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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 Indian River (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 Indian River. 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.

Name Variations for Indian River ...

When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might have occurred.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Indian River: Indian Riv.

If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.

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.

Indian River is located in Lewis 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 Lewis County: Herkimer, Jefferson, Oneida, Oswego & Saint Lawrence.

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

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

Cemeteries Near Indian River ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Indian River.

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

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

  • Basselin Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Basselin Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Basselin Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Stephens Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Stephens Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Stephens Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Salem Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Salem Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Salem Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Tinney Corners Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Blanchard Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Union Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • 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.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Oswegatchie Corners Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oswegatchie Corners Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oswegatchie Corners Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hillside Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hillside Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hillside Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Sunnyside Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Natural Bridge Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Natural Bridge Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Natural Bridge Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. James Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. James Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. James Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Swinburne Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Swinburne Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Swinburne Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (99 more) ...
    • Hillside Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hillside Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hillside Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Fairview Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fairview Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fairview Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Fairview Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fairview Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fairview Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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 Indian River had a population of 102 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Belfort
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Belfort. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belfort
    • Belfort is located in Lewis County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Belfort
    • From Indian River to Belfort
  • Jerden Falls
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Croghan
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Croghan have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Croghan
    • Croghan is located in Lewis County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 591 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Croghan <3>
  • Beaver Falls
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Beaver Falls have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaver Falls
    • Beaver Falls is located in Lewis County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Beaver Falls <3>
  • Kirschnerville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kirschnerville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kirschnerville
    • Kirschnerville is located in Lewis County
  • Naumburg
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Naumburg. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Naumburg
    • Naumburg is located in Lewis County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Naumburg
    • From Indian River to Naumburg
  • Natural Bridge
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Castorland
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Castorland have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Castorland
    • Castorland is located in Lewis County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 341 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Castorland <3>
  • New Bremen
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Bremen have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Bremen
    • New Bremen is located in Lewis County
  • Crystal Dale
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Deer River
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Deer River have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer River
    • Deer River is located in Lewis County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Deer River <3>
  • Denmark
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Denmark. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Denmark
    • Denmark is located in Lewis County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Denmark
    • From Indian River to Denmark
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in Indian River ...

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 90 newspapers that have been published in the area around Indian River.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Indian River, there are papers which were published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Indian River.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin 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 Indian River:

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

The official website for Lewis County: www.lewiscountyny.org/

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>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.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Indian River, 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- Indian River) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Indian River. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.9746, Longitude: -75.3700       In this case, the coordinates for Indian River have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025