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 Vera Cruz (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 Vera Cruz. 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 Vera Cruz ...
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.
Another variation: Veracruz.
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Vera Cruz. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Vera Cruz.
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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most 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.
Vera Cruz is located in Lancaster 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 Lancaster County: Cecil (MD), Harford (MD), Berks, Chester, Dauphin, Lebanon & York.
Below are the counties that are near Vera Cruz. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Vera Cruz:
- Lancaster County (The home county of Vera Cruz)
- The following are listed by their distance from Vera Cruz, with the one closest to Vera Cruz listed first.
- Blainsport
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Blainsport is located in Lancaster County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blainsport
- Denver
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Reamstown
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Red Run
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Red Run is located in Lancaster County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Run
- Stevens
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Cocalico
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Cocalico is located in Lancaster County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cocalico
- Hinkletown
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Hinkletown is located in Lancaster County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hinkletown
- Terre Hill
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Ephrata
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Weaverland
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Weaverland is located in Lancaster County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weaverland
- Blue Ball
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Akron
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Clay
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Clay is located in Lancaster County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clay
- Berks County
- The following are listed by their distance from Vera Cruz, with the one closest to Vera Cruz listed first.
- Adamstown
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Adamstown is located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adamstown
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,905 people
- Adamstown has also been known as:
- Adamschteddel
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Adamstown <1>
- Tallowyck
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Tallowyck is located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tallowyck
- Alleghenyville
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Alleghenyville is located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alleghenyville
- Mohnton
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Phoebe Berks Village
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Wernersville
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Sinking Spring
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Angelica
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Angelica is located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Angelica
- Brownsville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Brownsville is located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brownsville
- Robesonia
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Shillington
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- West Lawn
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- West Wyomissing
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- West Wyomissing is located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Wyomissing
- Chester County
- The following are listed by their distance from Vera Cruz, with the one closest to Vera Cruz listed first.
- Cambridge
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Cambridge is located in Chester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cambridge
- Honey Brook
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Dampman
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Dampman is located in Chester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dampman
- Elverson
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Suplee
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Suplee is located in Chester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Suplee
- Cupola
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Cupola is located in Chester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cupola
- Isabella
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Isabella is located in Chester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Isabella
- Loag
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Loag is located in Chester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loag
- Birdell
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Birdell is located in Chester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Birdell
- Compass
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Compass is located in Chester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Compass
- Rockville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Rockville is located in Chester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockville
- Knauertown
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Knauertown is located in Chester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knauertown
- Cedar Knoll
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Cedar Knoll is located in Chester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Knoll
- Dauphin County
- The following are listed by their distance from Vera Cruz, with the one closest to Vera Cruz listed first.
- Bachmanville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Bachmanville is located in Dauphin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bachmanville
- Hershey
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Grantville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Lebanon County
- The following are listed by their distance from Vera Cruz, with the one closest to Vera Cruz listed first.
- Stricklerstown
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Stricklerstown is located in Lebanon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stricklerstown
- Newmanstown
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Sheridan
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Sheridan is located in Lebanon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sheridan
- Richland
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Schaefferstown
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Johnstown
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Johnstown is located in Lebanon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnstown
- Myerstown
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Prescott
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Prescott is located in Lebanon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prescott
- Avon Heights
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Avon Heights is located in Lebanon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avon Heights
- Miners Village
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Miners Village is located in Lebanon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Miners Village
- Avon
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Avon is located in Lebanon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avon
- Burd Coleman Village
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Burd Coleman Village is located in Lebanon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burd Coleman Village
- Cornwall
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Lehigh County
- The following are listed by their distance from Vera Cruz, with the one closest to Vera Cruz listed first.
- New Smithville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- New Smithville is located in Lehigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Smithville
- Alburtis
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Hensingersville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Hensingersville is located in Lehigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hensingersville
- Hynemansville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Hynemansville is located in Lehigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hynemansville
- Stines Corner
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Stines Corner is located in Lehigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stines Corner
- Weisenberg
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Weisenberg is located in Lehigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weisenberg
- Luzerne County
- Newtown
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Newtown is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newtown
- Montgomery County
- The following are listed by their distance from Vera Cruz, with the one closest to Vera Cruz listed first.
