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 Sunshine (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 Sunshine. 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 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.
Sunshine 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 Sunshine. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Sunshine:
- Berks County (The home county of Sunshine)
- The following are listed by their distance from Sunshine, with the one closest to Sunshine listed first.
- Lorane
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Lorane is located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lorane
- Brice Village
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Brice Village is located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brice Village
- Exeter Village
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Exeter Village is located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Exeter Village
- Robeson Crossing
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Robeson Crossing is located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robeson Crossing
- Gibraltar
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Gibraltar is located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gibraltar
- Jacksonwald
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Jacksonwald is located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jacksonwald
- Saint Lawrence
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Saint Lawrence is located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Lawrence
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,832 people
- Stonersville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Stonersville is located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stonersville
- Reiffton
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Reiffton is located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reiffton
- Mount Penn
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Birdsboro
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Flying Hills
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Flying Hills is located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flying Hills
- Bucks County
- The following are listed by their distance from Sunshine, with the one closest to Sunshine listed first.
- Argus
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Argus is located in Bucks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Argus
- Milford Square
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Milford Square is located in Bucks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milford Square
- Steinsburg
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Steinsburg is located in Bucks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Steinsburg
- Trumbauersville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Zionhill
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Zionhill is located in Bucks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zionhill
- Derstines
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Derstines is located in Bucks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Derstines
- Quakertown
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Rich Hill
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Rich Hill is located in Bucks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rich Hill
- Sellersville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Hilltop
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Hilltop is located in Bucks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilltop
- Shelly
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Shelly is located in Bucks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shelly
- Perkasie
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Chester County
- The following are listed by their distance from Sunshine, with the one closest to Sunshine listed first.
- Elverson
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Pottstown Landing
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Pottstown Landing is located in Chester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pottstown Landing
- Knauertown
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Knauertown is located in Chester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knauertown
- South Pottstown
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- South Pottstown is located in Chester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Pottstown
- Isabella
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Isabella is located in Chester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Isabella
- Loag
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Loag is located in Chester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loag
- Coventryville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Coventryville is located in Chester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coventryville
- Kenilworth
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Kenilworth is located in Chester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kenilworth
- Dampman
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Dampman is located in Chester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dampman
- Bucktown
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Bucktown is located in Chester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bucktown
- Nantmeal Village
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Nantmeal Village is located in Chester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nantmeal Village
- Pughtown
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Pughtown is located in Chester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pughtown
- Delaware County
- The following are listed by their distance from Sunshine, with the one closest to Sunshine listed first.
- Edgemont
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Edgemont is located in Delaware County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgemont
- Radnor Station
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Radnor Station is located in Delaware County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Radnor Station
- Radnor
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Saint Davids
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Wayne
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Lancaster County
- The following are listed by their distance from Sunshine, with the one closest to Sunshine listed first.
- Churchtown
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Beartown
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Beartown is located in Lancaster County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beartown
- Red Run
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Red Run is located in Lancaster County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Run
- Terre Hill
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Blue Ball
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- East Earl
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Weaverland
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Weaverland is located in Lancaster County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weaverland
- Blainsport
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Blainsport is located in Lancaster County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blainsport
- Denver
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Reamstown
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Stevens
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Hinkletown
(17 miles [27.4 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 Sunshine, with the one closest to Sunshine listed first.
- Newmanstown
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Stricklerstown
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Stricklerstown is located in Lebanon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stricklerstown
- Sheridan
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Sheridan is located in Lebanon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sheridan
- Richland
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Schaefferstown
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Johnstown
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Johnstown is located in Lebanon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnstown
- Myerstown
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Prescott
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Prescott is located in Lebanon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prescott
- Avon Heights
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Avon Heights is located in Lebanon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avon Heights
- Avon
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Avon is located in Lebanon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avon
- Greble
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Greble is located in Lebanon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greble
- Miners Village
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Miners Village is located in Lebanon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Miners Village
- Lehigh County
- The following are listed by their distance from Sunshine, with the one closest to Sunshine listed first.
