RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of New York >> Orleans County >> Gaines >> Genealogy HelperIndex...










Learn About
The Commemorative
Quarter for
New York

The Commemorative Quarter for New York





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 Gaines (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 Gaines. 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 northeast 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 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 east 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.

Gaines is located in Orleans 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 Orleans County: Genesee, Monroe & Niagara.

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

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

Cemeteries Near Gaines ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Gaines.

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

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

  • Gaines Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Gaines Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Gaines Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Union Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • 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.
  • Otter Creek Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Waterport Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Waterport Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Waterport Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Oak Orchard Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oak Orchard Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oak Orchard Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Long Bridge Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Long Bridge Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Long Bridge Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Josephs Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Josephs Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Josephs Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Standish Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Standish Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Standish Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Kenyonville Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Kenyonville Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Kenyonville Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Tanner Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Tanner Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Tanner Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mt. Albion Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Albion Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Albion Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Annis Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (256 more) ...
    • Carlton Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Carlton Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Carlton Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Fuller Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fuller Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fuller Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Brown Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Brown Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Brown 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 Gaines had a population of 281 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Eagle Harbor
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Waterport
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Waterport have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterport
    • Waterport is located in Orleans County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Waterport <2>
  • Eagle Harbor Station
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eagle Harbor Station have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle Harbor Station
    • Eagle Harbor Station is located in Orleans County
  • Albion
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Carlton
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Carlton have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carlton
    • Carlton is located in Orleans County
  • Kenyonville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Kenyonville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kenyonville
    • Kenyonville is located in Orleans County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Kenyonville
    • From Gaines to Kenyonville
  • East Gaines
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Gaines have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Gaines
    • East Gaines is located in Orleans County
  • Sawyer
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sawyer have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sawyer
    • Sawyer is located in Orleans County
  • Knowlesville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Knowlesville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knowlesville
    • Knowlesville is located in Orleans County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Knowlesville <2>
  • Kuckville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Point Breeze
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Point Breeze have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Point Breeze
    • Point Breeze is located in Orleans County
  • Oak Orchard
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oak Orchard have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Orchard
    • Oak Orchard is located in Orleans County
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Knowlesville Station
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Knowlesville Station have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knowlesville Station
      • Knowlesville Station is located in Orleans County
    • Barre Center
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Barre Center have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barre Center
      • Barre Center is located in Orleans County
    • Millville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Millville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millville
      • Millville is located in Orleans County

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Gaines ...

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 42 newspapers that have been published in the area around Gaines.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Gaines. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Gaines and those printed in the larger area surrounding Gaines.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 21 miles [33.8 km]<6> of Gaines.

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 helpful 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 Gaines:

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

The official website for Orleans County: www.orleansny.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 Gaines, 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- Gaines) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Gaines. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.2851, Longitude: -78.2155       In this case, the coordinates for Gaines have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

Copyright 2025
All Rights Reserved

Thank you for visiting our website.

In closing, please keep in mind that we can not guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of the information on this website, so use with care. We encourage you to double-check the information that is critical to you.

If you've found an error or have additional information that you would like to share, please don't hesitate to write: Click here to contact us.

This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025