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 Islandia (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 Islandia. 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 hospitals and 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.
Islandia is located in Suffolk County.
To see how the shape of New York's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
Below are the counties that are near Islandia. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Islandia:
- Suffolk County (The home county of Islandia)
- The following are listed by their distance from Islandia, with the one closest to Islandia listed first.
- Central Islip
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Ronkonkoma
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Lake Ronkonkoma
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Hauppauge
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- The Branch
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- The Branch is located in Suffolk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Branch
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,789 people
- The Branch has also been known as:
- Village of the Branch
- Nesconset
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Smithtown
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Bohemia
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Holbrook
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Lake Grove
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Islip Terrace
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- North Great River
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- North Great River is located in Suffolk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Great River
- Brentwood
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Nassau County
- The following are listed by their distance from Islandia, with the one closest to Islandia listed first.
- South Farmingdale
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- South Farmingdale is located in Nassau County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Farmingdale
- Farmingdale
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Old Bethpage
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Plainview
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Woodbury
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- East Massapequa
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- East Massapequa is located in Nassau County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Massapequa
- Massapequa Park
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- North Massapequa
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- North Massapequa is located in Nassau County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Massapequa
- Bethpage
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Laurel Hollow
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Laurel Hollow is located in Nassau County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurel Hollow
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,027 people
- Swedetown Village
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Swedetown Village is located in Nassau County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swedetown Village
- Cove Neck
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Cove Neck is located in Nassau County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cove Neck
- Population from the 2020 Census: 299 people
- Oyster Bay Cove
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Oyster Bay Cove is located in Nassau County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oyster Bay Cove
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,243 people
- Queens County
- The following are listed by their distance from Islandia, with the one closest to Islandia listed first.
- Little Neck
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Douglaston
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Queens Village
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Westchester County
- The following are listed by their distance from Islandia, with the one closest to Islandia listed first.
- Port Chester
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Rye
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Rye is located in Westchester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rye
- Population from the 2020 Census: 15,634 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rye <1>
- Milton
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Milton is located in Westchester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milton
- Rye Brook
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Harrison
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Mamaroneck
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Fairfield County (CT)
- The following are listed by their distance from Islandia, with the one closest to Islandia listed first.
- Rowayton
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Fairfield
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Greens Farms
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Southport
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Compo
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Compo is located in Fairfield County (CT)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Compo
- Darien
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Darien is located in Fairfield County (CT)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Darien
- Population from the 2020 Census: 21,693 people
- East Norwalk
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- East Norwalk is located in Fairfield County (CT)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Norwalk
- Norwalk
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Norwalk is located in Fairfield County (CT)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norwalk
- Population from the 2020 Census: 88,655 people
- Shippan Point
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Shippan Point is located in Fairfield County (CT)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shippan Point
- South Norwalk
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- South Norwalk is located in Fairfield County (CT)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Norwalk
- Westport
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Westport is located in Fairfield County (CT)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westport
- Population from the 2020 Census: 28,444 people
- Black Rock
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Black Rock is located in Fairfield County (CT)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Rock
- Darien
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- New Haven County (CT)
- The following are listed by their distance from Islandia, with the one closest to Islandia listed first.
- Milford
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Milford is located in New Haven County (CT)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milford
- Population from the 2020 Census: 54,781 people
- Milford
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Islandia, see our County-by-County Page for Islandia.
Cemeteries Near Islandia ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Islandia.
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.
Although we don't have the information ourselves, if you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our list of websites on our Genealogy Helper Page for Islandia - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Islandia covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Islandia, with the one closest to Islandia listed first.
- First Methodist Church Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- St. Patricks Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Hauppauge Methodist Episcopal Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- St. Johns Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Smithtown Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Old Central Islip Psychiatric Center Patient Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- St. John Nepomucene RC Church Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Lake Ronkonkoma Cemetery II
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- UMC Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for UMC Cemetery
- The UMC Cemetery has also been known as:
- Lake Ronkonkoma Cemetery
- Methodist Church Cemetery
- Methodist Episcopal Church Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #65037 <2>
- Newton Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Brentwood Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Calvary Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calvary Cemetery
- The Calvary Cemetery has also been known as:
- Sisters of St. Joseph Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #64108 <2>
- Continue List (278 more) ...
- Bohemia Union Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Cenacle Convent Graveyard
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- New Village Congregation Church Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
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.<3>
While we didn't find Islandia in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Islandia.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Islandia, with the one closest to Islandia listed first.
- Central Islip
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Ronkonkoma
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Hauppauge
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Bohemia
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Smithtown
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Brentwood
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Holbrook
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Lake Grove
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Saint James
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Islip
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Great River
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Bay Shore
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- West Sayville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- West Sayville is located in Suffolk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Sayville
- Sayville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Holtsville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Islandia. See our List of 1890's Communities around Islandia.
Newspapers Published in Islandia ...
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 196 newspapers that have been published in the area around Islandia.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Islandia, there are papers which were published within 16 miles [25.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Islandia.
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 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 Islandia:
- Websites specific to New York
- Pages specific to Suffolk County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Nassau County
- Queens County
- Westchester County
- Fairfield County
- New Haven County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for New York
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> | 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. |
| <3> | 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 Islandia, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Islandia) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |