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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 Cooperstown (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 Cooperstown. 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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and 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.

Cooperstown is located in Otsego County and is the County Seat.

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 Otsego County: Chenango, Delaware, Herkimer, Madison, Montgomery & Schoharie.

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

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

Cemeteries Near Cooperstown ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Cooperstown.

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

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

  • Lakewood Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Gardner Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Gardner Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Gardner Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Carr Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Carr Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Carr Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Toddsville Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Toddsville Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Toddsville Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Marys Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • 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.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Fly Creek Valley Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fly Creek Valley Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fly Creek Valley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Adams Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Adams Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Adams Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Fly Creek Old Chapel Burying Ground
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fly Creek Old Chapel Burying Ground
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fly Creek Old Chapel Burying Ground have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Fly Creek Presbyterian Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fly Creek Presbyterian Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fly Creek Presbyterian Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Steere Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Steere Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Steere Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Pierce Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pierce Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pierce Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Fitch Hill Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fitch Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fitch Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (467 more) ...
    • Hartwick Seminary Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hartwick Seminary Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hartwick Seminary Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Pierce Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pierce Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pierce Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Middlefield Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Middlefield Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Middlefield 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 Cooperstown had a population of 2,657 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Cooperstown had a population of 1,732 people.

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

  • Toddsville
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Toddsville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toddsville
    • Toddsville is located in Otsego County
  • Phoenix Mills
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Chase
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chase have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chase
    • Chase is located in Otsego County
  • Fly Creek
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Hartwick Seminary
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Middlefield
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Lentsville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lentsville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lentsville
    • Lentsville is located in Otsego County
  • Oaksville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Oaksville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oaksville
    • Oaksville is located in Otsego County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Oaksville
    • From Cooperstown to Oaksville
  • Westville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Hartwick
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Middlefield Center
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Milford
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Westford
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Westford have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westford
      • Westford is located in Otsego County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Westford <2>
    • Schuyler Lake
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Schuyler Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Schuyler Lake
      • Schuyler Lake is located in Otsego County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Schuyler Lake <2>
    • Snowdon
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Snowdon. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Snowdon
      • Snowdon is located in Otsego County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Snowdon
      • From Cooperstown to Snowdon

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Cooperstown ...

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 61 newspapers that have been published in the area around Cooperstown.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Cooperstown. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Cooperstown and those printed in the larger area surrounding Cooperstown.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 18 miles [29 km]<6> of Cooperstown.

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 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 Cooperstown:

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

The official website for Otsego County: www.otsegocounty.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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Cooperstown, 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Cooperstown) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Cooperstown. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.6996, Longitude: -74.9284    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025