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 Ocean 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 Ocean 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 Ocean 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.

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 Ocean Beach: Ocean Bch.

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 and doctors 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.

Ocean Beach is located in Suffolk County.

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

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

• Suffolk County     (The home county of Ocean Beach)
  • The following are listed by their distance from Ocean Beach, with the one closest to Ocean Beach listed first.
  • Fire Island
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fire Island have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fire Island
    • Fire Island is located in Suffolk County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fire Island <2>
  • Saltaire
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saltaire have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saltaire
    • Saltaire is located in Suffolk County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 41 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Saltaire <2>
  • Great River
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Great River have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Great River
    • Great River is located in Suffolk County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Great River <2>
  • Water Island
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Water Island
    • Water Island is located in Suffolk County
  • East Islip
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Islip
    • East Islip is located in Suffolk County
  • Islip Terrace
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Islip Terrace have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Islip Terrace
    • Islip Terrace is located in Suffolk County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Islip Terrace <2>
  • Oakdale
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oakdale have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakdale
    • Oakdale is located in Suffolk County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oakdale <2>
  • West Sayville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Sayville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Sayville
    • West Sayville is located in Suffolk County
  • Islip
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Islip
    • Islip is located in Suffolk County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Islip <2>
  • Gilgo - Oak Beach - Captree
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilgo - Oak Beach - Captree
    • Gilgo - Oak Beach - Captree is located in Suffolk County
  • North Great River
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Great River have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Great River
    • North Great River is located in Suffolk County
  • Bay Shore
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bay Shore
    • Bay Shore is located in Suffolk County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bay Shore <2>
  • Brightwaters
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brightwaters have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brightwaters
    • Brightwaters is located in Suffolk County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,050 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Brightwaters <2>
• Nassau County
  • The following are listed by their distance from Ocean Beach, with the one closest to Ocean Beach listed first.
  • East Massapequa
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Massapequa have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Massapequa
    • East Massapequa is located in Nassau County
  • Massapequa Park
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Massapequa Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Massapequa Park
    • Massapequa Park is located in Nassau County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 17,034 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Massapequa Park <2>
  • South Farmingdale
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Farmingdale have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Farmingdale
    • South Farmingdale is located in Nassau County
  • Biltmore Shores
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Biltmore Shores
    • Biltmore Shores is located in Nassau County
  • Farmingdale
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmingdale
    • Farmingdale is located in Nassau County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,981 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Farmingdale <2>
  • Harbor Green
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harbor Green
    • Harbor Green is located in Nassau County
  • Massapequa
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Massapequa
    • Massapequa is located in Nassau County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Massapequa <2>
  • North Massapequa
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Massapequa have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Massapequa
    • North Massapequa is located in Nassau County
  • Old Bethpage
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Old Bethpage have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Bethpage
    • Old Bethpage is located in Nassau County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Old Bethpage <2>
  • Plainedge
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plainedge
    • Plainedge is located in Nassau County
  • Seaford
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Seaford have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seaford
    • Seaford is located in Nassau County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Seaford <2>
  • Bethpage
    (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bethpage
    • Bethpage is located in Nassau County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bethpage <2>
  • North Wantagh
    (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Wantagh have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Wantagh
    • North Wantagh is located in Nassau County

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Ocean 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 195 newspapers that have been published in the area around Ocean Beach.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

• A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Ocean Beach. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Ocean Beach and those printed in the larger area surrounding Ocean Beach.
• An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 20 miles [32.2 km]<3> of Ocean 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 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 Ocean Beach:

• Websites specific to New York
  • Jump to Cyndi's List
  • Jump to Family Search
  • Jump to Genealogy Trails
  • Website for the New York State Archives

• Pages specific to Suffolk County
  • Jump to Cyndi's List
  • Jump to Family Search
  • Jump to Genealogy Trails

• Genealogy information for nearby counties
  • Nassau County
    • Jump to Cyndi's List
    • Jump to Family Search
    • Jump to Genealogy Trails

• Cemetery Information and Directories for New York
  • Cemetery Junction: Cemeteries of New York
  • Cyndi's List
  • Cemeteries of New York
  • Cemeteries of Suffolk County
  • FamilySearch.org: Cemeteries of New York
  • Find-A-Grave: Home Page
  • Interment.net
  • Cemeteries of New York
  • Cemeteries of Suffolk County

Cemeteries Near Ocean Beach ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Ocean 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.

