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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 Westminster (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 Westminster. 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.

Westminster is located in Luzerne 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 Luzerne County: Carbon, Columbia, Lackawanna, Monroe, Schuylkill, Sullivan & Wyoming.

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

  • Luzerne County     (The home county of Westminster)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Westminster, with the one closest to Westminster listed first.
    • Yatesville
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Yatesville is located in Luzerne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yatesville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 613 people
    • Laflin
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Laflin is located in Luzerne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laflin
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,435 people
    • Hughestown
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Hughestown is located in Luzerne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hughestown
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,356 people
    • Pittston
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • West Pittston
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Dupont
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Langdon
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Langdon is located in Luzerne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Langdon
    • Exeter
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Port Blanchard
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Port Blanchard is located in Luzerne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Port Blanchard
    • Wyoming
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Hilldale
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Hilldale is located in Luzerne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilldale
    • Miners Mills
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Miners Mills is located in Luzerne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Miners Mills
    • Plains
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Carbon County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Westminster, with the one closest to Westminster listed first.
    • East Side
      (15 miles [24.1 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
    • Leslie Run
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Leslie Run is located in Carbon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leslie Run
    • Mud Run
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Mud Run is located in Carbon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mud Run
    • Albrightsville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Unionville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Unionville is located in Carbon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unionville
    • Meckesville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Meckesville is located in Carbon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meckesville
    • Penn Haven Junction
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Penn Haven Junction is located in Carbon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Penn Haven Junction
    • Weatherly
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Coxes Village
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Coxes Village is located in Carbon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coxes Village
      • Coxes Village has also been known as:
      • Cross Village
    • Beaver Meadows
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Hudsondale
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Hudsondale is located in Carbon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hudsondale
    • Tresckow
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Tresckow is located in Carbon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tresckow
    • Jim Thorpe
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Jim Thorpe is located in Carbon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jim Thorpe
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,650 people
      • Former names for Jim Thorpe:
      • East Mauch Chunk
      • Mauch Chunk
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Jim Thorpe <1>
  • Columbia County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Westminster, with the one closest to Westminster listed first.
    • Foundryville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Foundryville is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foundryville
    • Berwick
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Jonestown
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Jonestown is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jonestown
    • Briar Creek
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Briar Creek is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Briar Creek
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 672 people
    • Jamison City
      (30 miles [48.3 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 Westminster, with the one closest to Westminster listed first.
    • Lawrenceville
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Lawrenceville is located in Lackawanna County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawrenceville
    • Belian Village
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Belian Village is located in Lackawanna County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belian Village
    • Old Forge
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Moosic
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Moosic is located in Lackawanna County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moosic
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,813 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Moosic <1>
    • Taylor
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Taylor is located in Lackawanna County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taylor
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,879 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Taylor <1>
    • Minooka
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Minooka is located in Lackawanna County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minooka
    • Spring Brook
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Spring Brook is located in Lackawanna County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Brook
    • Milwaukee
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Milwaukee is located in Lackawanna County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milwaukee
    • Scranton
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Yostville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Yostville is located in Lackawanna County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yostville
    • Dunmore
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Dunmore is located in Lackawanna County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunmore
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 12,836 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dunmore <1>
    • Green Ridge
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Green Ridge is located in Lackawanna County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Ridge
    • Daleville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
  • Monroe County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Westminster, with the one closest to Westminster listed first.
    • Locust Lakes Village
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Locust Lakes Village is located in Monroe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locust Lakes Village
    • Mount Pocono
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Tobyhanna
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Pocono Pines
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Long Pond
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Pocono Summit
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Mountainhome
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Paradise Valley
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Paradise Valley is located in Monroe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paradise Valley
    • McMichael
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • McMichael is located in Monroe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McMichael
    • Appenzell
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Appenzell is located in Monroe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Appenzell
    • Kresgeville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Parkside
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Parkside is located in Monroe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkside
    • Reeders
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Pike County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Westminster, with the one closest to Westminster listed first.
    • South Sterling
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • La Anna
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • La Anna is located in Pike County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Anna
    • Ledgedale
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Ledgedale is located in Pike County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ledgedale
    • Panther
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Panther is located in Pike County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Panther
  • Schuylkill County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Westminster, with the one closest to Westminster listed first.
    • Kelayres
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Kelayres is located in Schuylkill County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelayres
    • McAdoo
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • McAdoo is located in Schuylkill County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McAdoo
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,147 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for McAdoo <1>
  • Susquehanna County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Westminster, with the one closest to Westminster listed first.
    • Lenoxville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Lenoxville is located in Susquehanna County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lenoxville
    • Royal
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Royal is located in Susquehanna County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Royal
    • Hop Bottom
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Springville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Forest City
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Wayne County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Westminster, with the one closest to Westminster listed first.
    • Hollisterville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Hollisterville is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollisterville
    • Sterling
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Maplewood
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Maplewood is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maplewood
    • Tresslarville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Tresslarville is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tresslarville
    • South Canaan
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • South Canaan is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Canaan
    • Lakeville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Waymart
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Uswick
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Uswick is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Uswick
    • Forest City Station
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Forest City Station is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest City Station
    • Keen
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Keen is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keen
  • Wyoming County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Westminster, with the one closest to Westminster listed first.
    • Mill City ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Mill City is located in Wyoming County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mill City
    • Beaumont
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Beaumont is located in Wyoming County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaumont
    • Vernon
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Vernon is located in Wyoming County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vernon
    • Lake Winola
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • South Eaton
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • South Eaton is located in Wyoming County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Eaton
    • Osterhout
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Osterhout is located in Wyoming County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osterhout
    • Jenks
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Jenks is located in Wyoming County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jenks
    • Noxen
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Evans Falls
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Evans Falls is located in Wyoming County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evans Falls
    • Factoryville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Dixon
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Dixon is located in Wyoming County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dixon
    • Tunkhannock
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Marcy
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Marcy is located in Wyoming County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marcy

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

Cemeteries Near Westminster ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Westminster.

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 Westminster - one of the links might be able to help.

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Westminster covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Westminster, with the one closest to Westminster 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.<3>

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

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

  • Laflin
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Laflin is located in Luzerne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laflin
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,435 people
  • Yatesville
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Yatesville is located in Luzerne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yatesville
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 613 people
  • Sebastopol
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Sebastopol is located in Luzerne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sebastopol
  • Port Griffith
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Port Griffith is located in Luzerne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Port Griffith
  • Inkerman
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Inkerman is located in Luzerne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Inkerman
  • Miners Mills
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Miners Mills is located in Luzerne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Miners Mills
  • Parsons
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Parsons is located in Luzerne County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parsons
  • Pittston
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • West Pittston
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Dupont
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Exeter
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Wyoming
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Port Blanchard
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Port Blanchard is located in Luzerne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Port Blanchard
    • Plainsville
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Plainsville is located in Luzerne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plainsville
    • Plains
      (3 miles [4.8 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 Westminster. See our List of 1890's Communities around Westminster.

Newspapers Published in Westminster ...

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 105 newspapers that have been published in the area around Westminster.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Westminster, there are papers which were published within 12 miles [19.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Westminster.

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 either 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 Westminster:

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 Westminster, 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- Westminster) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.