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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 Harper (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 Harper. 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 doctors 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.

Harper is located in Pendleton 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 Pendleton County: Augusta (VA), Highland (VA), Rockingham (VA), Grant, Hardy, Pocahontas & Randolph.

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

  • Pendleton County     (The home county of Harper)
  • Grant County
    • Seemly ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Seemly have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seemly
      • Seemly is located in Grant County
  • Hardy County
    • Peru
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Peru. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peru
      • Peru is located in Hardy County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Peru
      • From Harper to Peru
  • Pocahontas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Harper, with the one closest to Harper listed first.
    • Thornwood
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Frank
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Arbovale
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Durbin
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Durbin have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Durbin
      • Durbin is located in Pocahontas County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 297 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Durbin <2>
    • Green Bank
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Wildell
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Wildell. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wildell
      • Wildell is located in Pocahontas County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Wildell
      • From Harper to Wildell
    • Cass
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Sitlington
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Sitlington. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sitlington
      • Sitlington is located in Pocahontas County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Sitlington
      • From Harper to Sitlington
    • Frost
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Frost. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frost
      • Frost is located in Pocahontas County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Frost
      • From Harper to Frost
  • Randolph County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Harper, with the one closest to Harper listed first.
    • Whitmer
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Harperton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Harperton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harperton
      • Harperton is located in Randolph County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Harperton
      • From Harper to Harperton
    • Evenwood
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Evenwood. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evenwood
      • Evenwood is located in Randolph County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Evenwood
      • From Harper to Evenwood
    • Harman
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Wymer
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Huttonsville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Mill Creek
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mill Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mill Creek
      • Mill Creek is located in Randolph County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 681 people
    • Elkwater
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
    • Lee Bell
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Lee Bell. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lee Bell
      • Lee Bell is located in Randolph County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Lee Bell
      • From Harper to Lee Bell
  • Augusta County (VA)
  • Bath County (VA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Harper, with the one closest to Harper listed first.
    • Bolar
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Burnsville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Fort Lewis ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Fort Lewis. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Lewis
      • Fort Lewis is located in Bath County (VA)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Fort Lewis
      • From Harper to Fort Lewis
  • Highland County (VA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Harper, with the one closest to Harper listed first.
    • Possum Trot
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Palo Alto
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Palo Alto. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palo Alto
      • Palo Alto is located in Highland County (VA)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Palo Alto
      • From Harper to Palo Alto
    • Monterey
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Monterey have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monterey
      • Monterey is located in Highland County (VA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 136 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Monterey <2>
    • Hightown
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hightown. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hightown
      • Hightown is located in Highland County (VA)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Hightown
      • From Harper to Hightown
    • McDowell
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Meadowdale
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Meadowdale have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowdale
      • Meadowdale is located in Highland County (VA)
    • Clover Creek
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Clover Creek. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clover Creek
      • Clover Creek is located in Highland County (VA)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Clover Creek
      • From Harper to Clover Creek
    • Buckeye ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Buckeye have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckeye
      • Buckeye is located in Highland County (VA)
  • Rockingham County (VA)

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

Cemeteries Near Harper ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Harper.

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

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

  • Totten Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Totten Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Totten Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Blue Grass Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Blue Grass Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Blue Grass Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Burns Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Burns Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Burns Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Keister Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Pinecrest Memorial Gardens
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Pine Hill Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pine Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pine Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Simmons Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Simmons Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Simmons Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mt. Hobart Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Hobart Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Hobart Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hinkle Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hinkle Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hinkle Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Fairview Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fairview Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fairview Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Griffin Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Griffin Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Griffin Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • North Fork Memorial Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the North Fork Memorial Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the North Fork Memorial Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (101 more) ...
    • St. Mark Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Mark Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Mark Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Yeager Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Yeager Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Yeager Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Hauchen Cemetery
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hauchen Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hauchen Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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.<6>

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

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

  • New Hampden
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Hampden have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Hampden
    • New Hampden is located in Highland County (VA)
  • Doe Hill
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Doe Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doe Hill
    • Doe Hill is located in Highland County (VA)
  • Dry Run
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Dry Run. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dry Run
    • Dry Run is located in Pendleton County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Dry Run
    • From Harper to Dry Run
  • Palo Alto
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Palo Alto. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palo Alto
    • Palo Alto is located in Highland County (VA)
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Palo Alto
    • From Harper to Palo Alto
  • Sugar Grove
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Monterey
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Monterey have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monterey
    • Monterey is located in Highland County (VA)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 136 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Monterey <2>
  • Hightown
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hightown. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hightown
    • Hightown is located in Highland County (VA)
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Hightown
    • From Harper to Hightown
  • Circleville
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Franklin
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • McDowell
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Vanderpool
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vanderpool have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vanderpool
    • Vanderpool is located in Highland County (VA)
  • Meadowdale
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Meadowdale have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowdale
    • Meadowdale is located in Highland County (VA)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Brandywine
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Ruddle
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ruddle. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruddle
      • Ruddle is located in Pendleton County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Ruddle
      • From Harper to Ruddle
    • Osceola
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Osceola have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osceola
      • Osceola is located in Randolph County

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

Newspapers Published in Harper ...

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 22 newspapers that have been published in the area around Harper.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Harper, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Harper.

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 Harper:

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

The official website for State of West Virginia: https://www.wv.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<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 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 '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- Harper) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Harper. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.5194, Longitude: -79.4721    
<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 Harper, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 31 Mar 2025