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 Ocean Beach covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

• Old Central Islip Psychiatric Center Patient Cemetery
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Central Islip Psychiatric Center Patient Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Central Islip Psychiatric Center Patient Cemetery
• St. Ann's Cemetery
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Ann's Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Ann's Cemetery
• Union Cemetery
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Union Cemetery
• Oakwood Cemetery
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oakwood Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oakwood Cemetery
• St. Patricks Cemetery
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Patricks Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Patricks Cemetery
• St. Lawrence Cemetery
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Lawrence Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Lawrence Cemetery
• Bohemia Union Cemetery
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • The Bohemia Union Cemetery has also been known as:
  • Union Cemetery
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bohemia Union Cemetery
  • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2396149 <4>
• St. John Nepomucene RC Church Cemetery
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. John Nepomucene RC Church Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. John Nepomucene RC Church Cemetery
• Calvary Cemetery
  (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • The Calvary Cemetery has also been known as:
  • Sisters of St. Joseph Cemetery
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Calvary Cemetery
  • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #64108 <4>
• Blue Point Cemetery
  (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Blue Point Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Blue Point Cemetery
• Babylon Rural Cemetery
  (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • 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 our Gazetteer entry for the Babylon Rural Cemetery
  • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1032904 <4>
• First Methodist Church Cemetery
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the First Methodist Church Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the First Methodist Church Cemetery
• Continue List   (167 more) ...
  • Rice Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rice Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rice Cemetery
  • Lakeview Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lakeview Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lakeview Cemetery
  • St. de Sales Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the St. de Sales Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Patchogue.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. de Sales Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #65961 <4>

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>

While we didn't find Ocean Beach in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Ocean Beach.

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

• Fire Island
  (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fire Island have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fire Island
  • Fire Island is located in Suffolk County
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fire Island <2>
• Great River
  (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Great River have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Great River
  • Great River is located in Suffolk County
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Great River <2>
• Islip
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Islip
  • Islip is located in Suffolk County
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Islip <2>
• West Sayville
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Sayville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Sayville
  • West Sayville is located in Suffolk County
• Sayville
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sayville
  • Sayville is located in Suffolk County
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sayville <2>
• Bay Shore
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bay Shore
  • Bay Shore is located in Suffolk County
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bay Shore <2>
• Bayport
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayport
  • Bayport is located in Suffolk County
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bayport <2>
• Bohemia
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bohemia
  • Bohemia is located in Suffolk County
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bohemia <2>
• Blue Point
  (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Point
  • Blue Point is located in Suffolk County
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Blue Point <2>
• Babylon
  (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Babylon
  • Babylon is located in Suffolk County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 11,942 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Babylon <2>
• Central Islip
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central Islip
  • Central Islip is located in Suffolk County
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Central Islip <2>
• Brentwood
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brentwood
  • Brentwood is located in Suffolk County
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Brentwood <2>
• Continue List   (14 more) ...
  • Patchogue
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Patchogue
    • Patchogue is located in Suffolk County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 12,314 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Patchogue <2>
  • East Patchogue
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Patchogue have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Patchogue
    • East Patchogue is located in Suffolk County
  • Ronkonkoma
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ronkonkoma
    • Ronkonkoma is located in Suffolk County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ronkonkoma <2>

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

Off-the-Road Links ...

The official website for Ocean Beach: www.obvillage.com/

The official website for Suffolk County: www.co.suffolk.ny.us/

The official website for State of New York: https://www.ny.gov/