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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 Marathon (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 Marathon. 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 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.

Marathon is located in Cortland County.

To see how the shape of New York's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Cortland County: Broome, Cayuga, Chenango, Madison, Onondaga, Tioga & Tompkins.

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

  • Cortland County     (The home county of Marathon)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Marathon, with the one closest to Marathon listed first.
    • Messengerville
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Messengerville is located in Cortland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Messengerville
    • Lapeer
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Lapeer is located in Cortland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lapeer
    • Harford Mills
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Harford Mills is located in Cortland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harford Mills
    • Harford
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • McGraw
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Solon
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Solon is located in Cortland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Solon
    • Cortland
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Munsons Corners
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Munsons Corners is located in Cortland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Munsons Corners
    • East River
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • East River is located in Cortland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East River
    • East Homer
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • East Homer is located in Cortland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Homer
    • Homer
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Homer is located in Cortland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homer
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,080 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Homer <1>
    • Crains Mills
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Crains Mills is located in Cortland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crains Mills
    • Little York
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Little York is located in Cortland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little York
  • Broome County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Marathon, with the one closest to Marathon listed first.
    • Killawog
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Manningville
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Manningville is located in Broome County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manningville
    • Upper Lisle
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Upper Lisle is located in Broome County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Upper Lisle
    • Lisle
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Whitney Point
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Triangle
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Triangle is located in Broome County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Triangle
    • Glen Aubrey
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Castle Creek
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Castle Creek is located in Broome County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Castle Creek
    • Maine
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Maine is located in Broome County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maine
    • West Chenango
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • West Chenango is located in Broome County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Chenango
    • New Ireland
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • New Ireland is located in Broome County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Ireland
    • Quinneville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Quinneville is located in Broome County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quinneville
    • Glen Castle
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Glen Castle is located in Broome County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Castle
  • Cayuga County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Marathon, with the one closest to Marathon listed first.
    • Summer Hill
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Summer Hill is located in Cayuga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summer Hill
      • Summer Hill has also been known as:
      • Plato
    • Dresserville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Dresserville is located in Cayuga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dresserville
    • Sempronius
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Sempronius is located in Cayuga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sempronius
    • Locke
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Montville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Montville is located in Cayuga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montville
    • Moravia
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • East Genoa
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • East Genoa is located in Cayuga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Genoa
    • Kelloggsville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Kelloggsville is located in Cayuga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelloggsville
    • New Hope
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • New Hope is located in Cayuga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Hope
    • Cascade
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Cascade is located in Cayuga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cascade
    • Omro
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Omro is located in Cayuga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Omro
  • Chenango County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Marathon, with the one closest to Marathon listed first.
    • Smithville Flats
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Pitcher
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Adams Corner
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Adams Corner is located in Chenango County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adams Corner
    • Greene
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • South Otselic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Oxford
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Kirk
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Kirk is located in Chenango County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kirk
    • Beaver Meadow
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Beaver Meadow is located in Chenango County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaver Meadow
    • Otselic Center
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Otselic Center is located in Chenango County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Otselic Center
    • Haynes
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Haynes is located in Chenango County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haynes
    • Otselic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Otselic is located in Chenango County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Otselic
    • Plymouth
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Norwich
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
  • Madison County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Marathon, with the one closest to Marathon listed first.
    • DeRuyter
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • DeRuyter is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for DeRuyter
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 518 people
    • Puckerville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Puckerville is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Puckerville
    • New Woodstock
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • New Woodstock is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Woodstock
    • Union
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Union is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union
  • Onondaga County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Marathon, with the one closest to Marathon listed first.
    • Assembly Park
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Assembly Park is located in Onondaga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Assembly Park
    • Tully
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Apulia
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Apulia is located in Onondaga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Apulia
    • Fabius
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Spafford
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Spafford is located in Onondaga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spafford
    • Otisco Valley
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Otisco Valley is located in Onondaga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Otisco Valley
    • Berwyn
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Berwyn is located in Onondaga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berwyn
    • Delphi Falls
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
    • Otisco
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Otisco is located in Onondaga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Otisco
  • Tioga County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Marathon, with the one closest to Marathon listed first.
    • Ketchumville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Ketchumville is located in Tioga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ketchumville
    • Newark Valley
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • West Newark
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • West Newark is located in Tioga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Newark
    • Hullsville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Hullsville is located in Tioga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hullsville
    • Weltonville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Weltonville is located in Tioga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weltonville
    • Candor
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Gaskill
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Gaskill is located in Tioga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gaskill
    • Hamar Estates
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Hamar Estates is located in Tioga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hamar Estates
    • West Candor
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • West Candor is located in Tioga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Candor
    • Campville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Campville is located in Tioga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Campville
    • Apalachin
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Owego
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • North Spencer
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • North Spencer is located in Tioga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Spencer
  • Tompkins County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Marathon, with the one closest to Marathon listed first.
    • Dryden
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • McLean
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Caroline Center
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Caroline Center is located in Tompkins County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caroline Center
    • Freeville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Slaterville Springs
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Groton City
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Groton City is located in Tompkins County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Groton City
    • Peruville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Peruville is located in Tompkins County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peruville
    • Groton
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Besemer
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Besemer is located in Tompkins County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Besemer
    • White Church
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • White Church is located in Tompkins County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Church
    • Varna
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Varna is located in Tompkins County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Varna
    • East Ithaca
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • East Ithaca is located in Tompkins County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Ithaca
    • Forest Home
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Forest Home is located in Tompkins County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Home

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

Cemeteries Near Marathon ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Marathon.

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 Marathon - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Marathon Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Bemis Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Killawog Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Killawog Hill Road Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Killawog Hill Road Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Killawog Hill Road Cemetery is located outside and to the south of Killawog.
  • Quail Hill Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Hunts Corners Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Route 11 Burial Ground
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Texas Valley Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Snyder Hill Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Parker Street Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Freetown Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Parsons Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (473 more) ...
    • Leahy Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Upper Lisle Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Green Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)

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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Marathon had a population of 1,198 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Marathon had a population of 853 people.

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

  • Killawog
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Messengerville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Messengerville is located in Cortland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Messengerville
  • Hunts Corners
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Hunts Corners is located in Cortland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunts Corners
  • Texas Valley
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Texas Valley is located in Cortland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Texas Valley
  • East Virgil
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • East Virgil is located in Cortland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Virgil
  • Freetown Corners
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Freetown Corners is located in Cortland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freetown Corners
  • Upper Lisle
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Upper Lisle is located in Broome County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Upper Lisle
  • Center Lisle
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Center Lisle is located in Broome County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Center Lisle
  • Lisle
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Willet
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Penelope
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Penelope is located in Broome County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Penelope
  • East Freetown
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • East Freetown is located in Cortland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Freetown
  • Continue List   (20 more) ...
    • Harford Mills
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Harford Mills is located in Cortland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harford Mills
    • Whitney Point
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Blodgett Mills
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Marathon ...

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 84 newspapers that have been published in the area around Marathon.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Marathon. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Marathon and those printed in the larger area surrounding Marathon.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 20 miles [32.2 km]<4> of Marathon.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 Marathon:

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 Marathon, 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Marathon) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.