RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> Commonwealth of Pennsylvania >> Montgomery County >> West Pottsgrove >> Genealogy HelperIndex...










Learn About
The Commemorative
Quarter for
Pennsylvania

The Commemorative Quarter for Pennsylvania





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 Pottsgrove (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 Pottsgrove. 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 Pottsgrove ...

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 Pottsgrove: W. Pottsgrove

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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors 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.

West Pottsgrove is located in Montgomery 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 Montgomery County: Berks, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Lehigh & Philadelphia.

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

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

Cemeteries Near West Pottsgrove ...

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

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

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

  • Holy Trinity Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Holy Trinity Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Holy Trinity Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Pottstown Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Highland Memorial Park
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Highland Memorial Park
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Highland Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Michael's Ukrainian Catholic Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Michael's Ukrainian Catholic Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Michael's Ukrainian Catholic Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Second Baptist Church Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Second Baptist Church Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Second Baptist Church Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Shenkel UCC Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Shenkel UCC Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Shenkel UCC Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mt. Zion Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Congregation Mercy & Truth Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Congregation Mercy & Truth Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Congregation Mercy & Truth Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Johns Greek Catholic Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Johns Greek Catholic Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Johns Greek Catholic Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hanawas Sachem Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hanawas Sachem Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hanawas Sachem Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Edgewood Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Old St. Aloysius Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (399 more) ...
    • St. Aloysius Cemetery
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Aloysius Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Aloysius Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • St. Aloysius Cemetery
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Aloysius Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Aloysius Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Fritz Cemetery
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fritz Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fritz Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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 Pottsgrove in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of West Pottsgrove.

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

  • Bramcote
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bramcote. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bramcote
    • Bramcote is located in Montgomery County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Bramcote
    • From West Pottsgrove to Bramcote
  • Stowe
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stowe have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stowe
    • Stowe is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Stowe <2>
  • Cedarville
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cedarville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedarville
    • Cedarville is located in Chester County
  • Pottstown
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Douglassville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Douglassville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Douglassville
    • Douglassville is located in Berks County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Douglassville <2>
  • Bally
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bally have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bally
    • Bally is located in Berks County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,241 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bally <2>
  • Kenilworth
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • 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
  • Ironstone
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Sanatoga
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sanatoga have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sanatoga
    • Sanatoga is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sanatoga <2>
  • Colebrookdale
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Little Oley
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little Oley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Oley
    • Little Oley is located in Berks County
  • Greshville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Greshville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greshville
    • Greshville is located in Berks County
  • Continue List   (22 more) ...
    • Worman
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Worman have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Worman
      • Worman is located in Berks County
    • Monocacy Station
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Monocacy Station have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monocacy Station
      • Monocacy Station is located in Berks County
    • Monocacy
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)

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

Newspapers Published in West Pottsgrove ...

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 41 newspapers that have been published in the area around West Pottsgrove.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of West Pottsgrove, 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 Pottsgrove.

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 Pottsgrove:

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

The official website for Montgomery County: www.montcopa.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 Pottsgrove, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>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 from Point A (ie- West Pottsgrove) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in West Pottsgrove. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.2544, Longitude: -75.6841    









 

Copyright 2025
All Rights Reserved

Thank you for visiting our website.

In closing, please keep in mind that we can not guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of the information on this website, so use with care. We encourage you to double-check the information that is critical to you.

If you've found an error or have additional information that you would like to share, please don't hesitate to write: Click here to contact us.

This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025