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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 Lake Ridge (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 Lake Ridge. 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 Lake Ridge ...

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 Lake Ridge: Lk. Ridge

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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals 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.

Lake Ridge is located in Tompkins 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 Tompkins County: Cayuga, Chemung, Cortland, Schuyler, Seneca & Tioga.

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

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

Cemeteries Near Lake Ridge ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Lake Ridge.

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

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

  • Lake Ridge Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lake Ridge Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lake Ridge Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Goodyears Corners Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Goodyears Corners Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Goodyears Corners Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2319801 <4>
  • German Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the German Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the German Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Palmer Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Maplewood Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Maplewood Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Maplewood Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Belltown Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Belltown Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Belltown Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2448395 <4>
  • Lansingville Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lansingville Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lansingville Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • West Genoa Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the West Genoa Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the West Genoa Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Our Lady of the Lake Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Our Lady of the Lake Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Our Lady of the Lake Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Covert Baptist Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Covert Baptist Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Covert Baptist Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. James Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • 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.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Grove Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (452 more) ...
    • Pine Grove Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pine Grove Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pine Grove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Bower Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bower Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bower Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Ledyard Church Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ledyard Church Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ledyard Church 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 Lake Ridge had a population of 89 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Five Corners
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Five Corners have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Corners
    • Five Corners is located in Cayuga County
  • Atwaters
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Lansingville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lansingville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lansingville
    • Lansingville is located in Tompkins County
  • Covert
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Covert have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Covert
    • Covert is located in Seneca County
  • Trumansburg
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Taughannock Falls
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Ludlowville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ludlowville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ludlowville
    • Ludlowville is located in Tompkins County
  • North Lansing
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Genoa
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Genoa have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Genoa
    • Genoa is located in Cayuga County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Genoa <2>
  • Ledyard
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Sheldrake
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sheldrake have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sheldrake
    • Sheldrake is located in Seneca County
  • Willow Creek
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Myers
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Myers. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Myers
      • Myers is located in Tompkins County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Myers
      • From Lake Ridge to Myers
    • East Genoa
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Waterburg
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Waterburg have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterburg
      • Waterburg is located in Tompkins County

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

Newspapers Published in Lake Ridge ...

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 96 newspapers that have been published in the area around Lake Ridge.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Lake Ridge, there are papers which were published within 16 miles [25.7 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Lake Ridge.

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 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 Lake Ridge:

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

The official website for Tompkins County: www.co.tompkins.ny.us/

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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Lake Ridge, 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 from Point A (ie- Lake Ridge) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Lake Ridge. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.6099, Longitude: -76.6136       In this case, the coordinates for Lake Ridge have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025