is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Circleville
- Shaner
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Shaner is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shaner
- Stewartsville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Stewartsville is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stewartsville
- Irwin
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Irwin is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irwin
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,716 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Irwin <1>
- Emblem
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Emblem is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emblem
- Alpsville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Alpsville is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alpsville
- Buena Vista
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Buena Vista is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buena Vista
- Dick
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Dick is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dick
- Shafton
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Shafton is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shafton
- Continue List (19 more) ...
- Oakville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Oakville is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakville
- Ardara
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Ardara is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ardara
- Greenock
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Greenock is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenock
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Sunset Valley. See our List of 1890's Communities around Sunset Valley.
Newspapers Published in Sunset Valley ...
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 65 newspapers that have been published in the area around Sunset Valley.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Sunset Valley, there are papers which were published within 9 miles [14.5 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Sunset Valley.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we start 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 Sunset Valley:
- Websites specific to Pennsylvania
- Pages specific to Westmoreland County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Allegheny County
- Armstrong County
- Butler County
- Fayette County
- Greene County
- Indiana County
- Washington 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 Sunset Valley, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Sunset Valley) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |