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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 Oak Beach (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 Oak Beach. 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 Oak Beach ...

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.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Oak Beach: Oak Bch.

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Oak Beach. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Oak Beach.

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 doctors and 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.

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

  • Suffolk County     (The home county of Oak Beach)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oak Beach, with the one closest to Oak Beach listed first.
    • Gilgo - Oak Beach - Captree
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Saltaire
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • West Bay Shore
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • West Bay Shore is located in Suffolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Bay Shore
    • West Islip
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • West Islip is located in Suffolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Islip
    • Babylon
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Brightwaters
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • North Babylon
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • North Babylon is located in Suffolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Babylon
    • Lindenhurst
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Ocean Beach
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Bay Shore
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • North Bay Shore
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • North Bay Shore is located in Suffolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Bay Shore
    • Copiague
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Amity Harbor
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Amity Harbor is located in Suffolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amity Harbor
  • Bronx County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oak Beach, with the one closest to Oak Beach listed first.
    • City Island
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • City Island is located in Bronx County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for City Island
    • Locust Point
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Locust Point is located in Bronx County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locust Point
    • Throggs Neck
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Throggs Neck is located in Bronx County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Throggs Neck
  • Nassau County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oak Beach, with the one closest to Oak Beach listed first.
    • East Massapequa
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • East Massapequa is located in Nassau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Massapequa
    • Massapequa Park
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • South Farmingdale
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • South Farmingdale is located in Nassau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Farmingdale
    • Biltmore Shores
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Biltmore Shores is located in Nassau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Biltmore Shores
    • Harbor Green
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Harbor Green is located in Nassau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harbor Green
    • Farmingdale
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • North Massapequa
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • North Massapequa is located in Nassau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Massapequa
    • Massapequa
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Seaford
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Plainedge
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Plainedge is located in Nassau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plainedge
    • Bethpage
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Bellmore
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • North Wantagh
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • North Wantagh is located in Nassau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Wantagh
  • Queens County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oak Beach, with the one closest to Oak Beach listed first.
    • Rosedale
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Bayswater
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Bayswater is located in Queens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayswater
    • Far Rockaway
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Little Neck
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Queens Village
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Douglaston
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Hollis
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Rochdale Village
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Rochdale Village is located in Queens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rochdale Village
    • Bayside
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Jamaica
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Broad Channel
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Broad Channel is located in Queens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Broad Channel
    • Holland
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Morris Park
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Morris Park is located in Queens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morris Park
  • Westchester County
    • Milton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Milton is located in Westchester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milton
  • Fairfield County (CT)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oak Beach, with the one closest to Oak Beach listed first.
    • Shippan Point
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Shippan Point is located in Fairfield County (CT)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shippan Point
    • Darien
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Darien is located in Fairfield County (CT)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Darien
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 21,693 people
    • Rowayton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
    • Old Greenwich
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Oak Beach ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Oak Beach.

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 Oak Beach - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Babylon Rural Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Babylon Rural Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Babylon Rural Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Babylon.
    • The Babylon Rural Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Babylon Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1032904 <2>
  • St. Josephs Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Catholic Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Breslau Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Oakwood Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • St. Patricks Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • St. John's Catholic Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • New Montefiore Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Mt. Ararat Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Trinity Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Brewster Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Brunn - Greene Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (188 more) ...
    • Amityville Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Payne Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Brewster Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)

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

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

  • Babylon
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Lindenhurst
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Bay Shore
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Fire Island
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Islip
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Amityville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Deer Park
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Wyandanch
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Great River
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Brentwood
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • West Sayville
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • West Sayville is located in Suffolk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Sayville
  • Central Islip
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in Oak Beach ...

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 258 newspapers that have been published in the area around Oak Beach.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Oak Beach, there are papers which were published within 18 miles [29 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Oak Beach.

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 Oak Beach:

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 Oak Beach, 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Oak Beach) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.