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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 Wilkes-Barre (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 Wilkes-Barre. 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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and 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.

Wilkes-Barre is located in Luzerne County and is the County Seat.

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 Luzerne County: Carbon, Columbia, Lackawanna, Monroe, Schuylkill, Sullivan & Wyoming.

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

  • Luzerne County     (The home county of Wilkes-Barre)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wilkes-Barre, with the one closest to Wilkes-Barre listed first.
    • Kingston
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Forty Fort
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Forty Fort. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forty Fort
      • Forty Fort is located in Luzerne County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,025 people
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Forty Fort
      • From Wilkes-Barre to Forty Fort
    • Luzerne
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Miners Mills
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Plains
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Port Bowkley
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Edwardsville
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Edwardsville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edwardsville
      • Edwardsville is located in Luzerne County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,738 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Edwardsville <1>
    • Larksville
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Larksville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Larksville
      • Larksville is located in Luzerne County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,395 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Larksville <1>
    • Pringle
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pringle have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pringle
      • Pringle is located in Luzerne County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 913 people
    • Ashley
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Laurel Run
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Hilldale
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Courtdale
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Courtdale have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Courtdale
      • Courtdale is located in Luzerne County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 711 people
  • Carbon County
  • Columbia County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wilkes-Barre, with the one closest to Wilkes-Barre listed first.
    • Foundryville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Foundryville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foundryville
      • Foundryville is located in Columbia County
    • Berwick
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Jonestown
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jonestown have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jonestown
      • Jonestown is located in Columbia County
    • Briar Creek
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Hetlerville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Jamison City
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jamison City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamison City
      • Jamison City is located in Columbia County
    • Mifflinville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mifflinville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mifflinville
      • Mifflinville is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mifflinville <1>
    • Benton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Stillwater
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Zaner
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Lime Ridge
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lime Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lime Ridge
      • Lime Ridge is located in Columbia County
    • Waller
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Waller have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waller
      • Waller is located in Columbia County
    • Jackson
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Lackawanna County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wilkes-Barre, with the one closest to Wilkes-Barre listed first.
    • Lawrenceville
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Belian Village
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Belian Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belian Village
      • Belian Village is located in Lackawanna County
    • Old Forge
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Old Forge have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Forge
      • Old Forge is located in Lackawanna County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,838 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Old Forge <1>
    • Moosic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Moosic have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moosic
      • Moosic is located in Lackawanna County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,813 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Moosic <1>
    • Milwaukee
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Milwaukee. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milwaukee
      • Milwaukee is located in Lackawanna County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Milwaukee
      • From Wilkes-Barre to Milwaukee
    • Taylor
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Taylor have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taylor
      • Taylor is located in Lackawanna County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,879 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Taylor <1>
    • Spring Brook
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Scranton
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Yostville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Schultzville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Dunmore
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Green Ridge
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Clarks Summit
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clarks Summit have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarks Summit
      • Clarks Summit is located in Lackawanna County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,843 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clarks Summit <1>
  • Monroe County
  • Pike County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wilkes-Barre, with the one closest to Wilkes-Barre listed first.
    • South Sterling
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • La Anna
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for La Anna. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Anna
      • La Anna is located in Pike County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to La Anna
      • From Wilkes-Barre to La Anna
    • Ledgedale
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Panther
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Panther. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Panther
      • Panther is located in Pike County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Panther
      • From Wilkes-Barre to Panther
  • Schuylkill County
  • Sullivan County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wilkes-Barre, with the one closest to Wilkes-Barre listed first.
    • Bernice
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bernice. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bernice
      • Bernice is located in Sullivan County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Bernice
      • From Wilkes-Barre to Bernice
    • Shinerville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Wayne County
  • Wyoming County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wilkes-Barre, with the one closest to Wilkes-Barre listed first.
    • Mill City ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mill City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mill City
      • Mill City is located in Wyoming County
    • Beaumont
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Vernon
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Noxen
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Jenks
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Evans Falls
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • South Eaton
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Lake Winola
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Osterhout
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Tunkhannock
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tunkhannock have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tunkhannock
      • Tunkhannock is located in Wyoming County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,674 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tunkhannock <1>
    • Dixon
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dixon have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dixon
      • Dixon is located in Wyoming County
    • Factoryville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Marcy
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Marcy. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marcy
      • Marcy is located in Wyoming County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Marcy
      • From Wilkes-Barre to Marcy

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

Cemeteries Near Wilkes-Barre ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Wilkes-Barre.

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 Wilkes-Barre covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Wilkes-Barre, with the one closest to Wilkes-Barre 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.<6>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Wilkes-Barre had a population of 37,718 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Wilkes-Barre had a population of 40,597 people.

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

  • Kingston
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Luzerne
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Ashley
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Laurel Run
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Parsons
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Parsons have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parsons
    • Parsons is located in Luzerne County
  • Miners Mills
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Plains
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Port Bowkley
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Forty Fort
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Forty Fort. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forty Fort
    • Forty Fort is located in Luzerne County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,025 people
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Forty Fort
    • From Wilkes-Barre to Forty Fort
  • Larksville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Larksville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Larksville
    • Larksville is located in Luzerne County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,395 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Larksville <1>
  • Plymouth Junction
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Plymouth Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plymouth Junction
    • Plymouth Junction is located in Luzerne County
  • Hudson
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hudson have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hudson
    • Hudson is located in Luzerne County
  • Continue List   (18 more) ...
    • Plainsville
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Plainsville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plainsville
      • Plainsville is located in Luzerne County
    • Gregory
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gregory have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gregory
      • Gregory is located in Luzerne County
    • Plymouth
      (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 Wilkes-Barre. See our List of 1890's Communities around Wilkes-Barre.

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Wilkes-Barre ...

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 112 newspapers that have been published in the area around Wilkes-Barre.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Wilkes-Barre. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Wilkes-Barre and those printed in the larger area surrounding Wilkes-Barre.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 9 miles [14.5 km]<5> of Wilkes-Barre.

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 helpful 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 Wilkes-Barre:

The official website for Wilkes-Barre: www.wilkes-barre.pa.us/

The official website for Luzerne County: www.luzernecounty.org/

The official website for Commonwealth of Pennsylvania: https://www.pa.gov/

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>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.
<3>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.
<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>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 from Point A (ie- Wilkes-Barre) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Wilkes-Barre. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.2454, Longitude: -75.8813    
<6>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 Wilkes-Barre, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025