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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 Black River (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 Black River. 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 Black River ...

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 Black River: Black Riv.

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

Black River is located in Jefferson 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 Jefferson County: Lewis, Oswego & Saint Lawrence.

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

  • Jefferson County     (The home county of Black River)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Black River, with the one closest to Black River listed first.
    • Calcium
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Calcium have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calcium
      • Calcium is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Calcium <2>
    • Great Bend
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Deferiet
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Deferiet have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deferiet
      • Deferiet is located in Jefferson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 278 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Deferiet <2>
    • Evans Mills
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Herrings
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Herrings have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Herrings
      • Herrings is located in Jefferson County
      • Estimated population in 2017: 90 people
    • Watertown
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Sterlingville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Glen Park
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Glen Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Park
      • Glen Park is located in Jefferson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 462 people
    • Carthage
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Carthage have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carthage
      • Carthage is located in Jefferson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,256 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Carthage <2>
    • West Carthage
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Carthage have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Carthage
      • West Carthage is located in Jefferson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,901 people
    • Brownville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Paddy Hill
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • East Rodman
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Lewis County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Black River, with the one closest to Black River listed first.
    • Copenhagen
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Copenhagen have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Copenhagen
      • Copenhagen is located in Lewis County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 767 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Copenhagen <2>
    • Barnes Corners
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Denmark
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Denmark. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Denmark
      • Denmark is located in Lewis County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Denmark
      • From Black River to Denmark
    • New Boston
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Briggs Corner
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Harrisburg
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Castorland
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Castorland have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Castorland
      • Castorland is located in Lewis County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 341 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Castorland <2>
    • Naumburg
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Naumburg. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Naumburg
      • Naumburg is located in Lewis County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Naumburg
      • From Black River to Naumburg
    • Forest City
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Forest City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest City
      • Forest City is located in Lewis County
    • Rector
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Parkers
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Parkers. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkers
      • Parkers is located in Lewis County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Parkers
      • From Black River to Parkers
    • Croghan
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Croghan have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Croghan
      • Croghan is located in Lewis County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 591 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Croghan <2>
    • Indian River
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
  • Oswego County
  • Saint Lawrence County

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

Cemeteries Near Black River ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Black River.

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

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

  • Clark Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Clark Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Clark Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Rutland Hollow Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rutland Hollow Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rutland Hollow Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Cotes Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cotes Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cotes Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Sanford Corners Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sanford Corners Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sanford Corners Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Marys Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Marys Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Marys Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Sheepfold Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sheepfold Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sheepfold Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Calvary Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • 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.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • F W Woolworth Memorial Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the F W Woolworth Memorial Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the F W Woolworth Memorial Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Sandy Lawn Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Maple Hill Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Maple Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Maple Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hillside Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hillside Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hillside Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • North Watertown Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (156 more) ...

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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Black River had a population of 681 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Black River had a population of 1,217 people.

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

  • Felts Mills
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Felts Mills have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Felts Mills
    • Felts Mills is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Felts Mills <2>
  • East Watertown
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Watertown have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Watertown
    • East Watertown is located in Jefferson County
  • Great Bend
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Evans Mills
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Watertown
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Champion
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Champion have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Champion
    • Champion is located in Jefferson County
  • Sterlingville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • East Hounsfield
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Hounsfield have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Hounsfield
    • East Hounsfield is located in Jefferson County
  • Carthage
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Carthage have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carthage
    • Carthage is located in Jefferson County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,256 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Carthage <2>
  • Brownville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Rices
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rices have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rices
    • Rices is located in Jefferson County
  • East Rodman
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Copenhagen
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Copenhagen have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Copenhagen
      • Copenhagen is located in Lewis County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 767 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Copenhagen <2>
    • Philadelphia
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Philadelphia have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Philadelphia
      • Philadelphia is located in Jefferson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,101 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Philadelphia <2>
    • Deer River
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Deer River have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer River
      • Deer River is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Deer River <2>

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Black River ...

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 158 newspapers that have been published in the area around Black River.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Black River. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Black River and those printed in the larger area surrounding Black River.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 22 miles [35.4 km]<6> of Black River.

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 Black River:

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

The official website for Jefferson County: www.co.jefferson.ny.us/

The official website for State of New York: https://www.ny.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Black River, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Black River) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Black River. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.0123, Longitude: -75.7939    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025