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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 Forest Park (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 Forest Park. 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 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 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.

Forest Park is located in Chautauqua 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 Chautauqua County: Cattaraugus, Erie, Erie (PA) & Warren (PA).

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

  • Chautauqua County     (The home county of Forest Park)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Forest Park, with the one closest to Forest Park listed first.
    • Westfield
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Bournes Beach
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Bournes Beach is located in Chautauqua County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bournes Beach
    • Forsyth
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Forsyth is located in Chautauqua County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forsyth
    • Portland
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Mayville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Ripley
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Hartfield
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Hartfield is located in Chautauqua County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartfield
    • Brocton
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Wooglin
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Wooglin is located in Chautauqua County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wooglin
    • Sherman
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Stebbins Corners
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Stebbins Corners is located in Chautauqua County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stebbins Corners
    • Maple Springs
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Cattaraugus County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Forest Park, with the one closest to Forest Park listed first.
    • South Dayton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Cottage
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Cottage is located in Cattaraugus County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottage
    • Conewango
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Conewango is located in Cattaraugus County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conewango
    • Leon
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Erie County (PA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Forest Park, with the one closest to Forest Park listed first.
    • Freeport
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Freeport is located in Erie County (PA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeport
    • North East
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Hornby
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Hornby is located in Erie County (PA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hornby
    • Lawrence Park
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Lawrence Park is located in Erie County (PA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawrence Park
    • Wesleyville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Phillipsville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Phillipsville is located in Erie County (PA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Phillipsville
    • Wattsburg
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Arbuckle
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Arbuckle is located in Erie County (PA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arbuckle
    • Corry
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Corry is located in Erie County (PA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corry
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,180 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Corry <1>
    • Erie
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Erie is located in Erie County (PA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erie
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 95,077 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Erie <1>
    • Beaver Dam
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Beaver Dam is located in Erie County (PA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaver Dam
    • Elgin
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Elgin is located in Erie County (PA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elgin
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 204 people
  • Warren County (PA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Forest Park, with the one closest to Forest Park listed first.
    • Bear Lake
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Columbus
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Lottsville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Lottsville is located in Warren County (PA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lottsville
    • Sugar Grove
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Colza
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Colza is located in Warren County (PA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colza

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

Cemeteries Near Forest Park ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Forest Park.

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 Forest Park - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Westfield Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Old St. James Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • St. James Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Union Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • East Ripley Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Quincy Rural Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Porter Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Evergreen Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Mayville Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Pecor Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Northville Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • South Ripley Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (135 more) ...
    • Chautauqua Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Dewittville Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Pleasantville Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)

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.<3>

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

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

  • Westfield
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Lombard
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Lombard is located in Chautauqua County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lombard
  • Ripley
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Mayville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Portland
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Summerdale
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Summerdale is located in Chautauqua County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summerdale
  • Hartfield
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Hartfield is located in Chautauqua County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartfield
  • State Line
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • State Line is located in Chautauqua County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for State Line
  • Wooglin
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Wooglin is located in Chautauqua County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wooglin
  • Brocton
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Dewittville
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • South Ripley
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • South Ripley is located in Chautauqua County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Ripley
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Chautauqua
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Sherman
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Stockton
      (12 miles [19.3 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 Forest Park. See our List of 1890's Communities around Forest Park.

Newspapers Published in Forest Park ...

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 46 newspapers that have been published in the area around Forest Park.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Forest Park, there are papers which were published within 24 miles [38.6 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Forest Park.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to start 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 Forest Park:

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>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.
<3>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 Forest Park, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>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- Forest Park) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.