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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 Zimmerman (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 Zimmerman. 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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

Zimmerman is located in Somerset 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 Somerset County: Allegany (MD), Garrett (MD), Bedford, Cambria, Fayette & Westmoreland.

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

  • Somerset County     (The home county of Zimmerman)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Zimmerman, with the one closest to Zimmerman listed first.
    • Husband
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Husband is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Husband
    • Roytown
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Roytown is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roytown
    • Sipesville
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Sipesville is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sipesville
    • Gideon
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Gideon is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gideon
    • Somerset
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Lavansville
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Lavansville is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lavansville
    • Bakersville
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Bakersville is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bakersville
    • Friedens
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Milford
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Milford is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milford
    • Coleman
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Coleman is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coleman
    • Jenners Crossroads
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Jenners Crossroads is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jenners Crossroads
    • Jenners
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Jenners is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jenners
  • Bedford County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Zimmerman, with the one closest to Zimmerman listed first.
    • Kegg
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Kegg is located in Bedford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kegg
    • Schellsburg
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Hyndman
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • New Paris
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Pleasantville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Pleasantville is located in Bedford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasantville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 205 people
    • Stringtown
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Stringtown is located in Bedford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stringtown
    • Manns Choice
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Cooks Mills
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Cooks Mills is located in Bedford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooks Mills
    • Wolfsburg
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Wolfsburg is located in Bedford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolfsburg
  • Cambria County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Zimmerman, with the one closest to Zimmerman listed first.
    • Ingleside
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Ingleside is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ingleside
    • Elim
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Elim is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elim
    • Ferndale
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Scalp Level
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Scalp Level is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scalp Level
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 691 people
    • Belmont
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Belmont is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belmont
    • Dale
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Dale is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dale
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,110 people
    • Geistown
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Geistown is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Geistown
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,242 people
    • Lorain
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Lorain is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lorain
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 680 people
    • Southmont
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Southmont is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Southmont
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,048 people
    • Westmont
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Westmont is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westmont
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,625 people
    • Brownstown
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Conemaugh
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Conemaugh is located in Cambria County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conemaugh
  • Fayette County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Zimmerman, with the one closest to Zimmerman listed first.
    • Seven Springs
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Champion
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Indian Head
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Indian Head is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Head
    • White
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • White is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White
    • Bear Rocks
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Bear Rocks is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Rocks
    • Laurelville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Laurelville is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurelville
    • Ohiopyle
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Connellsville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Everson
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Everson is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Everson
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 744 people
    • South Connellsville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Sitka
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Sitka is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sitka
    • Dunbar
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
  • Indiana County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Zimmerman, with the one closest to Zimmerman listed first.
    • Robinson
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Robinson is located in Indiana County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robinson
    • Blairsville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Armagh
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Dilltown
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Heshbon
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Heshbon is located in Indiana County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heshbon
    • Palmertown
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Black Lick
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Black Lick is located in Indiana County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Lick
    • Claghorn ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Claghorn is located in Indiana County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Claghorn
    • Josephine
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Josephine is located in Indiana County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Josephine
    • Wehrum
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Wehrum is located in Indiana County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wehrum
  • Westmoreland County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Zimmerman, with the one closest to Zimmerman listed first.
    • Laurel Mountain
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Laurel Mountain is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurel Mountain
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 153 people
      • Laurel Mountain has also been known as:
      • Laurel Mountain Park
    • Laughlintown
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Rector
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Stahlstown
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Donegal
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Oak Grove
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Oak Grove is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
    • Ligonier
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Darlington
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Darlington is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Darlington
    • West Fairfield
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • West Fairfield is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Fairfield
    • Kecksburg
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Kecksburg is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kecksburg
    • Kingston
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Kingston is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingston
    • Lycippus
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Lycippus is located in Westmoreland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lycippus
  • Allegany County (MD)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Zimmerman, with the one closest to Zimmerman listed first.
    • Barrelville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Barrelville is located in Allegany County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barrelville
    • Mount Savage
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Frostburg
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Zihlman
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Zihlman is located in Allegany County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zihlman
    • Ellerslie
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Ellerslie is located in Allegany County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellerslie
    • Midlothian
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Midlothian is located in Allegany County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midlothian
    • Corriganville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Corriganville is located in Allegany County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corriganville
    • Eckhart Mines
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Eckhart Mines is located in Allegany County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eckhart Mines
    • Borden Shaft
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Borden Shaft is located in Allegany County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Borden Shaft
    • Clarysville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Clarysville is located in Allegany County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarysville
    • Mount Savage Junction
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Mount Savage Junction is located in Allegany County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Savage Junction
  • Garrett County (MD)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Zimmerman, with the one closest to Zimmerman listed first.
    • Grantsville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Avilton
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Avilton is located in Garrett County (MD)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avilton
    • Friendsville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Zimmerman ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Zimmerman.

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

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

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

  • Weller Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Husband Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Union Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Lichty Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • St. Johns Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Pleasant Hill Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Listie Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Friedens Luthern Church Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friedens Luthern Church Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Friedens Luthern Church Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Friedens.
    • The Friedens Luthern Church Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Friedens Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2207909 <2>
  • Schmucker Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Garden of Memories Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Bakersville Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • St. Josephs Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (188 more) ...
    • Pugh Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Jenners Crossroads Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Mt. Carmel Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)

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

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

  • Husband
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Husband is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Husband
  • Edie
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Edie is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edie
  • Lavansville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Lavansville is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lavansville
  • Somerset
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Geiger
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Geiger is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Geiger
  • Gideon
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Gideon is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gideon
  • Sipesville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Sipesville is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sipesville
  • Bakersville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Bakersville is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bakersville
  • Friedens
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Shamrock
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Shamrock is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shamrock
  • Coleman
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Coleman is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coleman
  • Jenners Crossroads
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Jenners Crossroads is located in Somerset County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jenners Crossroads
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Trent
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Trent is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trent
    • Gebhart
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Gebhart is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gebhart
    • Mostoller
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Mostoller is located in Somerset County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mostoller

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

Newspapers Published in Zimmerman ...

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 52 newspapers that have been published in the area around Zimmerman.

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

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to 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 Zimmerman:

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 Zimmerman, 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' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Zimmerman) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.