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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 Waterford (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 Waterford. 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 northeast 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 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 east 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.

Waterford is located in Erie 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 Erie County: Chautauqua (NY), Ashtabula (OH), Crawford (OH) & Warren (OH).

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

  • Erie County     (The home county of Waterford)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Waterford, with the one closest to Waterford listed first.
    • LeBoeuf Garden
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Mill Village
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Arbuckle
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Arbuckle. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arbuckle
      • Arbuckle is located in Erie County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Arbuckle
      • From Waterford to Arbuckle
    • Union City
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Union City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union City
      • Union City is located in Erie County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,097 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Union City <3>
    • Phillipsville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Edinboro
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Edinboro have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edinboro
      • Edinboro is located in Erie County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,405 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Edinboro <3>
    • Wattsburg
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wattsburg have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wattsburg
      • Wattsburg is located in Erie County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 381 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wattsburg <3>
    • McKean
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for McKean have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McKean
      • McKean is located in Erie County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 366 people
      • McKean has also been known as:
      • Middleboro
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for McKean <3>
    • Kearsarge
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Kearsarge. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kearsarge
      • Kearsarge is located in Erie County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Kearsarge
      • From Waterford to Kearsarge
    • Beaver Dam
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Elgin
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Franklin Center
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • Crawford County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Waterford, with the one closest to Waterford listed first.
    • Brown Hill
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Brown Hill. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brown Hill
      • Brown Hill is located in Crawford County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Brown Hill
      • From Waterford to Brown Hill
    • Cambridge Springs
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cambridge Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cambridge Springs
      • Cambridge Springs is located in Crawford County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,665 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cambridge Springs <3>
    • Canadohta Lake
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Canadohta Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canadohta Lake
      • Canadohta Lake is located in Crawford County
    • Lincolnville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Rootville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Rootville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rootville
      • Rootville is located in Crawford County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Rootville
      • From Waterford to Rootville
    • Woodcock
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Woodcock have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodcock
      • Woodcock is located in Crawford County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 147 people
    • Venango
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Venango have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Venango
      • Venango is located in Crawford County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 247 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Venango <3>
    • Riceville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Riceville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riceville
      • Riceville is located in Crawford County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Riceville
      • From Waterford to Riceville
    • Crossingville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Spartansburg
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spartansburg have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spartansburg
      • Spartansburg is located in Crawford County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 283 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Spartansburg <3>
    • Saegertown
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saegertown have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saegertown
      • Saegertown is located in Crawford County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 938 people
    • Blooming Valley
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Blooming Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blooming Valley
      • Blooming Valley is located in Crawford County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 311 people
  • Venango County
  • Warren County
  • Chautauqua County (NY)
  • Ashtabula County (OH)

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

Cemeteries Near Waterford ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Waterford.

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

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

  • Waterford Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Bonnell Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bonnell Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bonnell Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Sharpes Corners Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Mackey Hill Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mackey Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mackey Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Phillipsville Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Phillipsville Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Phillipsville Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Trow Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Mitchell Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mitchell Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mitchell Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Evergreen Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Evergreen Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Evergreen Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Teresa Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Teresa Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Teresa Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St.s Pauls Evangelical Church Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Mt. Calvary Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Calvary Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Calvary Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Valley Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (151 more) ...
    • Golden Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Golden Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Golden Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Chapinville Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Chapinville Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Chapinville Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • St. Nicholas Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Nicholas Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Nicholas Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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.<5>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Waterford had a population of 838 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service. In 2020, Waterford had a population of 1,486 people.

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

  • Waterford Station
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Waterford Station have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterford Station
    • Waterford Station is located in Erie County
  • Mill Village
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • McLallen Corners
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for McLallen Corners have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McLallen Corners
    • McLallen Corners is located in Erie County
  • West Greene
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Greene have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Greene
    • West Greene is located in Erie County
  • Godard
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Godard have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Godard
    • Godard is located in Erie County
  • Jackson
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jackson have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jackson
    • Jackson is located in Erie County
  • Arbuckle
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Arbuckle. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arbuckle
    • Arbuckle is located in Erie County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Arbuckle
    • From Waterford to Arbuckle
  • Union City
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Union City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union City
    • Union City is located in Erie County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,097 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Union City <3>
  • McLane
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for McLane have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McLane
    • McLane is located in Erie County
  • Edinboro
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Edinboro have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edinboro
    • Edinboro is located in Erie County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,405 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Edinboro <3>
  • Phillipsville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Hammett
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hammett have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hammett
    • Hammett is located in Erie County
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Langdon
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Langdon have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Langdon
      • Langdon is located in Erie County
    • Drakes Mills
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Drakes Mills have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drakes Mills
      • Drakes Mills is located in Crawford County
    • Millers Station
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Millers Station have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millers Station
      • Millers Station is located in Crawford County

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Waterford ...

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 Waterford.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Waterford. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Waterford and those printed in the larger area surrounding Waterford.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 20 miles [32.2 km]<6> of Waterford.

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 Waterford:

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

The official website for Erie County: www.eriecountygov.org/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>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.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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>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 Waterford, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Waterford) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Waterford. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.9420, Longitude: -79.9839    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025