RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> Commonwealth of Pennsylvania >> Westmoreland County >> Whites Hill >> Genealogy HelperIndex...

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 Whites Hill (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 Whites Hill. 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 Whites Hill ...

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.

While the name of this community is Whites Hill, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Whites Hill may originally have been White's Hill.

Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Whites Hill might be written as White Hill.

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Whites Hill. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Whites Hill.

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 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.

Whites Hill is located in Westmoreland 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 Westmoreland County: Allegheny, Armstrong, Butler, Cambria, Fayette, Indiana & Somerset.

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

  • Westmoreland County     (The home county of Whites Hill)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Whites Hill, with the one closest to Whites Hill listed first.
    • Youngwood
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • South Greensburg
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • South Greensburg is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Greensburg
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,977 people
    • New Stanton
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Southwest Greensburg
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Southwest Greensburg is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Southwest Greensburg
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,002 people
    • Hunker
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Hunker is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunker
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 268 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hunker <2>
    • United
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • United is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for United
    • Greensburg
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Calumet
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Radebaugh
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Radebaugh is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Radebaugh
    • Arona
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Arona is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arona
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 343 people
    • Madison
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Adamsburg
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Adamsburg is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adamsburg
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 161 people
  • Allegheny County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Whites Hill, with the one closest to Whites Hill listed first.
    • Buena Vista
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Buena Vista is located in Allegheny County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buena Vista
    • White Oak
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Boston
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Versailles
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Versailles is located in Allegheny County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Versailles
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,452 people
    • Pitcairn
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Wall
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Wall is located in Allegheny County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wall
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 553 people
    • Lincoln
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Lincoln is located in Allegheny County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,013 people
    • East McKeesport
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • McKeesport
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • North Versailles
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Riverton
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Riverton is located in Allegheny County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverton
    • Liberty
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Liberty is located in Allegheny County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,438 people
  • Armstrong County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Whites Hill, with the one closest to Whites Hill listed first.
    • Edmon
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Edmon is located in Armstrong County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edmon
    • Apollo
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Apollo is located in Armstrong County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Apollo
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,507 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Apollo <2>
    • Orchard Hills
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Orchard Hills is located in Armstrong County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orchard Hills
    • North Apollo
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Olivet
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Olivet is located in Armstrong County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olivet
    • Spring Church
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Leechburg
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Cochrans Mills
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Cochrans Mills is located in Armstrong County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cochrans Mills
    • Freeport
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
  • Fayette County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Whites Hill, with the one closest to Whites Hill listed first.
    • Laurelville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Laurelville is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurelville
    • Bear Rocks
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Bear Rocks is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Rocks
    • Everson
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Everson is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Everson
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 744 people
    • Banning
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Banning is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Banning
    • White
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • White is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White
    • Fuller
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Fuller is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fuller
    • Whitsett
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Whitsett is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitsett
    • Dawson
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Dickerson Run
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Dickerson Run is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dickerson Run
    • Lynn
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Lynn is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lynn
    • Perryopolis
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Champion
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Greene County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Whites Hill, with the one closest to Whites Hill listed first.
    • Rices Landing
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Stringtown
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Stringtown is located in Greene County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stringtown
  • Indiana County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Whites Hill, with the one closest to Whites Hill listed first.
    • Bow
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Bow is located in Indiana County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bow
    • White
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • White is located in Indiana County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White
    • Blairsville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Clarksburg
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Black Lick
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Black Lick is located in Indiana County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Lick
    • Jacksonville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Jacksonville is located in Indiana County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jacksonville
    • Palmertown
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Robinson
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Robinson is located in Indiana County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robinson
    • Saltsburg
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Josephine
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Josephine is located in Indiana County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Josephine
    • Aultman
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Aultman is located in Indiana County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aultman
    • Coral
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Somerset County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Whites Hill, with the one closest to Whites Hill listed first.
    • Bakersville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Bakersville is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bakersville
    • Laurel Mountain Village
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Roytown
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Roytown is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roytown
    • Sipesville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Sipesville is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sipesville
    • Lavansville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Lavansville is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lavansville
    • Jenners Crossroads
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Jenners Crossroads is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jenners Crossroads
    • Jennerstown
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • New Lexington
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • New Lexington is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Lexington
    • Jenners
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Jenners is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jenners
    • Draketown
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Draketown is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Draketown
    • Husband
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Husband is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Husband
    • New Centerville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • New Centerville is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Centerville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 127 people
  • Washington County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Whites Hill, with the one closest to Whites Hill listed first.
    • Donora
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Donora is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Donora
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,546 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Donora <2>
    • Black Diamond
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Black Diamond is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Diamond
    • Twilight
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Twilight is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twilight
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 224 people
    • Charleroi
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Riverview
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Riverview is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverview
    • Allenport
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Dunlevy
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Long Branch
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Long Branch is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Branch
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 431 people
    • Roscoe
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Roscoe is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roscoe
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 791 people
    • Speers
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Speers is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Speers
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,061 people
    • Monongahela
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • North Charleroi
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • North Charleroi is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Charleroi
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,258 people

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

Cemeteries Near Whites Hill ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Whites Hill.

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 Whites Hill - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Stone Hill Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Feightner Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Youngwood Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Milliron Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Harrolds Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Westmoreland County Memorial Park
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Hillview Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Temple Emanuel Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Errett Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • St. Clair Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Mt. Lebanon United Methodist Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Polish Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (399 more) ...
    • Mt. Pleasant Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • St. Lukes Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Holy Sacrament Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)

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.<4>

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

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

  • Youngwood
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Foxtown
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Foxtown is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foxtown
  • Weavers Old Stand
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Weavers Old Stand is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weavers Old Stand
  • New Stanton
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Hunker
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Hunker is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunker
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 268 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hunker <2>
  • Southwest
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Southwest is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Southwest
  • Mutual
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Mutual is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mutual
  • Ruffs Dale
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Calumet
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • United
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • United is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for United
  • Greensburg
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Waltz Mill
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Waltz Mill is located in Westmoreland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waltz Mill
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Tarrs
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Trauger
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Trauger is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trauger
    • Radebaugh
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Radebaugh is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Radebaugh

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

Newspapers Published in Whites Hill ...

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 77 newspapers that have been published in the area around Whites Hill.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Whites Hill, there are papers which were published within 10 miles [16.1 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Whites Hill.

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 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 Whites Hill:

Footnotes ...

<1>It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties).
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<4>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 Whites Hill, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<5>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 from Point A (ie- Whites Hill) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.