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 Vesta Heights (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 Vesta Heights. 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 Vesta Heights ...
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 Vesta Heights: Vesta Hts. (in Canada, 'Hgts.' is the more common abbreviation.)
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 hospitals 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.
Vesta Heights is located in Washington 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 Washington County: Allegheny, Beaver, Fayette, Greene, Westmoreland, Brooke (WV), Hancock (WV), Marshall (WV) & Ohio (WV).
Below are the counties that are near Vesta Heights. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Vesta Heights:
- Washington County (The home county of Vesta Heights)
- The following are listed by their distance from Vesta Heights, with the one closest to Vesta Heights listed first.
- Deemston
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Deemston is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deemston
- Population from the 2020 Census: 696 people
- Centerville
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Centerville is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,133 people
- Fredericktown - Millsboro
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Millsboro
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Daisytown
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Beallsville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Blainsburg
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Blainsburg is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blainsburg
- West Brownsville
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- West Brownsville is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Brownsville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 960 people
- Marianna
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- California
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Coal Center
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Bissell
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Bissell is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bissell
- Allegheny County
- The following are listed by their distance from Vesta Heights, with the one closest to Vesta Heights listed first.
- Sunny Side
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Sunny Side is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunny Side
- Elizabeth
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- West Elizabeth
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Cochrans Mill
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Cochrans Mill is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cochrans Mill
- Jefferson Hills
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Jefferson Hills is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jefferson Hills
- Population from the 2020 Census: 11,136 people
- Jefferson Hills has also been known as:
- Jefferson
- Library
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Clairton
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Mendelssohn
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Mendelssohn is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mendelssohn
- Buena Vista
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Buena Vista is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buena Vista
- Bethel Park
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Coal Valley
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Coal Valley is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coal Valley
- Lincoln
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Lincoln is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,013 people
- Fayette County
- The following are listed by their distance from Vesta Heights, with the one closest to Vesta Heights listed first.
- La Belle
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- La Belle is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Belle
- Luzerne
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Luzerne is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Luzerne
- East Millsboro
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- East Millsboro is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Millsboro
- Alicia
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Alicia is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alicia
- Arensburg
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Arensburg is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arensburg
- Brownsville
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Hiller
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Heistersburg
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Heistersburg is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heistersburg
- Isabella
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Isabella is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Isabella
- Newell
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Newell is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newell
- Population from the 2020 Census: 492 people
- Chamouni
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Chamouni is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chamouni
- Dunlap Creek Village
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Dunlap Creek Village is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunlap Creek Village
- Greene County
- The following are listed by their distance from Vesta Heights, with the one closest to Vesta Heights listed first.
- Clarksville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Rices Landing
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Chartiers
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Chartiers is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chartiers
- Jefferson
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Jefferson is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jefferson
- Population from the 2020 Census: 249 people
- Stringtown
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Stringtown is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stringtown
- Carmichaels
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Cumberland Village
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Cumberland Village is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cumberland Village
- Fairdale
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Fairdale is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairdale
- Lippincott
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Lippincott is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lippincott
- Khedive
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Khedive is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Khedive
- Ceylon
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Ceylon is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ceylon
- Nemacolin
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Nemacolin is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nemacolin
- Westmoreland County
- The following are listed by their distance from Vesta Heights, with the one closest to Vesta Heights listed first.
- Gibsonton
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Gibsonton is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gibsonton
- North Belle Vernon
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- North Belle Vernon is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Belle Vernon
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,842 people
- Monessen
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Webster
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Webster is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Webster
- Smithton
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Sutersville
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- West Newton
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Blackburn ‑ Historic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Blackburn is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackburn
- Wyano
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Wyano is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyano
- Shaner
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Shaner is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shaner
- Yukon
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Hawkeye
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Hawkeye is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hawkeye
- Marshall County (WV)
- The following are listed by their distance from Vesta Heights, with the one closest to Vesta Heights listed first.
- Dallas
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Dallas is located in Marshall County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dallas
- Calis
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Calis is located in Marshall County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calis
- Rocklick
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Rocklick is located in Marshall County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocklick
- Monongalia County (WV)
- The following are listed by their distance from Vesta Heights, with the one closest to Vesta Heights listed first.
- Bowlby
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Bowlby is located in Monongalia County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowlby
- Maidsville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Maidsville is located in Monongalia County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maidsville
- Baker Ridge
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Baker Ridge is located in Monongalia County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baker Ridge
- Canyon
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Canyon is located in Monongalia County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canyon
- Blacksville
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Blacksville is located in Monongalia County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blacksville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 183 people
- Cassville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Cassville is located in Monongalia County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cassville
- Cheat Lake
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Cheat Lake is located in Monongalia County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cheat Lake
- Osage
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Osage is located in Monongalia County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osage
- Star City
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Star City is located in Monongalia County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Star City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,984 people
- Granville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Granville is located in Monongalia County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Granville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,156 people
- Morgantown
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Wana
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Ohio County (WV)
- The following are listed by their distance from Vesta Heights, with the one closest to Vesta Heights listed first.
- Potomac
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Potomac is located in Ohio County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Potomac
- Valley Grove
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Preston County (WV)
- The following are listed by their distance from Vesta Heights, with the one closest to Vesta Heights listed first.
- Clifton Mills
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Clifton Mills is located in Preston County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clifton Mills
- Bruceton Mills
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Vesta Heights, see our County-by-County Page for Vesta Heights.
Cemeteries Near Vesta Heights ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Vesta Heights.
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 Vesta Heights - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Vesta Heights covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Vesta Heights, with the one closest to Vesta Heights listed first.
- Buckingham Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Westland Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Zion Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Wise Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Hewitts Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Beallsville Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Horn Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horn Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Horn Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located less than 2 miles<3> to the south of Marianna.
- The Horn Cemetery has also been known as:
- Horn Burial Ground
- Horns Lutheran Cemetery
- Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #45150 <2>
- St. Nicholas Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- St. Mary's Catholic Church Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Woodlawn Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodlawn Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Woodlawn Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the east of Hiller.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2153919 <2>
- St. Mary Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- St. Marys Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Continue List (480 more) ...
- St. Nicholas Byzantine Catholic Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Bridgeport Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Green Lane Cemetery
(5 miles [8 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.<4>
While we didn't find Vesta Heights in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Vesta Heights.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Vesta Heights, with the one closest to Vesta Heights listed first.
- Deemston
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Deemston is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deemston
- Population from the 2020 Census: 696 people
- Fredericktown
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Millsboro
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Clarksville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Rices Landing
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Beallsville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Heistersburg
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Heistersburg is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heistersburg
- Brownsville
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- West Brownsville
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- West Brownsville is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Brownsville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 960 people
- Jefferson
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Jefferson is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jefferson
- Population from the 2020 Census: 249 people
- East Riverside
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- East Riverside is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Riverside
- Merrittstown
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Merrittstown is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merrittstown
- Continue List (20 more) ...
- California
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Coal Center
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Scenery Hill
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Vesta Heights. See our List of 1890's Communities around Vesta Heights.
Newspapers Published in Vesta Heights ...
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 45 newspapers that have been published in the area around Vesta Heights.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Vesta Heights, there are papers which were published within 10 miles [16.1 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Vesta Heights.
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 either 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 Vesta Heights:
- Websites specific to Pennsylvania
- Pages specific to Washington County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Allegheny County
- Fayette County
- Greene County
- Westmoreland County
- Marshall County
- Monongalia County
- Ohio County
- Preston 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> | 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- Vesta Heights) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <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 Vesta Heights, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |