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A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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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 Islip Terrace (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 Islip Terrace. 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 Islip Terrace ...

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 occur.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Islip Terrace: Islip Ter. (or less commonly used: Islip Terr.)

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 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.

Islip Terrace 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 Islip Terrace. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Islip Terrace:

  • Suffolk County     (The home county of Islip Terrace)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Islip Terrace, with the one closest to Islip Terrace listed first.
    • East Islip
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • East Islip is located in Suffolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Islip
    • North Great River
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • North Great River is located in Suffolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Great River
    • Islip
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Oakdale
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Great River
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Central Islip
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Brentwood
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Bay Shore
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • North Bay Shore
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • North Bay Shore is located in Suffolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Bay Shore
    • Islandia
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Bohemia
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Brightwaters
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Baywood
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Baywood is located in Suffolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baywood
  • Nassau County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Islip Terrace, with the one closest to Islip Terrace listed first.
    • East Massapequa
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • East Massapequa is located in Nassau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Massapequa
    • Farmingdale
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Old Bethpage
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • South Farmingdale
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • South Farmingdale is located in Nassau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Farmingdale
    • Massapequa Park
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • North Massapequa
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • North Massapequa is located in Nassau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Massapequa
    • Plainview
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Harbor Green
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Harbor Green is located in Nassau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harbor Green
    • Bethpage
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Biltmore Shores
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Biltmore Shores is located in Nassau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Biltmore Shores
    • Massapequa
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Plainedge
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Plainedge is located in Nassau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plainedge
    • Swedetown Village
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Swedetown Village is located in Nassau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swedetown Village
  • Queens County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Islip Terrace, with the one closest to Islip Terrace listed first.
    • Douglaston
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Little Neck
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Queens Village
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Rosedale
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Bayside
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
    • Far Rockaway
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
    • Hollis
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
    • Rochdale Village
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Rochdale Village is located in Queens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rochdale Village
  • Westchester County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Islip Terrace, with the one closest to Islip Terrace listed first.
    • Milton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Milton is located in Westchester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milton
    • Port Chester
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Rye
      (30 miles [48.3 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>
  • Fairfield County (CT)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Islip Terrace, with the one closest to Islip Terrace listed first.
    • Rowayton
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Compo
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Compo is located in Fairfield County (CT)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Compo
    • Darien
      (26 miles [41.8 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
    • Norwalk
      (26 miles [41.8 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
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Shippan Point is located in Fairfield County (CT)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shippan Point
    • South Norwalk
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • South Norwalk is located in Fairfield County (CT)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Norwalk
    • Fairfield
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Greens Farms
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Darien
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • East Norwalk
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • East Norwalk is located in Fairfield County (CT)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Norwalk
    • Noroton Heights
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Noroton Heights is located in Fairfield County (CT)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Noroton Heights
    • Noroton
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Noroton is located in Fairfield County (CT)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Noroton
    • Old Greenwich
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Islip Terrace ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Islip Terrace.

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 Islip Terrace - one of the links might be able to help.

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Islip Terrace covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

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 Islip Terrace in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Islip Terrace.

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

  • Islip
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Great River
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Bay Shore
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Brentwood
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Central Islip
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Bohemia
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • West Sayville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • West Sayville is located in Suffolk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Sayville
  • Sayville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Ronkonkoma
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Hauppauge
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Babylon
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Fire Island
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in Islip Terrace ...

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 197 newspapers that have been published in the area around Islip Terrace.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Islip Terrace, 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 Islip Terrace.

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 Islip Terrace:

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 Islip Terrace, 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- Islip Terrace) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.