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A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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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 Oneonta (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 Oneonta. 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.

Oneonta is located in Otsego 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 Otsego County: Chenango, Delaware, Herkimer, Madison, Montgomery & Schoharie.

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

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

Cemeteries Near Oneonta ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Oneonta.

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

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

  • Riverside Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Riverside Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Riverside Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Glenwood Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Glenwood Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Glenwood Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Plains Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Plains Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Plains Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mt. Calvary Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Strait Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Strait Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Strait Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Cook Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cook Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cook Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Northup Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Northup Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Northup Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Quackenbush Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Quackenbush Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Quackenbush Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Ouleout Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ouleout Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ouleout Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Babcock Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Babcock Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Babcock Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Laurens Village Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Elm Row Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Elm Row Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Elm Row Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (376 more) ...
    • Maple Grove Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Maple Grove Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Maple Grove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Charlotte Valley Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Charlotte Valley Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Charlotte Valley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • McMinn Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the McMinn Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the McMinn Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 Oneonta had a population of 6,272 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Oneonta had a population of 13,695 people.

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

  • West Oneonta
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • North Franklin
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Colliersville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Laurens
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Laurens have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurens
    • Laurens is located in Otsego County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 242 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Laurens <2>
  • West Davenport
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Davenport have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Davenport
    • West Davenport is located in Delaware County
  • Otego
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Otsdawa
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Otsdawa have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Otsdawa
    • Otsdawa is located in Otsego County
  • West Meredith
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Meredith have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Meredith
    • West Meredith is located in Delaware County
  • Davenport Center
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Portlandville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • West Laurens
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Laurens have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Laurens
    • West Laurens is located in Otsego County
  • Mount Vision
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Franklin
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Meredith
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Meredith have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meredith
      • Meredith is located in Delaware County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Meredith <2>
    • East Meredith
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Meredith have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Meredith
      • East Meredith is located in Delaware County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for East Meredith <2>

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Oneonta ...

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 98 newspapers that have been published in the area around Oneonta.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Oneonta. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Oneonta and those printed in the larger area surrounding Oneonta.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 20 miles [32.2 km]<6> of Oneonta.

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 Oneonta:

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<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 Oneonta, 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Oneonta) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Oneonta. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.4530, Longitude: -75.0632