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 Watkins (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 Watkins. 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.
Watkins is located in Cambria 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 Cambria County: Bedford, Blair, Centre, Clearfield, Indiana, Somerset & Westmoreland.
Below are the counties that are near Watkins. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Watkins:
- Cambria County (The home county of Watkins)
- The following are listed by their distance from Watkins, with the one closest to Watkins listed first.
- Saint Benedict
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Saint Benedict is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Benedict
- Spangler
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Spangler is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spangler
- Elmora
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Elmora is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmora
- Barnesboro
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Barnesboro is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barnesboro
- Northern Cambria
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Northern Cambria is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Northern Cambria
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,456 people
- West Branch
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- West Branch is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Branch
- Nicktown
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Nicktown is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nicktown
- Hastings
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Carrolltown
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Garmantown
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Garmantown is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garmantown
- Patton
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Thomas Mills
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Thomas Mills is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thomas Mills
- Colver
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Armstrong County
- The following are listed by their distance from Watkins, with the one closest to Watkins listed first.
- Atwood
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Atwood is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atwood
- Population from the 2020 Census: 100 people
- Barnards
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Barnards is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barnards
- Dayton
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Elderton
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Bedford County
- The following are listed by their distance from Watkins, with the one closest to Watkins listed first.
- Pavia
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Pavia is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pavia
- King
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- King is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for King
- Blair County
- The following are listed by their distance from Watkins, with the one closest to Watkins listed first.
- Highland Fling
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Highland Fling is located in Blair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland Fling
- Altoona
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Canan
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Canan is located in Blair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canan
- Eldorado
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Eldorado is located in Blair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eldorado
- Blue Knob
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Blue Knob is located in Blair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Knob
- Cross Keys
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Cross Keys is located in Blair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cross Keys
- Bellwood
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Duncansville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Puzzletown
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Puzzletown is located in Blair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Puzzletown
- Hollidaysburg
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Newry
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Brooks Mill
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Brooks Mill is located in Blair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brooks Mill
- Frankstown
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Frankstown is located in Blair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frankstown
- Centre County
- The following are listed by their distance from Watkins, with the one closest to Watkins listed first.
- New Town
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- New Town is located in Centre County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Town
- Sandy Ridge
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Sandy Ridge is located in Centre County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Ridge
- Clearfield County
- The following are listed by their distance from Watkins, with the one closest to Watkins listed first.
- Sylvis
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Sylvis is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sylvis
- Westover
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Westover is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westover
- Population from the 2020 Census: 374 people
- Burnside
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Burnside is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burnside
- Population from the 2020 Census: 220 people
- McPherron
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- McPherron is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McPherron
- New Washington
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- New Washington is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Washington
- Population from the 2020 Census: 54 people
- Lyleville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Lyleville is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyleville
- Blain City
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Blain City is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blain City
- Coalport
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Rosebud
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Rosebud is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosebud
- Thompsontown
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Thompsontown is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thompsontown
- Newburg
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Newburg is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newburg
- Population from the 2020 Census: 94 people
- Irvona
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Mayes
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Mayes is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayes
- Huntingdon County
- Birmingham
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Birmingham is located in Huntingdon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Birmingham
- Population from the 2020 Census: 87 people
- Indiana County
- The following are listed by their distance from Watkins, with the one closest to Watkins listed first.
- Alverda
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Alverda is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alverda
- Uniontown
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Uniontown is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Uniontown
- Grisemore
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Grisemore is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grisemore
- Cherry Tree
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Cherry Tree is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Tree
- Population from the 2020 Census: 334 people
- Heilwood
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Heilwood is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heilwood
- Pine Flats
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Pine Flats is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Flats
- Cookport
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Cookport is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cookport
- Kenwood
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Kenwood is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kenwood
- Hillsdale
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Hillsdale is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillsdale
- Commodore
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Purchase Line
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Purchase Line is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Purchase Line
- Nolo
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Nolo is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nolo
- Rexis
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Rexis is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rexis
- Jefferson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Watkins, with the one closest to Watkins listed first.
- Winslow
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Winslow is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winslow
- Albion
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Albion is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albion
- Punxsutawney
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Valier
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Valier is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valier
- Oliveburg
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Oliveburg is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oliveburg
- Panic
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Panic is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Panic
- Sykesville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Wishaw
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Wishaw is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wishaw
- Lawrence County
- Big Run
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Big Run is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Run
- Population from the 2020 Census: 594 people
- Somerset County
- The following are listed by their distance from Watkins, with the one closest to Watkins listed first.
- Tire Hill
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Tire Hill is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tire Hill
- Paint
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Paint is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paint
- Population from the 2020 Census: 930 people
- Windber
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Davidsville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Ogletown
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Ogletown is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ogletown
- Benson
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Benson is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benson
- Population from the 2020 Census: 184 people
- Hollsopple
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Thomas Mill
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Thomas Mill is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thomas Mill
- Westmoreland County
- The following are listed by their distance from Watkins, with the one closest to Watkins listed first.
- Seward
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Robb
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Robb is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robb
- New Florence
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Bolivar
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- West Fairfield
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- West Fairfield is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Fairfield
- Burrell
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Burrell is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burrell
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Watkins, see our County-by-County Page for Watkins.
Cemeteries Near Watkins ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Watkins.
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 Watkins - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Watkins covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Watkins, with the one closest to Watkins listed first.
- St. Marys Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Sacred Heart Catholic Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- St. Patrick Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Mt. Carmel Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Union Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- North Barnesboro Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- North End Protestant Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- St. John The Baptist Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Grass Hill Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- St. Bernard Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Independent Country Church Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Mt. Hermon Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Continue List (233 more) ...
- McDowell Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Nebo Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- St. Marys Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 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.<3>
While we didn't find Watkins in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Watkins.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Watkins, with the one closest to Watkins listed first.
- Nicktown
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Nicktown is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nicktown
- West Branch
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- West Branch is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Branch
- Vetera
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Vetera is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vetera
- Carrolltown
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Hastings
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Patton
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Spruce
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Spruce is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spruce
- Grisemore
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Grisemore is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grisemore
- Pindleton
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Pindleton is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pindleton
- Chest Springs
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Chest Springs is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chest Springs
- Population from the 2020 Census: 138 people
- Saint Lawrence
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Saint Lawrence is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Lawrence
- Sylvis
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Sylvis is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sylvis
- Continue List (18 more) ...
- Pine Flats
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Pine Flats is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Flats
- Strongstown
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Belsano
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Belsano is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belsano
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Watkins. See our List of 1890's Communities around Watkins.
Newspapers Published in Watkins ...
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 42 newspapers that have been published in the area around Watkins.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Watkins, there are papers which were published within 13 miles [20.9 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Watkins.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 Watkins:
- Websites specific to Pennsylvania
- Pages specific to Cambria County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Armstrong County
- Bedford County
- Blair County
- Centre County
- Clearfield County
- Huntingdon County
- Indiana County
- Jefferson County
- Lawrence County
- Somerset County
- Westmoreland 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 Watkins, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Watkins) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |