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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 Alplaus (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 Alplaus. 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 Alplaus ...

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.

Another variation: Alplans.

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 southwest 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 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.

Alplaus is located in Schenectady County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Schenectady County: Albany, Montgomery, Saratoga & Schoharie.

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

  • Schenectady County     (The home county of Alplaus)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alplaus, with the one closest to Alplaus listed first.
    • Aqueduct
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • East Glenville
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Schenectady
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Scotia
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Scotia have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scotia
      • Scotia is located in Schenectady County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,618 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Scotia <2>
    • Niskayuna
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Rotterdam
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rotterdam have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rotterdam
      • Rotterdam is located in Schenectady County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rotterdam <2>
    • Pattersonville - Rotterdam Junction
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Rynex Corners
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Glenville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Princetown
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Mariaville Lake
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mariaville Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mariaville Lake
      • Mariaville Lake is located in Schenectady County
    • Duane Lake
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Duane Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duane Lake
      • Duane Lake is located in Schenectady County
    • Mariaville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • Albany County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alplaus, with the one closest to Alplaus listed first.
    • Lisha Kill
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Lisha Kill. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lisha Kill
      • Lisha Kill is located in Albany County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Lisha Kill
      • From Alplaus to Lisha Kill
    • Colonie
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Colonie have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colonie
      • Colonie is located in Albany County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,564 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Colonie <2>
    • Fullers
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Fullers. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fullers
      • Fullers is located in Albany County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Fullers
      • From Alplaus to Fullers
    • Guilderland
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Hartmans Corners
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Latham
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Westmere
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Westmere have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westmere
      • Westmere is located in Albany County
    • Cohoes
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Newtonville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Green Island
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Green Island have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Island
      • Green Island is located in Albany County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,879 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Green Island <2>
    • Loudonville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Loudonville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loudonville
      • Loudonville is located in Albany County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Loudonville <2>
    • Roessleville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Roessleville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roessleville
      • Roessleville is located in Albany County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Roessleville <2>
    • Altamont
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Altamont have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Altamont
      • Altamont is located in Albany County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,657 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Altamont <2>
  • Columbia County
    • Riders Mills
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Fulton County
  • Montgomery County
  • Rensselaer County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alplaus, with the one closest to Alplaus listed first.
    • Lansingburgh
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Pleasantdale
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Sycaway
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Troy
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Albia
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Schaghticoke
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Schaghticoke have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Schaghticoke
      • Schaghticoke is located in Rensselaer County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 573 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Schaghticoke <2>
    • Rensselaer
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rensselaer have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rensselaer
      • Rensselaer is located in Rensselaer County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,142 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rensselaer <2>
    • Wynantskill
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wynantskill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wynantskill
      • Wynantskill is located in Rensselaer County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wynantskill <2>
    • Valley Falls
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Valley Falls have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Falls
      • Valley Falls is located in Rensselaer County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 452 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Valley Falls <2>
    • Defreestville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Wyantskill
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wyantskill came from an uncertain source and they still need to be verified:<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyantskill
      • Wyantskill is located in Rensselaer County
    • Brunswick
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Hampton Manor
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hampton Manor have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hampton Manor
      • Hampton Manor is located in Rensselaer County
  • Saratoga County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alplaus, with the one closest to Alplaus listed first.
    • Burnt Hills
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Elnora
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Elnora. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elnora
      • Elnora is located in Saratoga County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Elnora
      • From Alplaus to Elnora
    • Jonesville
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Clifton Park
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clifton Park have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clifton Park
      • Clifton Park is located in Saratoga County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clifton Park <2>
    • Country Knolls
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Country Knolls have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Country Knolls
      • Country Knolls is located in Saratoga County
    • Charlton
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Charlton have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charlton
      • Charlton is located in Saratoga County
    • Round Lake
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Round Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Round Lake
      • Round Lake is located in Saratoga County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 793 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Round Lake <2>
    • Harmony Corners
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Coons
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Coons. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coons
      • Coons is located in Saratoga County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Coons
      • From Alplaus to Coons
    • Halfmoon Beach
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Halfmoon
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Malta
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Malta have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Malta
      • Malta is located in Saratoga County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Malta <2>
    • West Charlton
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Schoharie County
  • Washington County

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

Cemeteries Near Alplaus ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Alplaus.

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

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

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.<7>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Alplaus had a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Aqueduct
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • East Glenville
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Scotia
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Scotia have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scotia
    • Scotia is located in Schenectady County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,618 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Scotia <2>
  • Schenectady
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Groom Corners
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Groom Corners have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Groom Corners
    • Groom Corners is located in Saratoga County
  • Burnt Hills
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Elnora
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Elnora. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elnora
    • Elnora is located in Saratoga County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Elnora
    • From Alplaus to Elnora
  • Rotterdam
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rotterdam have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rotterdam
    • Rotterdam is located in Schenectady County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rotterdam <2>
  • South Schenectady
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Schenectady have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Schenectady
    • South Schenectady is located in Schenectady County
  • Niskayuna
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Vischer Ferry
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vischer Ferry have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vischer Ferry
    • Vischer Ferry is located in Saratoga County
  • Jonesville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Clifton Park
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clifton Park have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clifton Park
      • Clifton Park is located in Saratoga County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clifton Park <2>
    • Charlton
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Charlton have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charlton
      • Charlton is located in Saratoga County
    • Lisha Kill
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Lisha Kill. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lisha Kill
      • Lisha Kill is located in Albany County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Lisha Kill
      • From Alplaus to Lisha Kill

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Alplaus ...

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 93 newspapers that have been published in the area around Alplaus.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Alplaus. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Alplaus and those printed in the larger area surrounding Alplaus.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 12 miles [19.3 km]<5> of Alplaus.

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 Alplaus:

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

The official website for Schenectady County: www.schenectadycounty.com/

The official website for State of New York: https://www.ny.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>If we found a location and have questions about the accuracy of our information, we will simply say that the marker is 'in the vicinity'. We are not confident about the location and the position of our marker is only a rough guide. If we have too many doubts about the location, we will not include it in our database.
<5>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Alplaus) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Alplaus. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.8553, Longitude: -73.8998    
<6>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.
<7>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 Alplaus, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025