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 Waterville (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 Waterville. 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.
Waterville is located in Columbia 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 Columbia County: Luzerne, Lycoming, Montour, Northumberland, Schuylkill & Sullivan.
Below are the counties that are near Waterville. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Waterville:
- Columbia County (The home county of Waterville)
- The following are listed by their distance from Waterville, with the one closest to Waterville listed first.
- Benton
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Waller
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Waller is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waller
- Stillwater
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Jackson
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Jackson is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jackson
- Coles Mill
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Coles Mill is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coles Mill
- Jamison City
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Jamison City is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamison City
- Rohrsburg
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Rohrsburg is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rohrsburg
- Zaner
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Zaner is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zaner
- Jonestown
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Jonestown is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jonestown
- Greenwood
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Greenwood is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwood
- Orangeville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Iola
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Iola is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iola
- Bradford County
- The following are listed by their distance from Waterville, with the one closest to Waterville listed first.
- Laddsburg
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Laddsburg is located in Bradford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laddsburg
- Overton
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Overton is located in Bradford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Overton
- New Albany
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Wilmot
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Wilmot is located in Bradford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilmot
- Evergreen
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Evergreen is located in Bradford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen
- New Era
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- New Era is located in Bradford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Era
- Sugar Run
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Carbon County
- The following are listed by their distance from Waterville, with the one closest to Waterville listed first.
- Coxes Village
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Coxes Village is located in Carbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coxes Village
- Coxes Village has also been known as:
- Cross Village
- Tresckow
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Tresckow is located in Carbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tresckow
- Luzerne County
- The following are listed by their distance from Waterville, with the one closest to Waterville listed first.
- Clarks View
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Clarks View is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarks View
- Fairmount Springs
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Fairmount Springs is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairmount Springs
- Register
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Register is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Register
- New Columbus
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- New Columbus is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Columbus
- Population from the 2020 Census: 227 people
- Harveyville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Harveyville is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harveyville
- Mossville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Mossville is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mossville
- Red Rock
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Red Rock is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Rock
- Huntington Mills
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Pleasant Valley
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Pleasant Valley is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Valley
- Rittenhouse
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Rittenhouse is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rittenhouse
- Waterton
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Waterton is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterton
- Bloomingdale
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Bloomingdale is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bloomingdale
- Lycoming County
- The following are listed by their distance from Waterville, with the one closest to Waterville listed first.
- Richarts Grove
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Richarts Grove is located in Lycoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richarts Grove
- Unityville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Lungerville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Lungerville is located in Lycoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lungerville
- Biggerstown
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Biggerstown is located in Lycoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Biggerstown
- Beaver Lake
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Beaver Lake is located in Lycoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaver Lake
- Lairdsville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Lairdsville is located in Lycoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lairdsville
- Muncy
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Muncy
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Muncy is located in Lycoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Muncy
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,191 people
- Proctor
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Proctor is located in Lycoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Proctor
- Montgomery
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Wallis Run
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Wallis Run is located in Lycoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wallis Run
- Montoursville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Montour County
- The following are listed by their distance from Waterville, with the one closest to Waterville listed first.
- Exchange
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Exchange is located in Montour County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Exchange
- Washingtonville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Washingtonville is located in Montour County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Washingtonville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 270 people
- Mechanicsville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Mechanicsville is located in Montour County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mechanicsville
- Danville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Mooresburg
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Mooresburg is located in Montour County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mooresburg
- Northumberland County
- The following are listed by their distance from Waterville, with the one closest to Waterville listed first.
- Turbotville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Riverside
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Chulasky
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Chulasky is located in Northumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chulasky
- Rushtown
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Rushtown is located in Northumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rushtown
- McEwensville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Elysburg
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Marion Heights
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Marion Heights is located in Northumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marion Heights
- Population from the 2020 Census: 573 people
- Potts Grove
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Reed
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Reed is located in Northumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reed
- Watsontown
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Bear Gap
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Bear Gap is located in Northumberland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Gap
- Dewart
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Schuylkill County
- The following are listed by their distance from Waterville, with the one closest to Waterville listed first.
