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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 Alexandria Center (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 Alexandria Center. 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 Alexandria Center ...

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 occur.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Alexandria Center: Alexandria Ctr. (or less commonly used: Alexandria Cen., Alexandria Cent. or Alexandria Cntr.)

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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

Alexandria Center is located in Jefferson County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Jefferson County: Lewis, Oswego & Saint Lawrence.

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

  • Jefferson County     (The home county of Alexandria Center)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alexandria Center, with the one closest to Alexandria Center listed first.
    • Browns Corners
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Browns Corners is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Browns Corners
    • Alexandria Bay
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Redwood
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Omar
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Omar is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Omar
    • Theresa
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Theresa is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Theresa
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 766 people
    • Thousand Island Park
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Orleans Four Corners
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Orleans Four Corners is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orleans Four Corners
    • La Fargeville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Murray Isle
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Clayton
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Oxbow
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Philadelphia
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Lewis County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alexandria Center, with the one closest to Alexandria Center listed first.
    • Lake Bonaparte
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Lake Bonaparte is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Bonaparte
    • Harrisville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Copenhagen
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Saint Lawrence County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alexandria Center, with the one closest to Alexandria Center listed first.
    • Schermerhorn Landing
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Schermerhorn Landing is located in Saint Lawrence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Schermerhorn Landing
    • Hammond
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Hammond is located in Saint Lawrence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hammond
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 270 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hammond <1>
    • Wegatchie
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Wegatchie is located in Saint Lawrence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wegatchie
    • North Hammond
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • North Hammond is located in Saint Lawrence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Hammond
    • Somerville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Somerville is located in Saint Lawrence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Somerville
    • Elmdale
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Elmdale is located in Saint Lawrence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmdale
    • Brier Hill
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Pope Mills
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Pope Mills is located in Saint Lawrence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pope Mills
    • Gouverneur
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Morristown
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Richville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Galilee
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Galilee is located in Saint Lawrence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galilee

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

Cemeteries Near Alexandria Center ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Alexandria Center.

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 Alexandria Center - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Hill Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Barnes Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • St. Cyriel Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Highland Park Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Church Street Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Redwood Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Houghton Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • McDonald Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Riverside Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Omar Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Hinman Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • St. Johns Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (162 more) ...
    • Beech Ridge Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Orleans Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Grove Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)

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

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

  • Plessis
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Alexandria Bay
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Redwood
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Omar
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Omar is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Omar
  • Fishers Landing
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Thousand Island Park
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Theresa
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Theresa is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Theresa
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 766 people
  • La Fargeville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Orleans Four Corners
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Orleans Four Corners is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orleans Four Corners
  • South Hammond
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • South Hammond is located in Saint Lawrence County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Hammond
  • Chippewa Bay
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Clayton
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Rossie
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Rossie is located in Saint Lawrence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rossie
    • Oxbow
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Philadelphia
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)

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

Newspapers Published in Alexandria Center ...

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 49 newspapers that have been published in the area around Alexandria Center.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Alexandria Center, there are papers which were published within 20 miles [32.2 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Alexandria Center.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to start with 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 Alexandria Center:

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 Alexandria Center, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Alexandria Center) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.