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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 Copake Falls (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 Copake Falls. 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 and doctors 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.

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

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

Cemeteries Near Copake Falls ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Copake Falls.

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

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

  • Old St. Bridget's Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old St. Bridget's Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old St. Bridget's Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Copake Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Copake Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Copake Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Williams Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Williams Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Williams Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • West Copake Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • 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
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • 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.
  • Niver Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • 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.
  • Churchill Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Churchill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Churchill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to the Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System: MACRIS ID #SHE.809 <4>
  • Collins Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Collins Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Collins Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Ancram Union Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ancram Union Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ancram Union Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Riverside Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Riverside Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Riverside Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Ancram Old Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ancram Old Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ancram Old Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Our Lady Of The Valley Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (270 more) ...
    • Center Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Center Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Center Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Crum Church Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Crum Church Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Crum Church Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Barnard Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Barnard Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Barnard Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to the Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System: MACRIS ID #SHE.807 <4>

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.<6>

While we didn't find Copake Falls in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Copake Falls.

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

  • Copake
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Copake have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Copake
    • Copake is located in Columbia County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Copake <2>
  • West Copake
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Copake have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Copake
    • West Copake is located in Columbia County
  • Weed Mines
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Mount Washington
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Washington have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Washington
    • Mount Washington is located in Berkshire County (MA)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 156 people
  • Boston Corner
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Boston Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boston Corner
    • Boston Corner is located in Columbia County
  • Craryville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Alander
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alander have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alander
    • Alander is located in Berkshire County (MA)
  • South Egremont
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Egremont have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Egremont
    • South Egremont is located in Berkshire County (MA)
  • North Egremont
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Egremont have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Egremont
    • North Egremont is located in Berkshire County (MA)
  • Ancram
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Egremont Plain
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Taghkanic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...
    • Suydam ‑ Historic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • 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.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Suydam
      • Suydam is located in Columbia County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Suydam
      • From Copake Falls to Suydam
    • Mount Riga
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Riga have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Riga
      • Mount Riga is located in Dutchess County
    • Sheffield
      (8 miles [12.9 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 Copake Falls. See our List of 1890's Communities around Copake Falls.

Newspapers Published in Copake Falls ...

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 65 newspapers that have been published in the area around Copake Falls.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Copake Falls, there are papers which were published within 17 miles [27.4 km]<7>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Copake Falls.

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 Copake Falls:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Copake Falls. 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>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 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.

<5>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.
<6>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 Copake Falls, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<7>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- Copake Falls) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Copake Falls. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.1198, Longitude: -73.5246    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025