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 West Brownsville (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 West Brownsville. 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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.
West Brownsville 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 West Brownsville. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to West Brownsville:
- Washington County (The home county of West Brownsville)
- The following are listed by their distance from West Brownsville, with the one closest to West Brownsville listed first.
- Blainsburg
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Blainsburg is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blainsburg
- California
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Coal Center
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Daisytown
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Allenport
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Elco
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Elco is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elco
- Population from the 2020 Census: 305 people
- Speers
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Speers is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Speers
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,061 people
- Stockdale
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Dunlevy
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Long Branch
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Long Branch is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Branch
- Population from the 2020 Census: 431 people
- Roscoe
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Roscoe is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roscoe
- Population from the 2020 Census: 791 people
- Centerville
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Centerville is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,133 people
- Deemston
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Deemston is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deemston
- Population from the 2020 Census: 696 people
- Allegheny County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Brownsville, with the one closest to West Brownsville listed first.
- Sunny Side
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Sunny Side is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunny Side
- Elizabeth
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- West Elizabeth
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Buena Vista
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Buena Vista is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buena Vista
- Clairton
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Cochrans Mill
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Cochrans Mill is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cochrans Mill
- Jefferson Hills
(17 miles [27.4 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
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Lincoln
(18 miles [29 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
- Mendelssohn
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Mendelssohn is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mendelssohn
- Boston
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Coal Valley
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Coal Valley is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coal Valley
- Liberty
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Liberty is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,438 people
- Fayette County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Brownsville, with the one closest to West Brownsville listed first.
- Chamouni
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Chamouni is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chamouni
- Brownsville
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Hiller
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Newell
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Newell is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newell
- Population from the 2020 Census: 492 people
- Kenneth
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Kenneth is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kenneth
- Alicia
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Alicia is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alicia
- Grindstone
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Dunlap Creek Village
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Dunlap Creek Village is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunlap Creek Village
- Rowes Run
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Rowes Run is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rowes Run
- La Belle
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- La Belle is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Belle
- Luzerne
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Luzerne is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Luzerne
- Brownstown
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Brownstown is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brownstown
- Fayette City
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Fayette City is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fayette City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 569 people
- Greene County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Brownsville, with the one closest to West Brownsville listed first.
- Rices Landing
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Stringtown
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Stringtown is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stringtown
- Clarksville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Carmichaels
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Chartiers
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Chartiers is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chartiers
- Cumberland Village
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Cumberland Village is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cumberland Village
- Fairdale
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Fairdale is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairdale
- Nemacolin
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Nemacolin is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nemacolin
- Jefferson
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Jefferson is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jefferson
- Population from the 2020 Census: 249 people
- Ceylon
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Ceylon is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ceylon
- Khedive
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Khedive is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Khedive
- Lippincott
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Lippincott is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lippincott
- Fordyce
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Fordyce is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fordyce
- Somerset County
- Draketown
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Draketown is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Draketown
- Westmoreland County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Brownsville, with the one closest to West Brownsville listed first.
- Gibsonton
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Gibsonton is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gibsonton
- North Belle Vernon
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- 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
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Webster
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Webster is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Webster
- Smithton
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- West Newton
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Sutersville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Blackburn ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Blackburn is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackburn
- Wyano
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Wyano is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyano
- Hawkeye
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Hawkeye is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hawkeye
- Scottdale
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Yukon
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Alverton
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Alverton is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alverton
- Monongalia County (WV)
- The following are listed by their distance from West Brownsville, with the one closest to West Brownsville listed first.
- Bowlby
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Bowlby is located in Monongalia County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowlby
- Maidsville
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Maidsville is located in Monongalia County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maidsville
- Canyon
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Canyon is located in Monongalia County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canyon
- Baker Ridge
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Baker Ridge is located in Monongalia County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baker Ridge
- Cheat Lake
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Cheat Lake is located in Monongalia County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cheat Lake
- Osage
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Osage is located in Monongalia County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osage
- Star City
(26 miles [41.8 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
- Cassville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Cassville is located in Monongalia County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cassville
- Granville
(27 miles [43.5 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
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Westover
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Blacksville
(28 miles [45.1 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
- Brookhaven
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Brookhaven is located in Monongalia County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookhaven
- Preston County (WV)
- The following are listed by their distance from West Brownsville, with the one closest to West Brownsville listed first.
- Clifton Mills
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Clifton Mills is located in Preston County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clifton Mills
- Brandonville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Brandonville is located in Preston County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brandonville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 105 people
- Bruceton Mills
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Rockville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Rockville is located in Preston County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockville
- Little Sandy
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Little Sandy is located in Preston County (WV)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Sandy
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to West Brownsville, see our County-by-County Page for West Brownsville.
Cemeteries Near West Brownsville ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of West Brownsville.
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 West Brownsville - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for West Brownsville covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from West Brownsville, with the one closest to West Brownsville listed first.
- Green Lane Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- St. Nicholas Byzantine Catholic Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Woodlawn Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- 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
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- St. Marys Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Bridgeport Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Redstone Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Christ Episcopal Church Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Highland Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Eastern Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- St. Peters Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Zion Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Continue List (454 more) ...
- Gregg Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Havely Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Grimes Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
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>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that West Brownsville had a population of 735 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, West Brownsville had a population of 960 people.
These communities are listed based on their distance from West Brownsville, with the one closest to West Brownsville listed first.
- Brownsville
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Linn
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Linn is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Linn
- Chamouni
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Chamouni is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chamouni
- California
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Coal Center
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Kenneth
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Kenneth is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kenneth
- Grindstone
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Elco
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Elco is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elco
- Population from the 2020 Census: 305 people
- Allenport
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Speers
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Speers is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Speers
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,061 people
- Stockdale
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Merrittstown
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Merrittstown is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merrittstown
- Continue List (17 more) ...
- Davidson
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Davidson is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Davidson
- Woodglen
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Woodglen is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodglen
- Roscoe
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Roscoe is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roscoe
- Population from the 2020 Census: 791 people
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around West Brownsville. See our List of 1890's Communities around West Brownsville.
Newspapers Published in West Brownsville ...
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 57 newspapers that have been published in the area around West Brownsville.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of West Brownsville, there are papers which were published within 9 miles [14.5 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for West Brownsville.
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 West Brownsville:
- Websites specific to Pennsylvania
- Pages specific to Washington County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Allegheny County
- Fayette County
- Greene County
- Somerset County
- Westmoreland County
- Monongalia 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> | 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 West Brownsville, 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- West Brownsville) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |