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 Falls (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 Falls. 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 Falls ...
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 occur.
For example, a typical abbreviation for West Falls: W. Falls
You might be interested in other communities that are also named West Falls. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for West Falls.
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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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 Falls is located in Wyoming 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 Wyoming County: Bradford, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Sullivan & Susquehanna.
Below are the counties that are near West Falls. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to West Falls:
- Wyoming County (The home county of West Falls)
- The following are listed by their distance from West Falls, with the one closest to West Falls listed first.
- Lake Winola
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- South Eaton
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- South Eaton is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Eaton
- Osterhout
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Osterhout is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osterhout
- Vernon
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Vernon is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vernon
- Jenks
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Jenks is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jenks
- Dixon
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Dixon is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dixon
- Tunkhannock
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Mill City ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Mill City is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mill City
- Factoryville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Marcy
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Marcy is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marcy
- Beaumont
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Beaumont is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaumont
- Evans Falls
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Evans Falls is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evans Falls
- Lake Carey
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Lake Carey is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Carey
- Bradford County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Falls, with the one closest to West Falls listed first.
- Sugar Run
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Wyalusing
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Wilmot
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Wilmot is located in Bradford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilmot
- New Era
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- New Era is located in Bradford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Era
- Limehill
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Limehill is located in Bradford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Limehill
- Homets Ferry
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Homets Ferry is located in Bradford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homets Ferry
- Asylum
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Asylum is located in Bradford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Asylum
- Le Raysville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Le Raysville is located in Bradford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Le Raysville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 271 people
- Evergreen
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Evergreen is located in Bradford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen
- Laddsburg
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Laddsburg is located in Bradford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laddsburg
- Carbon County
- East Side
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- East Side is located in Carbon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Side
- Population from the 2020 Census: 301 people
- Columbia County
- Jamison City
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Jamison City is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamison City
- Lackawanna County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Falls, with the one closest to West Falls listed first.
- Schultzville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Schultzville is located in Lackawanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Schultzville
- Milwaukee
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Milwaukee is located in Lackawanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milwaukee
- Clarks Summit
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Dalton
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Clarks Green
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Clarks Green is located in Lackawanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarks Green
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,383 people
- Glenburn
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Glenburn is located in Lackawanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenburn
- La Plume
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- La Plume is located in Lackawanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Plume
- Old Forge
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Taylor
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Waverly
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Lawrenceville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Lawrenceville is located in Lackawanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawrenceville
- Moosic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Carpenter Town
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Carpenter Town is located in Lackawanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carpenter Town
- Luzerne County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Falls, with the one closest to West Falls listed first.
- Orange
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Orange is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orange
- Carverton
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Carverton is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carverton
- Kunkle
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Kunkle is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kunkle
- Exeter
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Pittston
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- West Pittston
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- West Wyoming
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- West Wyoming is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Wyoming
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,671 people
- Duryea
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Port Blanchard
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Port Blanchard is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Port Blanchard
- Avoca
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Houston City
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Houston City is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Houston City
- Hughestown
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Hughestown is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hughestown
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,356 people
- Dallas
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Monroe County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Falls, with the one closest to West Falls listed first.
- Locust Lakes Village
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Locust Lakes Village is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locust Lakes Village
- Mount Pocono
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Tobyhanna
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Pike County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Falls, with the one closest to West Falls listed first.
- Ledgedale
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Ledgedale is located in Pike County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ledgedale
- South Sterling
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- La Anna
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- La Anna is located in Pike County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Anna
- Sullivan County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Falls, with the one closest to West Falls listed first.
- Bernice
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Bernice is located in Sullivan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bernice
- Shinerville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Shinerville is located in Sullivan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shinerville
- Dushore
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Susquehanna County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Falls, with the one closest to West Falls listed first.
- Springville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Hop Bottom
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Lenoxville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Lenoxville is located in Susquehanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lenoxville
- Tyler
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Tyler is located in Susquehanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tyler
- Royal
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Royal is located in Susquehanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Royal
- Auburn Four Corners
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Auburn Four Corners is located in Susquehanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Auburn Four Corners
- Elk Lake
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Elk Lake is located in Susquehanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elk Lake
- Kingsley
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- South Gibson
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- South Montrose
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Alford
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Alford is located in Susquehanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alford
- Fairdale
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Fairdale is located in Susquehanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairdale
- Forest City
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Wayne County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Falls, with the one closest to West Falls listed first.
- Maplewood
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Maplewood is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maplewood
- Hollisterville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Hollisterville is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollisterville
- South Canaan
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- South Canaan is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Canaan
- Tresslarville
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Tresslarville is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tresslarville
- Waymart
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Forest City Station
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Forest City Station is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest City Station
- Sterling
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Keen
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Keen is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keen
- Prompton
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Prompton is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prompton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 233 people
- Aldenville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Aldenville is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aldenville
- Bethany
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Lakeville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Seelyville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Seelyville is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seelyville
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to West Falls, see our County-by-County Page for West Falls.
Cemeteries Near West Falls ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of West Falls.
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 Falls - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for West Falls covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from West Falls, with the one closest to West Falls listed first.
- Post Hill Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Fitch Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Mountain View Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Lake Winola Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Fairview Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Greenwood Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Jackson Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Eaton Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Huff Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Dreisbach - Morse Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Cosner Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Sunnyside Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Continue List (260 more) ...
- Dixon Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Fern Brook Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Memorial Shrine Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
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 West Falls in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of West Falls.
These communities are listed based on their distance from West Falls, with the one closest to West Falls listed first.
- Falls
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Falls is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falls
- Keelersburg
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Keelersburg is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keelersburg
- Lockville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Lockville is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lockville
- Lake Winola
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- South Eaton
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- South Eaton is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Eaton
- Center Moreland
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Center Moreland is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Center Moreland
- Ransom
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Ransom is located in Lackawanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ransom
- Milwaukee
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Milwaukee is located in Lackawanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milwaukee
- Schultzville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Schultzville is located in Lackawanna County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Schultzville
- Osterhout
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Osterhout is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osterhout
- Vernon
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Vernon is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vernon
- Orange
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Orange is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orange
- Continue List (18 more) ...
- Bardwell
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Bardwell is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bardwell
- Mill City ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Mill City is located in Wyoming County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mill City
- Ketcham
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Ketcham is located in Luzerne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ketcham
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around West Falls. See our List of 1890's Communities around West Falls.
Newspapers Published in West Falls ...
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 116 newspapers that have been published in the area around West Falls.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of West Falls, 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 West Falls.
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 professional and volunteer 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 Falls:
- Websites specific to Pennsylvania
- Pages specific to Wyoming County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Bradford County
- Carbon County
- Columbia County
- Lackawanna County
- Luzerne County
- Monroe County
- Pike County
- Sullivan County
- Susquehanna County
- Wayne 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 Falls, 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- West Falls) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |