RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of New York >> Ontario County >> Clifton Springs >> Genealogy HelperIndex...

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 Clifton Springs (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 Clifton Springs. 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 Clifton Springs ...

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.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Clifton Springs: Clifton Spgs. (or less commonly used: Clifton Spngs. or Clifton Sprngs.)

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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors 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.

Clifton Springs is located in Ontario County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Ontario County: Livingston, Monroe, Seneca, Steuben, Wayne & Yates.

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

  • Ontario County     (The home county of Clifton Springs)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Clifton Springs, with the one closest to Clifton Springs listed first.
    • Phelps
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Melvin Hill
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Melvin Hill is located in Ontario County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melvin Hill
    • Hopewell Center
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Hopewell Center is located in Ontario County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopewell Center
    • Manchester
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Shortsville
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Port Gibson
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Seneca Castle
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Flint
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Flint is located in Ontario County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flint
    • West Junius
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • West Junius is located in Ontario County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Junius
    • Canandaigua
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Canandaigua is located in Ontario County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canandaigua
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,152 people
      • Canandaigua has also been known as:
      • Canadaigua
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Canandaigua <1>
    • Dobbins Corner
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Dobbins Corner is located in Ontario County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dobbins Corner
    • Geneva
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Cayuga County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Clifton Springs, with the one closest to Clifton Springs listed first.
    • Cayuga
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Cross Roads
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Cross Roads is located in Cayuga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cross Roads
    • Union Springs
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Oakwood
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Oakwood is located in Cayuga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakwood
    • Port Byron
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Port Byron is located in Cayuga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Port Byron
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,181 people
      • Former name for Port Byron:
      • Bucksville
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Port Byron <1>
    • Aurora
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Willets
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Willets is located in Cayuga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willets
    • Auburn
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Throop
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Throop is located in Cayuga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Throop
    • Scipioville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Scipioville is located in Cayuga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scipioville
    • Black Rock
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Black Rock is located in Cayuga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Rock
    • Sherwood
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Sherwood is located in Cayuga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sherwood
  • Livingston County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Clifton Springs, with the one closest to Clifton Springs listed first.
    • Lima
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Lima is located in Livingston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lima
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,008 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lima <1>
    • Livonia
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
  • Monroe County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Clifton Springs, with the one closest to Clifton Springs listed first.
    • Fairport
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Mendon
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Ford Corner
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Ford Corner is located in Monroe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ford Corner
    • East Rochester
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • East Rochester is located in Monroe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Rochester
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,458 people
    • Penfield
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Pittsford
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Webster
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Honeoye Falls
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Brighton
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Brighton is located in Monroe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brighton
    • Moran Corner
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Moran Corner is located in Monroe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moran Corner
    • Glen Haven
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Glen Haven is located in Monroe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Haven
    • Henrietta
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
  • Seneca County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Clifton Springs, with the one closest to Clifton Springs listed first.
    • Border City
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Border City is located in Seneca County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Border City
    • Waterloo
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Tyre
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Tyre is located in Seneca County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tyre
    • Seneca Falls
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Kuneytown
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Kuneytown is located in Seneca County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kuneytown
    • Canoga
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Canoga is located in Seneca County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canoga
    • Romulus
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • East Varick
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • East Varick is located in Seneca County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Varick
    • Willard
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Ovid
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Lodi
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Wayne County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Clifton Springs, with the one closest to Clifton Springs listed first.
    • Newark
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • East Palmyra
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • East Palmyra is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Palmyra
    • Mud Mills
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Mud Mills is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mud Mills
    • Palmyra
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Yellow Mills
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Yellow Mills is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yellow Mills
    • Lyons
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Marquart Village
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Marquart Village is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marquart Village
    • Fairville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Fairville is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairville
    • Macedon
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Marion
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Huddle
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Huddle is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huddle
    • Macedon Center
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Macedon Center is located in Wayne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Macedon Center
  • Yates County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Clifton Springs, with the one closest to Clifton Springs listed first.
    • Rushville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Bellona
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Benton Center
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Benton Center is located in Yates County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benton Center
    • Angus
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Angus is located in Yates County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Angus
    • Potter
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Potter is located in Yates County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Potter
    • Vine Valley
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Vine Valley is located in Yates County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vine Valley
    • Yatesville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Yatesville is located in Yates County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yatesville
    • Penn Yan
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Seneca Mills
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Seneca Mills is located in Yates County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seneca Mills
    • Dresden
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Keuka Park
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Italy
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Italy is located in Yates County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Italy

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

Cemeteries Near Clifton Springs ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Clifton Springs.

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.

Although we don't have the information ourselves, if you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our list of websites on our Genealogy Helper Page for Clifton Springs - one of the links might be able to help.

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Clifton Springs covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Clifton Springs Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Riverview Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • St. Agnes Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Herrington Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Macaulay Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Wheat Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Five Waters Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Pioneers Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Orleans Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Pioneer Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Resthaven Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • St. Francis Catholic Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (438 more) ...
    • Sunnyside Cemetery
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Dillon Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Chapman Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)

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.<2>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Clifton Springs had a population of 1,297 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Clifton Springs had a population of 2,012 people.

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

  • Phelps Junction
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Phelps Junction is located in Ontario County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Phelps Junction
  • Manchester Center
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Manchester Center is located in Ontario County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manchester Center
  • Orleans
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Orleans is located in Ontario County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orleans
  • Phelps
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Hopewell Center
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Hopewell Center is located in Ontario County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopewell Center
  • Manchester
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Shortsville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Port Gibson
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Seneca Castle
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Ennerdale
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Ennerdale is located in Ontario County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ennerdale
  • Newark
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Flint
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Flint is located in Ontario County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flint
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Canandaigua
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Canandaigua is located in Ontario County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canandaigua
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,152 people
      • Canandaigua has also been known as:
      • Canadaigua
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Canandaigua <1>
    • West Junius
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • West Junius is located in Ontario County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Junius
    • Palmyra
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Clifton Springs ...

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 37 newspapers that have been published in the area around Clifton Springs.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Clifton Springs. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Clifton Springs and those printed in the larger area surrounding Clifton Springs.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 18 miles [29 km]<3> of Clifton Springs.

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 Clifton Springs:

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>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 Clifton Springs, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Clifton Springs) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.