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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 Natural Dam (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 Natural Dam. 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.

Natural Dam is located in Saint Lawrence 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 Saint Lawrence County: Franklin, Hamilton, Herkimer, Jefferson & Lewis.

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

  • Saint Lawrence County     (The home county of Natural Dam)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Natural Dam, with the one closest to Natural Dam listed first.
    • Gouverneur
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Elmdale
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Elmdale is located in Saint Lawrence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmdale
    • Somerville
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Somerville is located in Saint Lawrence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Somerville
    • Wegatchie
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Wegatchie is located in Saint Lawrence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wegatchie
    • Richville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Talcville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Talcville is located in Saint Lawrence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Talcville
    • Pope Mills
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Pope Mills is located in Saint Lawrence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pope Mills
    • Edwards
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Edwards is located in Saint Lawrence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edwards
      • Estimated population in 2012: 433 people
    • Hammond
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Hammond is located in Saint Lawrence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hammond
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 270 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hammond <1>
    • De Kalb
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • De Kalb is located in Saint Lawrence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for De Kalb
    • Brier Hill
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • North Hammond
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • North Hammond is located in Saint Lawrence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Hammond
    • Schermerhorn Landing
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Schermerhorn Landing is located in Saint Lawrence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Schermerhorn Landing
  • Jefferson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Natural Dam, with the one closest to Natural Dam listed first.
    • Oxbow
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Antwerp
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Redwood
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Philadelphia
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Theresa
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Theresa is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Theresa
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 766 people
    • Browns Corners
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Browns Corners is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Browns Corners
    • Natural Bridge
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Sterlingville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Sterlingville is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sterlingville
    • Alexandria Bay
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Deferiet
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Evans Mills
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Orleans Four Corners
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Orleans Four Corners is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orleans Four Corners
    • Great Bend
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
  • Lewis County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Natural Dam, with the one closest to Natural Dam listed first.
    • Harrisville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Lake Bonaparte
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Lake Bonaparte is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Bonaparte
    • Jerden Falls
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Jerden Falls is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jerden Falls
    • Indian River
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Indian River is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian River
    • Forest City
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Forest City is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest City
    • Belfort
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Belfort is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belfort
    • Denmark
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Denmark is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Denmark
    • Naumburg
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Naumburg is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Naumburg

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

Cemeteries Near Natural Dam ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Natural Dam.

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 Natural Dam - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Riverside Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • St. James Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • St. James Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Hailesboro Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Pine Hill Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • West Fowler Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • North Gouverneur Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Pleasant Lake Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Wayside Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Riverside Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • St. Patricks Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Gulf Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (147 more) ...
    • Maple Grove Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Woodworth Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Oldsville Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)

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 Natural Dam had a population of 230 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Gouverneur
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Elmdale
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Elmdale is located in Saint Lawrence County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmdale
  • Hailesboro
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Wegatchie
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Wegatchie is located in Saint Lawrence County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wegatchie
  • Somerville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Somerville is located in Saint Lawrence County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Somerville
  • Spragueville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Spragueville is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spragueville
  • Oxbow
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Brasie Corners
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Brasie Corners is located in Saint Lawrence County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brasie Corners
  • Fowler
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Fowler is located in Saint Lawrence County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fowler
  • Richville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Bigelow
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Bigelow is located in Saint Lawrence County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bigelow
  • Rossie
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Rossie is located in Saint Lawrence County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rossie
  • Continue List   (18 more) ...
    • Talcville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Talcville is located in Saint Lawrence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Talcville
    • Antwerp
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Pope Mills
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Pope Mills is located in Saint Lawrence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pope Mills

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

Newspapers Published in Natural Dam ...

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 49 newspapers that have been published in the area around Natural Dam.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Natural Dam, there are papers which were published within 20 miles [32.2 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Natural Dam.

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 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 Natural Dam:

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 Natural Dam, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Natural Dam) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.