- Bramcote
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Bramcote is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bramcote
- Stowe
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- West Pottsgrove
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- West Pottsgrove is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Pottsgrove
- Halfway House
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Halfway House is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halfway House
- Pottstown
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Gilbertsville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Pottsgrove
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Pottsgrove is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pottsgrove
- Sanatoga
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- New Hanover
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Congo
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Congo is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Congo
- Fagleysville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Fagleysville is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fagleysville
- Anise
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Anise is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anise
- Limerick
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Schuylkill County
- The following are listed by their distance from Vera Cruz, with the one closest to Vera Cruz listed first.
- Aucheys
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Aucheys is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aucheys
- Jefferson
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Jefferson is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jefferson
- Port Clinton
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Summit Station
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Summit Station is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summit Station
- Moyers
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Moyers is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moyers
- Auburn
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Lake Wynonah
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Lake Wynonah is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Wynonah
- Marstown
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Marstown is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marstown
- Deer Lake
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Deer Lake is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Lake
- Population from the 2020 Census: 645 people
- Friedensburg
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Landingville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Landingville is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Landingville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 149 people
- Pine Grove
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Cressona
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- York County
- The following are listed by their distance from Vera Cruz, with the one closest to Vera Cruz listed first.
- East Prospect
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- East Prospect is located in York County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Prospect
- Population from the 2020 Census: 912 people
- Wrightsville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Craley
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Craley is located in York County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Craley
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Vera Cruz, see our County-by-County Page for Vera Cruz.
Cemeteries Near Vera Cruz ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Vera Cruz.
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 Vera Cruz - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Vera Cruz covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Vera Cruz, with the one closest to Vera Cruz listed first.
- Cedar Grove Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Fairview Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairview Cemetery
- The Fairview Cemetery has also been known as:
- Faith United Lutheran Church Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #44832 <2>
- Blainsport Evangelical United Baptist Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blainsport Evangelical United Baptist Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Blainsport Evangelical United Baptist Cemetery is located outside and to the southeast of Blainsport.
- The Blainsport Evangelical United Baptist Cemetery has also been known as:
- Blainsport Cemetery
- Blainsport Meetinghouse Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2193208 <2>
- Blainsport Mennonite Church Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Fairview Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Salem Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Wyomissing Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Reams Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Pleasant View Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Allegheny Union Cemetery (Old)
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Allegheny Union Church Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Sinking Spring Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Continue List (306 more) ...
- Hains Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Bowman Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Cedar Hill Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
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 Vera Cruz in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Vera Cruz.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Vera Cruz, with the one closest to Vera Cruz listed first.
- Swartzville
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Swartzville is located in Lancaster County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swartzville
- Adamstown
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Adamstown is located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adamstown
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,905 people
- Adamstown has also been known as:
- Adamschteddel
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Adamstown <1>
- Vinemont
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Vinemont is located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vinemont
- Fritztown
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Fritztown is located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fritztown
- Denver
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Reamstown
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Gouglersville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Gouglersville is located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gouglersville
- Blainsport
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Blainsport is located in Lancaster County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blainsport
- Schoeneck
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Schoeneck is located in Lancaster County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Schoeneck
- Stevens
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Red Run
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Red Run is located in Lancaster County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Run
- Knauers
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Knauers is located in Berks County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knauers
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- Bowmansville
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Wernersville
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Hahnstown
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Hahnstown is located in Lancaster County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hahnstown
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Vera Cruz. See our List of 1890's Communities around Vera Cruz.
Newspapers Published in Vera Cruz ...
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 125 newspapers that have been published in the area around Vera Cruz.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Vera Cruz, there are papers which were published within 10 miles [16.1 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Vera Cruz.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we like to start 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 Vera Cruz:
- Websites specific to Pennsylvania
- Pages specific to Lancaster County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Berks County
- Chester County
- Dauphin County
- Lebanon County
- Lehigh County
- Luzerne County
- Montgomery County
- Schuylkill County
- York 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 Vera Cruz, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | 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 from Point A (ie- Vera Cruz) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |