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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 Baker Heights (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 Baker Heights. 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 Baker Heights ...

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 Baker Heights: Baker Hts. (in Canada, 'Hgts.' is the more common abbreviation.)

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 hospitals 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.

Baker Heights is located in Berkeley County.

To see how the shape of West Virginia's counties have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Berkeley County: Washington (MD), Frederick (VA), Jefferson & Morgan.

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

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

Cemeteries Near Baker Heights ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Baker Heights.

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

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

  • Pleasant View Memory Gardens
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pleasant View Memory Gardens
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pleasant View Memory Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Douglas Grove Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Douglas Grove Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Douglas Grove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • James M Van Metre Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the James M Van Metre Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the James M Van Metre Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Vancleveville Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Vancleveville Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Vancleveville Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Old Stone Bridge Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Stone Bridge Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Stone Bridge Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Rosedale Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Mt. Zion Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Zion Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Zion Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hebrew Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hebrew Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hebrew Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Smoketown Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Smoketown Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Smoketown Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Green Hill Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Norborne Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Norborne Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Norborne Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Kearneysville Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Kearneysville Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Kearneysville Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (335 more) ...
    • Mt. Hope Cemetery
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Hope Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Hope Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Sprinkle Cemetery
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Old German Lutheran Reformed Cemetery
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old German Lutheran Reformed Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old German Lutheran Reformed Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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 Baker Heights in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Baker Heights.

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

  • Kearneysville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kearneysville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kearneysville
    • Kearneysville is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kearneysville <1>
  • Martinsburg
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Swan Pond
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Berkeley
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Berkeley have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berkeley
    • Berkeley is located in Berkeley County
  • Leetown
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Leetown have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leetown
    • Leetown is located in Jefferson County
  • Darkesville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Shenandoah Junction
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shenandoah Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shenandoah Junction
    • Shenandoah Junction is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Shenandoah Junction <1>
  • Duffields
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Duffields have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duffields
    • Duffields is located in Jefferson County
  • Shepherdstown
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shepherdstown have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shepherdstown
    • Shepherdstown is located in Jefferson County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,922 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Shepherdstown <1>
  • Foltz ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Foltz have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foltz
    • Foltz is located in Berkeley County
  • Inwood
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Uvilla
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Uvilla have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Uvilla
    • Uvilla is located in Jefferson County
  • Continue List   (18 more) ...
    • Bedington
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Middleway
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Aldridge
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Aldridge have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aldridge
      • Aldridge is located in Jefferson County

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

Newspapers Published in Baker Heights ...

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 53 newspapers that have been published in the area around Baker Heights.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Baker Heights, there are papers which were published within 12 miles [19.3 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Baker Heights.

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 Baker Heights:

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

The official website for Berkeley County: www.berkeleycountycomm.org/

The official website for State of West Virginia: https://www.wv.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>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.
<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 Baker Heights, 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Baker Heights) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Baker Heights. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.4228, Longitude: -77.9256    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 31 Mar 2025