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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 Bear Creek (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 Bear Creek. 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 Bear Creek ...

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 Bear Creek: Bear Crk. (or less commonly used: Bear Ck. or Bear Cr.)

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 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.

Bear Creek is located in Wayne 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 Wayne County: Cayuga, Monroe, Ontario & Seneca.

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

  • Wayne County     (The home county of Bear Creek)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bear Creek, with the one closest to Bear Creek listed first.
    • Ontario
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Orchard Grove Village Park
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Orchard Grove Village Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orchard Grove Village Park
      • Orchard Grove Village Park is located in Wayne County
    • Lakeside
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Lakeside. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeside
      • Lakeside is located in Wayne County
    • Pultneyville
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Fruitland
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Fruitland. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fruitland
      • Fruitland is located in Wayne County
    • Williamson
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Lincoln
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln
      • Lincoln is located in Wayne County
    • Walworth
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Huddle
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huddle
      • Huddle is located in Wayne County
    • Marion
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Sodus
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sodus have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sodus
      • Sodus is located in Wayne County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,696 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sodus <1>
    • Macedon Center
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Macedon Center
      • Macedon Center is located in Wayne County
  • Cayuga County
    • Fair Haven
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
  • Livingston County
    • Lima
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lima
      • Lima is located in Livingston County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,008 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lima <1>
  • Monroe County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bear Creek, with the one closest to Bear Creek listed first.
    • Webster
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Webster have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Webster
      • Webster is located in Monroe County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,723 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Webster <1>
    • German Village
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for German Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for German Village
      • German Village is located in Monroe County
    • Fairport
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Glen Haven
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Glen Haven. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Haven
      • Glen Haven is located in Monroe County
    • Penfield
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Penfield. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Penfield
      • Penfield is located in Monroe County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Penfield <1>
    • East Rochester
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Rochester have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Rochester
      • East Rochester is located in Monroe County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,458 people
    • Irondequoit
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • White City
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for White City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White City
      • White City is located in Monroe County
    • Windsor Beach
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windsor Beach
      • Windsor Beach is located in Monroe County
    • Brighton
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brighton
      • Brighton is located in Monroe County
    • Pittsford
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Rochester
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
  • Ontario County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bear Creek, with the one closest to Bear Creek listed first.
    • Port Gibson
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Manchester
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Victor
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Victor have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Victor
      • Victor is located in Ontario County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,671 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Victor <1>
    • Clifton Springs
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clifton Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clifton Springs
      • Clifton Springs is located in Ontario County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,012 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clifton Springs <1>
    • Shortsville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Phelps
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Thompson
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Thompson have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thompson
      • Thompson is located in Ontario County
    • Canandaigua
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Holcomb
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Holcomb have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holcomb
      • Holcomb is located in Ontario County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Holcomb <1>
    • Hopewell Center
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hopewell Center. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopewell Center
      • Hopewell Center is located in Ontario County
    • Village of Bloomfield
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Village of Bloomfield have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Village of Bloomfield
      • Village of Bloomfield is located in Ontario County
      • Estimated population in 2015: 1,324 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Village of Bloomfield <1>
    • Centerfield
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerfield
      • Centerfield is located in Ontario County

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

Cemeteries Near Bear Creek ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Bear Creek.

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

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

  • Furnaceville Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Dixon Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Dixon Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Dixon Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Ontario Town Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Lakeside Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lakeside Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lakeside Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Ontario Center Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Calvary Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Calvary Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Calvary Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Ridge Chapel Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Lake View Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Union Hill Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Union Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Union Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Webster Union Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Holy Trinity Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Walworth Center Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Walworth Center Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Walworth Center Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (270 more) ...
    • Finley Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Finley Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Finley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Hall Center Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hall Center Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hall Center Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Sherman Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sherman Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sherman 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 Bear Creek in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Bear Creek.

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

  • Furnaceville
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Furnaceville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Furnaceville
    • Furnaceville is located in Wayne County
  • Lakeside
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Lakeside. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeside
    • Lakeside is located in Wayne County
  • Ontario Center
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ontario Center have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ontario Center
    • Ontario Center is located in Wayne County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ontario Center <1>
  • Ontario
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Fruitland
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Fruitland. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fruitland
    • Fruitland is located in Wayne County
  • Pultneyville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Williamson
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Union Hill
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Union Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Hill
    • Union Hill is located in Monroe County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Union Hill <1>
  • Lincoln
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln
    • Lincoln is located in Wayne County
  • East Williamson
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Williamson have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Williamson
    • East Williamson is located in Wayne County
  • Webster
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Webster have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Webster
    • Webster is located in Monroe County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,723 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Webster <1>
  • West Walworth
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Walworth have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Walworth
    • West Walworth is located in Wayne County
  • Continue List   (21 more) ...
    • Walworth
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Marion
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Joy
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Joy have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joy
      • Joy is located in Wayne County

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

Newspapers Published in Bear Creek ...

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 46 newspapers that have been published in the area around Bear Creek.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Bear Creek, there are papers which were published within 23 miles [37 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Bear Creek.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These 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 Bear Creek:

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

The official website for Wayne County: www.co.wayne.ny.us/

The official website for State of New York: https://www.ny.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 Bear Creek, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>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- Bear Creek) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Bear Creek. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.2765, Longitude: -77.2775       In this case, the coordinates for Bear Creek have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025