RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of New York >> Steuben County >> Hornell >> 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 Hornell (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 Hornell. 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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

Hornell is located in Steuben 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 Steuben County: Allegany, Chemung, Livingston, Ontario, Schuyler, Yates, Potter (PA) & Tioga (PA).

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

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

Cemeteries Near Hornell ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Hornell.

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

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

  • Temple Beth El Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Temple Beth El Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Temple Beth El Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hope Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • St. Anns Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Rural Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rural Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rural Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Robinson Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Robinson Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Robinson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Nicholson Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Nicholson Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Nicholson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • East Pennsylvania Hill Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the East Pennsylvania Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the East Pennsylvania Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • O'Dell Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Amos White Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Amos White Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Amos White Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Marys Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • 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.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • West Pennsylvania Hill Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the West Pennsylvania Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the West Pennsylvania Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Meeks Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Meeks Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Meeks Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (360 more) ...
    • Johnson Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Johnson Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Johnson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Fremont Center Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fremont Center Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fremont Center Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Woodlawn Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)

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>

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

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

  • Almond
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Almond have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Almond
    • Almond is located in Allegany County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 428 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Almond <2>
  • Arkport
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Canisteo
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Stephens Mills
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Big Creek
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Big Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Creek
    • Big Creek is located in Steuben County
  • Bishopville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Burns
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Burns have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burns
    • Burns is located in Allegany County
  • Alfred
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alfred have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alfred
    • Alfred is located in Allegany County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,919 people
    • Alfred has also been known as:
    • Alfred village
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Alfred <2>
  • Adrian
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Buena Vista
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Buena Vista have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buena Vista
    • Buena Vista is located in Steuben County
  • Howard
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Haskinville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Karrdale
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Karrdale have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Karrdale
      • Karrdale is located in Allegany County
    • Tip Top
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tip Top have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tip Top
      • Tip Top is located in Allegany County
    • Hiltonville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hiltonville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hiltonville
      • Hiltonville is located in Allegany County

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Hornell ...

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 131 newspapers that have been published in the area around Hornell.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Hornell. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Hornell and those printed in the larger area surrounding Hornell.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 23 miles [37 km]<6> of Hornell.

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 websites either 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 Hornell:

The official website for Hornell: www.cityofhornell.com/

The official website for Steuben County: www.steubencony.org/

The official website for State of New York: https://www.ny.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<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 Hornell, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Hornell) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Hornell. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.3278, Longitude: -77.6623    









 

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