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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 Geneva (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 Geneva. 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.

Geneva is primarily located in Ontario County. A portion of Geneva extends into Seneca 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 Ontario County: Livingston, Monroe, Seneca, Steuben, Wayne & Yates.

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

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

Cemeteries Near Geneva ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Geneva.

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

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

  • Washington Street Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Washington Street Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Washington Street Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Glenwood Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Glenwood Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Glenwood Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Patrick's RC Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Patrick's RC Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Patrick's RC Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Dobbin Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Dobbin Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Dobbin 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 northwest)
  • Brown Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 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.
  • Brookside Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Brookside Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Brookside Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Oak Lawn Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oak Lawn Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oak Lawn Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Willowdale Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Willowdale Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Willowdale Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Butcher Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Butcher Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Butcher Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • New #9 Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the New #9 Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the New #9 Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Joslyn Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Joslyn Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Joslyn Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (467 more) ...
    • Whitney Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Whitney Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Whitney Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Sand Hill Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sand Hill Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sand Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Humphrey Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Humphrey Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Humphrey 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 Geneva had a population of 7,557 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Geneva had a population of 12,639 people.

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

  • Billsboro
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Billsboro. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Billsboro
    • Billsboro is located in Ontario County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Billsboro
    • From Geneva to Billsboro
  • West Junius
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for West Junius. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Junius
    • West Junius is located in Ontario County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to West Junius
    • From Geneva to West Junius
  • Seneca Castle
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Stanley
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stanley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stanley
    • Stanley is located in Ontario County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Stanley <2>
  • Hall
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • MacDougall
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for MacDougall have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for MacDougall
    • MacDougall is located in Seneca County
  • Waterloo
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Flint
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Flint. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flint
    • Flint is located in Ontario County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Flint
    • From Geneva to Flint
  • Bellona
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Phelps
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Orleans
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Orleans have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orleans
    • Orleans is located in Ontario County
  • Gorham
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Phelps Junction
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Phelps Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Phelps Junction
      • Phelps Junction is located in Ontario County
    • Angus
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Fayette
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fayette have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fayette
      • Fayette is located in Seneca County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fayette <2>

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Geneva ...

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 153 newspapers that have been published in the area around Geneva.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

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

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These 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 Geneva:

The official website for Geneva: www.geneva.ny.us/

The official website for Ontario County: www.co.ontario.ny.us/

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 Geneva, 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' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Geneva) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Geneva. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.8680, Longitude: -76.9856    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025