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 Spray Beach (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 Spray Beach. 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 Spray Beach ...
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.
For example, a typical abbreviation for Spray Beach: Spray Bch.
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 and hospitals 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.
Spray Beach is located in Ocean County.
To see how the shape of New Jersey's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Ocean County: Atlantic, Burlington & Monmouth.
Below are the counties that are near Spray Beach. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Spray Beach:
- Ocean County (The home county of Spray Beach)
- The following are listed by their distance from Spray Beach, with the one closest to Spray Beach listed first.
- North Beach Haven
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- North Beach Haven is located in Ocean County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Beach Haven
- Holgate
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Holgate is located in Ocean County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holgate
- Parkertown
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Parkertown is located in Ocean County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkertown
- West Creek
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- West Creek is located in Ocean County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Creek
- Beach Haven West
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Beach Haven West is located in Ocean County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beach Haven West
- Eagleswood Village
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Eagleswood Village is located in Ocean County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagleswood Village
- Staffordville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Staffordville is located in Ocean County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Staffordville
- Mayetta
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Mayetta is located in Ocean County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayetta
- Mystic Island
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Mystic Island is located in Ocean County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mystic Island
- Manahawkin
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Manahawkin is located in Ocean County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manahawkin
- North Beach
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- North Beach is located in Ocean County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Beach
- Ocean Acres
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Ocean Acres is located in Ocean County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ocean Acres
- Atlantic County
- The following are listed by their distance from Spray Beach, with the one closest to Spray Beach listed first.
- Brigantine
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Brigantine is located in Atlantic County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brigantine
- Population from the 2020 Census: 8,577 people
- Oceanville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Oceanville is located in Atlantic County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oceanville
- Port Republic
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Port Republic is located in Atlantic County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Port Republic
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,051 people
- Absecon
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Absecon is located in Atlantic County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Absecon
- Population from the 2020 Census: 8,789 people
- Atlantic City
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Atlantic City is located in Atlantic County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atlantic City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 37,569 people
- Pomona
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Pomona is located in Atlantic County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pomona
- West Atlantic City
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- West Atlantic City is located in Atlantic County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Atlantic City
- Weekstown
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Weekstown is located in Atlantic County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weekstown
- Pleasantville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Pleasantville is located in Atlantic County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasantville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 20,060 people
- Egg Harbor City
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Egg Harbor City is located in Atlantic County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Egg Harbor City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,057 people
- Ventnor City
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Ventnor City is located in Atlantic County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ventnor City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 9,872 people
- Margate City
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Margate City is located in Atlantic County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Margate City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,801 people
- Burlington County
- The following are listed by their distance from Spray Beach, with the one closest to Spray Beach listed first.
- New Gretna
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- New Gretna is located in Burlington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Gretna
- Wading River
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Wading River is located in Burlington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wading River
- Green Bank
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Green Bank is located in Burlington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Bank
- Washington
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Washington is located in Burlington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Washington
- Population from the 2020 Census: 6,459 people
- Speedwell
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Speedwell is located in Burlington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Speedwell
- Batsto Village ‑ Historic
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Batsto Village is located in Burlington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Batsto Village
- Batsto Village has also been known as:
- Batsto
- Chatsworth
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Chatsworth is located in Burlington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chatsworth
- Atsion
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Atsion is located in Burlington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atsion
- Presidential Lakes Estates
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Country Lake Estates
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Country Lake Estates is located in Burlington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Country Lake Estates
- Sooy Place
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Sooy Place is located in Burlington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sooy Place
- Cape May County
- Ocean City
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Ocean City is located in Cape May County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ocean City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 10,902 people
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Spray Beach, see our County-by-County Page for Spray Beach.
Cemeteries Near Spray Beach ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Spray Beach.
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 Spray Beach - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Spray Beach covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Spray Beach, with the one closest to Spray Beach listed first.
- West Creek Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Staffordville Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Greenwood Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Old Methodist Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Manahawkin Baptist Church Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Greenwood Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Friends Meeting Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Miller Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Masonic Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- St. Marys Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Hillside Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Old Waretown Cemetery
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Continue List (47 more) ...
- Ocean County Memorial Park
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ocean County Memorial Park
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Ocean County Memorial Park is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the east of Ocean.
- The Ocean County Memorial Park has also been known as:
- Ocean Community Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #100147 <1>
- Leek - McKeen Cemetery
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Clarks Mill Burying Ground
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
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.<2>
While we didn't find Spray Beach in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Spray Beach.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Spray Beach, with the one closest to Spray Beach listed first.
- North Beach Haven
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- North Beach Haven is located in Ocean County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Beach Haven
- West Creek
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- West Creek is located in Ocean County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Creek
- Staffordville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Staffordville is located in Ocean County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Staffordville
- Cedar Run
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Cedar Run is located in Ocean County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Run
- Mayetta
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Mayetta is located in Ocean County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayetta
- Manahawkin
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Manahawkin is located in Ocean County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manahawkin
- Long Beach
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Long Beach is located in Ocean County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Beach
- Beach View
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Beach View is located in Ocean County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beach View
- New Gretna
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- New Gretna is located in Burlington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Gretna
- Leeds Point
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Leeds Point is located in Atlantic County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leeds Point
- Brigantine
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Brigantine is located in Atlantic County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brigantine
- Population from the 2020 Census: 8,577 people
- Port Republic
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Port Republic is located in Atlantic County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Port Republic
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,051 people
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Oceanville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Oceanville is located in Atlantic County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oceanville
- Waretown
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Waretown is located in Ocean County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waretown
- Wading River
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Wading River is located in Burlington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wading River
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Spray Beach. See our List of 1890's Communities around Spray Beach.
Newspapers Published in Spray Beach ...
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 32 newspapers that have been published in the area around Spray Beach.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Spray Beach, there are papers which were published within 21 miles [33.8 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Spray Beach.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we begin with 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 Spray Beach:
- Websites specific to New Jersey
- Pages specific to Ocean County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Atlantic County
- Burlington County
- Cape May County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for New Jersey
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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. |
| <2> | 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 Spray Beach, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Spray Beach) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |