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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 Thompsontown (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 Thompsontown. 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.

Thompsontown is located in Juniata 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 Juniata County: Huntingdon, Mifflin, Northumberland, Perry & Snyder.

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

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

Cemeteries Near Thompsontown ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Thompsontown.

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 Thompsontown covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Thompson Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Thompson Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Thompson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Thompson's Lock Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Lantz Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lantz Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lantz Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Locust Run Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Bull Hill Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bull Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bull Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Lost Creek Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lost Creek Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lost Creek Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Riverview Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Auker Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Auker Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Auker Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Marshal Chapel Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Marshal Chapel Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Marshal Chapel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hillside Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hillside Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hillside Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Adams Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Adams Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Adams Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Cedar Grove Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (157 more) ...
    • Bookwalter Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bookwalter Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bookwalter Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Koons Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Koons Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Koons Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Deardorff Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Deardorff Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Deardorff Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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 Thompsontown had a population of 291 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Thompsontown had a population of 660 people.

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

  • Vandyke
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vandyke have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vandyke
    • Vandyke is located in Juniata County
  • Donnally Mills
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Donnally Mills have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Donnally Mills
    • Donnally Mills is located in Perry County
  • Maze
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maze have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maze
    • Maze is located in Juniata County
  • East Salem
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Salem have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Salem
    • East Salem is located in Juniata County
  • Van Wert
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Van Wert have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Van Wert
    • Van Wert is located in Juniata County
  • Millerstown
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Tuscarora
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tuscarora have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tuscarora
    • Tuscarora is located in Juniata County
  • McAlisterville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for McAlisterville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McAlisterville
    • McAlisterville is located in Juniata County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for McAlisterville <2>
  • Wardville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wardville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wardville
    • Wardville is located in Perry County
  • Cocolamus
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cocolamus have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cocolamus
    • Cocolamus is located in Juniata County
  • Oakland Mills
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oakland Mills have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakland Mills
    • Oakland Mills is located in Juniata County
  • Mexico
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mexico have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mexico
    • Mexico is located in Juniata County
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Thompsontown ...

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 36 newspapers that have been published in the area around Thompsontown.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Thompsontown. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Thompsontown and those printed in the larger area surrounding Thompsontown.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 17 miles [27.4 km]<5> of Thompsontown.

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 Thompsontown:

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

The official website for Juniata County: www.co.juniata.pa.us/

The official website for Commonwealth of Pennsylvania: https://www.pa.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Thompsontown) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Thompsontown. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.5656, Longitude: -77.2404    
<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 Thompsontown, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025