- Nuremberg
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Zion Grove
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Ferndale
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Ferndale is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ferndale
- Oneida
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Oneida is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oneida
- Sheppton
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Ringtown
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Krebs
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Krebs is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Krebs
- Brandonville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Brandonville is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brandonville
- Raven Run
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Raven Run is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raven Run
- Shenandoah Heights
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Shenandoah Heights is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shenandoah Heights
- Girard Manor
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Girard Manor is located in Schuylkill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Girard Manor
- Girardville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Sullivan County
- The following are listed by their distance from Waterville, with the one closest to Waterville listed first.
- Long Brook
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Long Brook is located in Sullivan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Brook
- Beech Glen
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Beech Glen is located in Sullivan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beech Glen
- Sonestown
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Laporte
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Eagles Mere
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Bernice
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Bernice is located in Sullivan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bernice
- Shinerville
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Shinerville is located in Sullivan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shinerville
- Dushore
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Ogdonia
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Ogdonia is located in Sullivan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ogdonia
- Forksville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Millview
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Millview is located in Sullivan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millview
- Hillsgrove
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Union County
- The following are listed by their distance from Waterville, with the one closest to Waterville listed first.
- New Columbia
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Allenwood
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- West Milton
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- West Milton is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Milton
- Alvira ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Alvira is located in Union County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alvira
- Former name for Alvira:
- Wisetown
- Wyoming County
- The following are listed by their distance from Waterville, with the one closest to Waterville listed first.
- Noxen
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Beaumont
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Beaumont is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaumont
- Mill City ‑ Historic
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Mill City is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mill City
- Forkston
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Forkston is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forkston
- Evans Falls
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- Evans Falls is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evans Falls
- Stowell
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Stowell is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stowell
- Vernon
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Vernon is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vernon
- Jenks
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Jenks is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jenks
- Jenningsville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Jenningsville is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jenningsville
- Mehoopany Station
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Mehoopany Station is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mehoopany Station
- South Eaton
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- South Eaton is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Eaton
- Vosburg
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Vosburg is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vosburg
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Waterville, see our County-by-County Page for Waterville.
Cemeteries Near Waterville ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Waterville.
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 Waterville - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Waterville covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Waterville, with the one closest to Waterville listed first.
- Raven Creek Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- St. Gabriel Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for St. Gabriel Cemetery
- The St. Gabriel Cemetery has also been known as:
- St. Garbiel's Episcopal Church Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #369311 <3>
- Boston Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Thompson Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Jackson Twp. Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Belles Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Rohrsburg Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Lemon Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lemon Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Lemon Cemetery is located less than 2 miles<2> to the northeast of Greenwood.
- The Lemon Cemetery has also been known as:
- Greenwood Christian Church Cemetery
- Greenwood Union Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1977796 <3>
- Zion Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Goss Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goss Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Goss Cemetery is located less than 2 miles<2> to the northwest of Huntington Mills.
- The Goss Cemetery has also been known as:
- Harveyville Cemetery
- Trescott Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2186549 <3>
- Pine Center UMC Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Dodson Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Continue List (189 more) ...
- Graveyard Hill
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Pine Grove Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Salem Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 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 Waterville in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Waterville.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Waterville, with the one closest to Waterville listed first.
- Benton
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Coles Creek
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Coles Creek is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coles Creek
- Laubach
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Laubach is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laubach
- Waller
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Waller is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waller
- Cambra
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Derrs
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Derrs is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Derrs
- Stillwater
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Clarks View
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Clarks View is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarks View
- New Columbus
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- New Columbus is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Columbus
- Population from the 2020 Census: 227 people
- Register
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Register is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Register
- Central
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Central is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central
- Elk Grove
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Elk Grove is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elk Grove
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Zaner
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Zaner is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zaner
- Asbury
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Asbury is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Asbury
- Town Hill
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Town Hill is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Town Hill
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Waterville. See our List of 1890's Communities around Waterville.
Newspapers Published in Waterville ...
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 64 newspapers that have been published in the area around Waterville.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Waterville, there are papers which were published within 17 miles [27.4 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Waterville.
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 helpful 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 Waterville:
- Websites specific to Pennsylvania
- Pages specific to Columbia County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Bradford County
- Carbon County
- Luzerne County
- Lycoming County
- Montour County
- Northumberland County
- Schuylkill County
- Sullivan County
- Union County
- Wyoming 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 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Waterville) 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 Waterville, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |