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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 Canaan (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 Canaan. 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.

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 doctors and hospitals 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.

Canaan is located in Columbia 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 Columbia County: Litchfield (CT), Berkshire (MA), Albany, Dutchess, Greene, Rensselaer & Ulster.

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

  • Columbia County     (The home county of Canaan)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Canaan, with the one closest to Canaan listed first.
    • Canaan Center
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • New Britain ‑ Historic
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for New Britain. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Britain
      • New Britain is located in Columbia County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to New Britain
      • From Canaan to New Britain
    • New Concord
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for New Concord. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Concord
      • New Concord is located in Columbia County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to New Concord
      • From Canaan to New Concord
    • Red Rock
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Rock City
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rock City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock City
      • Rock City is located in Columbia County
    • Riders Mills
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Austerlitz
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Moorhouse Corner
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Chatham
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chatham have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chatham
      • Chatham is located in Columbia County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,623 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Chatham <3>
    • Chatham Center
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Green River
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Green River. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green River
      • Green River is located in Columbia County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Green River
      • From Canaan to Green River
    • Ghent
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ghent have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ghent
      • Ghent is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ghent <3>
    • Niverville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Niverville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Niverville
      • Niverville is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Niverville <3>
  • Albany County
  • Dutchess County
    • Irondale
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Irondale. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irondale
      • Irondale is located in Dutchess County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Irondale
      • From Canaan to Irondale
  • Greene County
  • Rensselaer County
  • Saratoga County
  • Litchfield County (CT)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Canaan, with the one closest to Canaan listed first.
    • Clayton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Clayton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clayton
      • Clayton is located in Litchfield County (CT)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Clayton
      • From Canaan to Clayton
    • Taconic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Wangum Village
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wangum Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wangum Village
      • Wangum Village is located in Litchfield County (CT)
    • Canaan
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Twin Lakes
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • East Canaan
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Canaan have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Canaan
      • East Canaan is located in Litchfield County (CT)
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for East Canaan <3>
    • North Canaan
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Canaan have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Canaan
      • North Canaan is located in Litchfield County (CT)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,235 people
    • Salisbury
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Salisbury have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salisbury
      • Salisbury is located in Litchfield County (CT)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,584 people
    • Salisbury
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Lakeville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Berkshire County (MA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Canaan, with the one closest to Canaan listed first.
    • Richmond
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Shaker Village
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shaker Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shaker Village
      • Shaker Village is located in Berkshire County (MA)
    • Stevens Corner
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • West Stockbridge
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Lenox
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Rockdale Mills
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Pittsfield
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Glendale
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Glendale have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glendale
      • Glendale is located in Berkshire County (MA)
    • Stockbridge
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Lenox Station
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Hancock
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hancock. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hancock
      • Hancock is located in Berkshire County (MA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 695 people
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Hancock
      • From Canaan to Hancock
    • Housatonic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Lenox Dale
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Franklin County (MA)
    • Hawley
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hawley have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hawley
      • Hawley is located in Franklin County (MA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 335 people
  • Hampden County (MA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Canaan, with the one closest to Canaan listed first.
    • Chester
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chester have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chester
      • Chester is located in Hampden County (MA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,365 people
    • Chester Center
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • North Chester
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • North Blandford
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Hampshire County (MA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Canaan, with the one closest to Canaan listed first.
    • Middlefield
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Middlefield have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middlefield
      • Middlefield is located in Hampshire County (MA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 538 people
    • Worthington
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Worthington have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Worthington
      • Worthington is located in Hampshire County (MA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,176 people
    • Worthington Corners
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Plainfield
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Plainfield have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plainfield
      • Plainfield is located in Hampshire County (MA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 663 people
    • Cummington
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • West Chesterfield
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Chesterfield have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Chesterfield
      • West Chesterfield is located in Hampshire County (MA)
    • Swift River
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Swift River. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swift River
      • Swift River is located in Hampshire County (MA)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Swift River
      • From Canaan to Swift River
  • Bennington County (VT)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Canaan, with the one closest to Canaan listed first.
    • Pownal Center
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Pownal
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pownal have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pownal
      • Pownal is located in Bennington County (VT)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,386 people
    • Stamford
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)

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

Cemeteries Near Canaan ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Canaan.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Canaan, with the one closest to Canaan 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 Canaan had a population of 77 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Canaan Center
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Flatbrook
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Flatbrook have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flatbrook
    • Flatbrook is located in Columbia County
  • East Chatham
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Chatham have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Chatham
    • East Chatham is located in Columbia County
  • New Concord
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for New Concord. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Concord
    • New Concord is located in Columbia County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to New Concord
    • From Canaan to New Concord
  • State Line
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for State Line have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for State Line
    • State Line is located in Berkshire County (MA)
  • Richmond Furnace
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Richmond Furnace have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richmond Furnace
    • Richmond Furnace is located in Berkshire County (MA)
  • Richmond
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • New Lebanon
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Lebanon have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Lebanon
    • New Lebanon is located in Columbia County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for New Lebanon <3>
  • New Lebanon Center
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Lebanon Center have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Lebanon Center
    • New Lebanon Center is located in Columbia County
  • West Lebanon
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Lebanon have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Lebanon
    • West Lebanon is located in Columbia County
  • Red Rock
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Shaker Village
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shaker Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shaker Village
    • Shaker Village is located in Berkshire County (MA)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Lebanon Springs
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lebanon Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lebanon Springs
      • Lebanon Springs is located in Columbia County
    • Rayville
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rayville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rayville
      • Rayville is located in Columbia County
    • West Stockbridge
      (6 miles [9.7 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 Canaan. See our List of 1890's Communities around Canaan.

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Canaan ...

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 90 newspapers that have been published in the area around Canaan.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Canaan. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Canaan and those printed in the larger area surrounding Canaan.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 16 miles [25.7 km]<6> of Canaan.

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 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 Canaan:

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

The official website for Columbia County: www.columbiacountyny.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>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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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>The Massachusetts Historical Commission (MHC) has created and maintains a database of historic properties that is called MACRIS (for the Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System). More information about the MHC and MACRIS can be found on their website: mhc-macris.net.

When visiting the MACRIS website, you might encounter their page requiring the 'Acceptance of Terms'. With your acceptance, you'll be transfered to the desired page.

<6>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Canaan) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Canaan. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.4124, Longitude: -73.4476    
<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 Canaan, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025