- Alburtis
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Hensingersville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Hensingersville is located in Lehigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hensingersville
- New Smithville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- New Smithville is located in Lehigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Smithville
- Hosensack
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Hosensack is located in Lehigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hosensack
- Macungie
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Old Zionsville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Old Zionsville is located in Lehigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Zionsville
- Powder Valley
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Powder Valley is located in Lehigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powder Valley
- Hynemansville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Hynemansville is located in Lehigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hynemansville
- Weisenberg
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Weisenberg is located in Lehigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weisenberg
- Ancient Oaks
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Ancient Oaks is located in Lehigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ancient Oaks
- Seipstown
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Seipstown is located in Lehigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seipstown
- Wallner ‑ Historic
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Wallner is located in Lehigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wallner
- Montgomery County
- The following are listed by their distance from Sunshine, with the one closest to Sunshine listed first.
- Bramcote
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Bramcote is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bramcote
- Stowe
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- West Pottsgrove
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- West Pottsgrove is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Pottsgrove
- Halfway House
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Halfway House is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halfway House
- Pottstown
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Gilbertsville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Pottsgrove
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Pottsgrove is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pottsgrove
- Sanatoga
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Congo
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Congo is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Congo
- New Hanover
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Fagleysville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Fagleysville is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fagleysville
- Anise
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Anise is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anise
- Schuylkill County
- The following are listed by their distance from Sunshine, with the one closest to Sunshine listed first.
- Port Clinton
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Auburn
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Aucheys
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Aucheys is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aucheys
- 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
- Jefferson
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Jefferson is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jefferson
- Rauschs
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Rauschs is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rauschs
- Summit Station
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Summit Station is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summit Station
- Rene Mont
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Rene Mont is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rene Mont
- Lake Wynonah
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Lake Wynonah is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Wynonah
- Landingville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Landingville is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Landingville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 149 people
- Moyers
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Moyers is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moyers
- McKeansburg
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- McKeansburg is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McKeansburg
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Sunshine, see our County-by-County Page for Sunshine.
Cemeteries Near Sunshine ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Sunshine.
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 Sunshine - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Sunshine covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Sunshine, with the one closest to Sunshine listed first.
- St. Johns Church Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Friedens Bible Church Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friedens Bible Church Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Friedens Bible Church Cemetery is located 3 miles [4.8 km]<2> to the west of Birdsboro.
- The Friedens Bible Church Cemetery has also been known as:
- Friedens Cemetery
- Wicklein Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2343568 <3>
- DeTurk Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Young - Kissling Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Schwarzwald Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Forest Hills Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Immaculate Conception Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- St. Michaels Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Aulenbach's Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- German Lutheran Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Trinity Lutheran Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Continue List (355 more) ...
- St. Peters Catholic Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- St. Mary's Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Bernardine Sisters Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
Nearby Communities in 1895 ...
We've built the following list with information that came from an Atlas published by Rand McNally in 1895. The Atlas had details such as the population of the community (which appears to have come from the 1890 Census) and whether there was a post office and/or railroad service available. We also indicate if the community no longer exists and is now historic.<4>
While we didn't find Sunshine in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Sunshine.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Sunshine, with the one closest to Sunshine listed first.
- Gibraltar
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Gibraltar is located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gibraltar
- Seyfert
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Seyfert is located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seyfert
- Baumstown
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Baumstown is located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baumstown
- Stonersville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Stonersville is located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stonersville
- Jacksonwald
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Jacksonwald is located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jacksonwald
- Neversink
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Neversink is located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Neversink
- Ridgewood
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Ridgewood is located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgewood
- Stony Creek Mills
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Stony Creek Mills is located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stony Creek Mills
- South Birdsboro
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- South Birdsboro is located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Birdsboro
- Birdsboro
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Scarlets Mill
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Scarlets Mill is located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scarlets Mill
- Monocacy
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Monocacy is located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monocacy
- Continue List (17 more) ...
- Monocacy Station
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Monocacy Station is located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monocacy Station
- Limekiln
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Limekiln is located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Limekiln
- Millmont
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Millmont is located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millmont
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Sunshine. See our List of 1890's Communities around Sunshine.
Newspapers Published in Sunshine ...
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 126 newspapers that have been published in the area around Sunshine.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Sunshine, there are papers which were published within 6 miles [9.7 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Sunshine.
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 Sunshine:
- Websites specific to Pennsylvania
- Pages specific to Berks County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Bucks County
- Chester County
- Delaware County
- Lancaster County
- Lebanon County
- Lehigh County
- Montgomery County
- Schuylkill County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Pennsylvania
Footnotes ...
| <1> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <2> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Sunshine) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <3> | The Find-a-Grave website is an excellent research tool with information about a cemetery's location and interments. They also offer a forum for their members which can provide additional help. More information about Find-a-Grave can be found on their website: findagrave.com. |
| <4> | We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Sunshine, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |