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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 Houghton (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 Houghton. 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 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.

Houghton is located in Allegany 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 Allegany County: Cattaraugus, Livingston, Steuben, Wyoming, McKean (PA) & Potter (PA).

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

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

Cemeteries Near Houghton ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Houghton.

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

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

  • Mt. Pleasant Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Pleasant Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Pleasant Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Caneadea Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Caneadea Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Caneadea Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Holy Cross Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Holy Cross Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Holy Cross Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • East Caneadea Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the East Caneadea Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the East Caneadea Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Pine Grove Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Hume Village Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hume Village Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hume Village Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Rogers Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rogers Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rogers Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Podonque Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Podonque Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Podonque Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bates Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bates Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bates Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Rushford Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rushford Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rushford Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Old Burying Grounds
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Burying Grounds
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Burying Grounds have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • White Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the White Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the White Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (330 more) ...
    • Riverside Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • 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.
    • Allen Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Allen Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Allen Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Wiscoy Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wiscoy Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wiscoy 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 Houghton had a population of 121 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service.

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

  • Caneadea
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Fillmore
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Hume
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Oramel
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Oramel. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oramel
    • Oramel is located in Allegany County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Oramel
    • From Houghton to Oramel
  • Rushford
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Mills Mills
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mills Mills have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mills Mills
    • Mills Mills is located in Allegany County
  • Belfast
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • West Allen
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for West Allen. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Allen
    • West Allen is located in Allegany County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to West Allen
    • From Houghton to West Allen
  • Rossburg
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rossburg have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rossburg
    • Rossburg is located in Allegany County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rossburg <1>
  • Wiscoy
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Wiscoy. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wiscoy
    • Wiscoy is located in Allegany County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Wiscoy
    • From Houghton to Wiscoy
  • Centerville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Centerville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerville
    • Centerville is located in Allegany County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Centerville <1>
  • Marshall
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Marshall have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marshall
    • Marshall is located in Allegany County
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Short Tract
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Short Tract have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Short Tract
      • Short Tract is located in Allegany County
    • Fairview
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Fairview. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairview
      • Fairview is located in Allegany County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Fairview
      • From Houghton to Fairview
    • Rockville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rockville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockville
      • Rockville 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 Houghton. See our List of 1890's Communities around Houghton.

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Houghton ...

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 148 newspapers that have been published in the area around Houghton.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

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

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 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 Houghton:

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

The official website for Allegany County: www.alleganyco.com/

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

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>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.
<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 Houghton, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Houghton) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Houghton. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.4258, Longitude: -78.1556    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025