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 Liberty (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 Liberty. 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 Liberty ...
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 Liberty: W. Liberty
You might be interested in other communities that are also named West Liberty. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for West Liberty.
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 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 Liberty is located in Clearfield 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 Clearfield County: Cameron, Centre, Clinton, Elk, Indiana & Jefferson.
Below are the counties that are near West Liberty. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to West Liberty:
- Clearfield County (The home county of West Liberty)
- The following are listed by their distance from West Liberty, with the one closest to West Liberty listed first.
- Stanley
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Stanley is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stanley
- Sandy
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Sandy is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy
- Helvetia
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Helvetia is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helvetia
- DuBois
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Troutville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Troutville is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Troutville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 222 people
- Luthersburg
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Rockton
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Rockton is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockton
- Treasure Lake
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Treasure Lake is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Treasure Lake
- Laborde
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Laborde is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laborde
- Winterburn
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Winterburn is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winterburn
- Grampian
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Bower
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Bower is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bower
- Curry Run
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Curry Run is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Curry Run
- Armstrong County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Liberty, with the one closest to West Liberty listed first.
- McWilliams
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- McWilliams is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McWilliams
- Dayton
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Eddyville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Eddyville is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eddyville
- Millville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Millville is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millville
- Barnards
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Barnards is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barnards
- Putneyville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Putneyville is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Putneyville
- South Bethlehem
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- South Bethlehem is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Bethlehem
- Population from the 2020 Census: 443 people
- Cambria County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Liberty, with the one closest to West Liberty listed first.
- Garmantown
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Garmantown is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garmantown
- Barnesboro
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Barnesboro is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barnesboro
- Hastings
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- West Branch
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- West Branch is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Branch
- Flinton
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Northern Cambria
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Northern Cambria is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Northern Cambria
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,456 people
- Thomas Mills
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Thomas Mills is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thomas Mills
- Spangler
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Spangler is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spangler
- Fallentimber
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Clarion County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Liberty, with the one closest to West Liberty listed first.
- Crates
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Crates is located in Clarion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crates
- Day
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Day is located in Clarion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Day
- Hawthorn
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Fairmont City
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Frogtown
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Frogtown is located in Clarion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frogtown
- Waterson
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Waterson is located in Clarion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterson
- Cooksburg
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- New Bethlehem
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Brinkerton
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Brinkerton is located in Clarion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brinkerton
- Mechanicsville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Mechanicsville is located in Clarion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mechanicsville
- Strattanville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Elk County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Liberty, with the one closest to West Liberty listed first.
- Brockport
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Shawmut
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Shawmut is located in Elk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shawmut
- Challenge
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Challenge is located in Elk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Challenge
- Horton City
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Horton City is located in Elk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horton City
- Kylers Corners
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Kylers Corners is located in Elk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kylers Corners
- Scattertown
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Scattertown is located in Elk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scattertown
- Lake City
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Byrnedale
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Dagus Mines
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Dagus Mines is located in Elk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dagus Mines
- Caledonia
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Caledonia is located in Elk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caledonia
- Hallton
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Hallton is located in Elk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hallton
- Ridgway
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Millstone
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Millstone is located in Elk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millstone
- Forest County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Liberty, with the one closest to West Liberty listed first.
- Clarington
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Redclyffe
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Redclyffe is located in Forest County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redclyffe
- Indiana County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Liberty, with the one closest to West Liberty listed first.
- Johnsonburg
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Johnsonburg is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnsonburg
- Rossiter
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Urey
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Urey is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Urey
- Glen Campbell
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Hooverhurst
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Hooverhurst is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hooverhurst
- Marchand
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Marchand is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marchand
- Rochester Mills
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Rochester Mills is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rochester Mills
- Savan
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Savan is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Savan
- Trade City
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Trade City is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trade City
- Mottarns Mill
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Mottarns Mill is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mottarns Mill
- Hillsdale
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Hillsdale is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillsdale
- Georgeville
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Georgeville is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Georgeville
- Cherry Tree
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Cherry Tree is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Tree
- Population from the 2020 Census: 334 people
- Jefferson County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Liberty, with the one closest to West Liberty listed first.
- Sykesville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Pancoast
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Pancoast is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pancoast
- Prescottville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Prescottville is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prescottville
- Falls Creek
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Red Mill
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Red Mill is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Mill
- Reynoldsville
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Sandy Valley
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Sandy Valley is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Valley
- Wishaw
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Wishaw is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wishaw
- Panic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Panic is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Panic
- Allens Mills
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Allens Mills is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allens Mills
- Fuller
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Fuller is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fuller
- Crenshaw
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Crenshaw is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crenshaw
- Albion
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Albion is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albion
- Lawrence County
- Big Run
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Big Run is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Run
- Population from the 2020 Census: 594 people
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to West Liberty, see our County-by-County Page for West Liberty.
Cemeteries Near West Liberty ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of West Liberty.
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 Liberty - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for West Liberty covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from West Liberty, with the one closest to West Liberty listed first.
- Salem Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Soldier Hill Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Holy Trinity Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Shaffer Memorial Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Salem UMC Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salem UMC Cemetery
- The Salem UMC Cemetery has also been known as:
- New Salem Cemetery
- Salem Methodist Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #46287 <2>
- Rumbarger Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Prospect Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Union Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- St. Catherines Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- St. Josephs Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- St. Michaels Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Morningside Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Continue List (162 more) ...
- Beulah Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Greenwood Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- St. Marys Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for St. Marys Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the St. Marys Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the north of Reynoldsville.
- The St. Marys Cemetery has also been known as:
- St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1111986 <2>
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 Liberty in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of West Liberty.
These communities are listed based on their distance from West Liberty, with the one closest to West Liberty listed first.
- Stanley
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Stanley is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stanley
- Sykesville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Helvetia
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Helvetia is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helvetia
- Rathmel
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Rathmel is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rathmel
- Troutville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Troutville is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Troutville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 222 people
- Luthersburg
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Pancoast
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Pancoast is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pancoast
- DuBois
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Prescottville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Prescottville is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prescottville
- Falls Creek
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Cramer
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Cramer is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cramer
- Narrows Creek
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Narrows Creek is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Narrows Creek
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Reynoldsville
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Harveys Run
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Harveys Run is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harveys Run
- Rockton
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Rockton is located in Clearfield County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockton
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around West Liberty. See our List of 1890's Communities around West Liberty.
Newspapers Published in West Liberty ...
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 65 newspapers that have been published in the area around West Liberty.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of West Liberty, there are papers which were published within 16 miles [25.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for West Liberty.
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 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 Liberty:
- Websites specific to Pennsylvania
- Pages specific to Clearfield County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Armstrong County
- Cambria County
- Clarion County
- Elk County
- Forest County
- Indiana County
- Jefferson County
- Lawrence 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 Liberty, 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- West Liberty) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |