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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 West Catasauqua (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 Catasauqua. 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 West Catasauqua ...

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.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might have occurred.

For example, a typical abbreviation for West Catasauqua: W. Catasauqua

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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

West Catasauqua is located in Lehigh 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 Lehigh County: Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Montgomery, Northampton & Schuylkill.

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

  • Lehigh County     (The home county of West Catasauqua)
    • The following are listed by their distance from West Catasauqua, with the one closest to West Catasauqua listed first.
    • Catasauqua
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Catasauqua have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Catasauqua
      • Catasauqua is located in Lehigh County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,606 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Catasauqua <2>
    • Fullerton
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fullerton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fullerton
      • Fullerton is located in Lehigh County
    • Coplay
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Coplay have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coplay
      • Coplay is located in Lehigh County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,217 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Coplay <2>
    • Hokendauqua
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Rittersville
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Seiple
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Seiple. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seiple
      • Seiple is located in Lehigh County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Seiple
      • From West Catasauqua to Seiple
    • Wellington
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Allentown
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Ruchsville
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Wennersville
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wennersville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wennersville
      • Wennersville is located in Lehigh County
    • Stetlersville
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Balliettsville
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Berks County
  • Bucks County
  • Carbon County
    • The following are listed by their distance from West Catasauqua, with the one closest to West Catasauqua listed first.
    • Palmerton
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Palmerton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palmerton
      • Palmerton is located in Carbon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,321 people
    • Little Gap
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Hazard
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hazard. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hazard
      • Hazard is located in Carbon County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Hazard
      • From West Catasauqua to Hazard
    • Kittatinny
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Jonesville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Bowmanstown
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bowmanstown have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowmanstown
      • Bowmanstown is located in Carbon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 881 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bowmanstown <2>
    • Ashfield
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Parryville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Germans
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Germans. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Germans
      • Germans is located in Carbon County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Germans
      • From West Catasauqua to Germans
    • Lehighton
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Weissport
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Weissport have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weissport
      • Weissport is located in Carbon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 396 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Weissport <2>
    • Mertz Town
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mertz Town have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mertz Town
      • Mertz Town is located in Carbon County
  • Chester County
    • The following are listed by their distance from West Catasauqua, with the one closest to West Catasauqua listed first.
    • Fricks Lock
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Kenilworth
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kenilworth have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kenilworth
      • Kenilworth is located in Chester County
    • Pottstown Landing
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • South Pottstown
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Pottstown have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Pottstown
      • South Pottstown is located in Chester County
  • Monroe County
  • Montgomery County
  • Northampton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from West Catasauqua, with the one closest to West Catasauqua listed first.
    • North Catasauqua
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Catasauqua have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Catasauqua
      • North Catasauqua is located in Northampton County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,825 people
    • Northampton
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Hanover
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Howertown
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Weaversville
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Franks Corner
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Kreidersville
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Seidersville
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Star Village
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Star Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Star Village
      • Star Village is located in Northampton County
    • Freemansburg
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Middletown
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Middletown have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middletown
      • Middletown is located in Northampton County
    • Bath
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bath have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bath
      • Bath is located in Northampton County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,756 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bath <2>
  • Schuylkill County
    • The following are listed by their distance from West Catasauqua, with the one closest to West Catasauqua listed first.
    • Andreas
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Mantz
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Mantz. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mantz
      • Mantz is located in Schuylkill County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Mantz
      • From West Catasauqua to Mantz
    • Coaldale
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Coaldale have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coaldale
      • Coaldale is located in Schuylkill County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,131 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Coaldale <2>
    • Rene Mont
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • New Ringgold
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Rauschs
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Rauschs. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rauschs
      • Rauschs is located in Schuylkill County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Rauschs
      • From West Catasauqua to Rauschs
    • McKeansburg
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for McKeansburg have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McKeansburg
      • McKeansburg is located in Schuylkill County
    • Hometown
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Port Clinton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Port Clinton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Port Clinton
      • Port Clinton is located in Schuylkill County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 306 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Port Clinton <2>
    • Tamaqua
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tamaqua have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tamaqua
      • Tamaqua is located in Schuylkill County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,633 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tamaqua <2>
    • Deer Lake
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Deer Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Lake
      • Deer Lake is located in Schuylkill County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 645 people
    • Tuscarora
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tuscarora have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tuscarora
      • Tuscarora is located in Schuylkill County
  • Hunterdon County (NJ)
  • Warren County (NJ)

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

Cemeteries Near West Catasauqua ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of West Catasauqua.

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

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

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>

While we didn't find West Catasauqua in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of West Catasauqua.

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

  • Fullerton
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fullerton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fullerton
    • Fullerton is located in Lehigh County
  • Catasauqua
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Catasauqua have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Catasauqua
    • Catasauqua is located in Lehigh County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,606 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Catasauqua <2>
  • Coplay
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Coplay have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coplay
    • Coplay is located in Lehigh County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,217 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Coplay <2>
  • Hokendauqua
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Rittersville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Seiple
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Seiple. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seiple
    • Seiple is located in Lehigh County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Seiple
    • From West Catasauqua to Seiple
  • Allentown
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Cementon
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cementon have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cementon
    • Cementon is located in Lehigh County
  • Wellington
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Weaversville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Howertown
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Egypt
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Egypt have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Egypt
    • Egypt is located in Lehigh County
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Stetlersville
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Farmington
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Farmington have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmington
      • Farmington is located in Lehigh County
    • Shimer
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shimer have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shimer
      • Shimer is located in Northampton County

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

Newspapers Published in West Catasauqua ...

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 20 newspapers that have been published in the area around West Catasauqua.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of West Catasauqua, there are papers which were published within 8 miles [12.9 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for West Catasauqua.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These 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 Catasauqua:

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

The official website for Lehigh County: www.lehighcounty.org/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<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 West Catasauqua, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>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- West Catasauqua) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in West Catasauqua. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.6459, Longitude: -75.4745    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025