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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 Churchtown (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 Churchtown. 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 southwest 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 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.

Churchtown 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 Churchtown. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Churchtown:

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

Cemeteries Near Churchtown ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Churchtown.

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

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

  • Claverack Dutch Reformed Church Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Buckley's Corner Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Buckley's Corner Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Buckley's Corner Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mt. Pleasant Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Pleasant Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Pleasant Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Church of Nativity Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Church of Nativity Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Church of Nativity Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Cedar Park Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Hudson City Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hudson City Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hudson City Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. John's Lutheran Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. John's Lutheran Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. John's Lutheran Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Niver Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Niver Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Niver Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Swartwout Memorial Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Swartwout Memorial Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Swartwout Memorial Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Sacred Heart Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sacred Heart Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sacred Heart Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Union Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Union Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Union Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Livingston Reformed Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Livingston Reformed Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Livingston Reformed Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (297 more) ...
    • Valley View Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Valley View Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Valley View Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • West Copake Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the West Copake Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the West Copake Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Hillsdale Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hillsdale Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hillsdale Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Churchtown had a population of 138 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Glenco Mills
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Hollowville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Humphreysville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Humphreysville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Humphreysville
    • Humphreysville is located in Columbia County
  • Livingston
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Livingston have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Livingston
    • Livingston is located in Columbia County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Livingston <1>
  • Claverack
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Claverack have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Claverack
    • Claverack is located in Columbia County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Claverack <1>
  • West Taghkanic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Taghkanic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Greenport Center
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Martindale
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Martindale. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martindale
    • Martindale is located in Columbia County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Martindale
    • From Churchtown to Martindale
  • Burden
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Burden. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burden
    • Burden is located in Columbia County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Burden
    • From Churchtown to Burden
  • Mellenville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Blue Store
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Blue Store have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Store
    • Blue Store is located in Columbia County
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Snyderville
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Snyderville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Snyderville
      • Snyderville is located in Columbia County
    • Suydam ‑ Historic
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Suydam. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Suydam
      • Suydam is located in Columbia County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Suydam
      • From Churchtown to Suydam
    • Craryville
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)

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

Newspapers Published in Churchtown ...

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 115 newspapers that have been published in the area around Churchtown.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Churchtown, there are papers which were published within 16 miles [25.7 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Churchtown.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we start with 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 Churchtown:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Churchtown. 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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>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.
<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>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 Churchtown, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Churchtown) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Churchtown. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.1760, Longitude: -73.7192    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025