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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 Oswego (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 Oswego. 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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals 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.

Oswego is located in Oswego County and is the County Seat.

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 Oswego County: Cayuga, Jefferson, Lewis, Madison, Oneida & Onondaga.

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

  • Oswego County     (The home county of Oswego)
  • Cayuga County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oswego, with the one closest to Oswego listed first.
    • North Sterling
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Sterling Valley
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Fair Haven
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • North Victory
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Ira
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Victory
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Victory have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Victory
      • Victory is located in Cayuga County
    • Cato
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cato have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cato
      • Cato is located in Cayuga County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 497 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cato <2>
    • Meridian
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Meridian have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meridian
      • Meridian is located in Cayuga County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 285 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Meridian <2>
    • Weedsport
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Weedsport have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weedsport
      • Weedsport is located in Cayuga County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,683 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Weedsport <2>
    • Port Byron
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
  • Jefferson County
  • Onondaga County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oswego, with the one closest to Oswego listed first.
    • Jacksonville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Little Utica
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Lysander
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Wrights Corners
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Baldwinsville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Brewerton
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Euclid
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Village Green
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Village Green have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Village Green
      • Village Green is located in Onondaga County
    • Jacks Reef
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Clay
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Seneca Knolls
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Seneca Knolls have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seneca Knolls
      • Seneca Knolls is located in Onondaga County
    • Van Buren
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Van Buren have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Van Buren
      • Van Buren is located in Onondaga County
  • Wayne County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oswego, with the one closest to Oswego listed first.
    • Red Creek
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Red Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Creek
      • Red Creek is located in Wayne County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 488 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Red Creek <2>
    • Furnace Village
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Furnace Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Furnace Village
      • Furnace Village is located in Wayne County
    • Wolcott
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • North Huron
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for North Huron. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Huron
      • North Huron is located in Wayne County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to North Huron
      • From Oswego to North Huron
    • Huron
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • South Butler
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Sodus Point
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • York
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Oswego ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Oswego.

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

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

  • Ft. Ontario Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ft. Ontario Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ft. Ontario Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • South Road Rural Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the South Road Rural Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the South Road Rural Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Clark Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Clark Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Clark Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Pauls Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Riverside Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • St. Peters Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Peters Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Peters Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mattison Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mattison Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mattison Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Rice Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Union Village Rural Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Union Village Rural Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Union Village Rural Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hillside Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hillside Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hillside Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Irish Settlement Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Irish Settlement Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Irish Settlement Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Kingdom Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Kingdom Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Kingdom Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (224 more) ...
    • Blossom Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Blossom Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Blossom Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Fairview Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fairview Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fairview Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Whittemore Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Whittemore Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Whittemore 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.<6>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Oswego had a population of 21,842 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Oswego had a population of 17,221 people.

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

  • Fruit Valley
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fruit Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fruit Valley
    • Fruit Valley is located in Oswego County
  • Oswego Center
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Lansing
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lansing have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lansing
    • Lansing is located in Oswego County
  • Scriba
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Southwest Oswego
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Furniss
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Minetto
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Minetto have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minetto
    • Minetto is located in Oswego County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Minetto <2>
  • Seneca Hill
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Seneca Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seneca Hill
    • Seneca Hill is located in Oswego County
  • South Scriba
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Scriba have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Scriba
    • South Scriba is located in Oswego County
  • Lycoming
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lycoming have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lycoming
    • Lycoming is located in Oswego County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lycoming <2>
  • North Hannibal
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Hannibal have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Hannibal
    • North Hannibal is located in Oswego County
  • South New Haven
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South New Haven have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South New Haven
    • South New Haven is located in Oswego County
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Oswego ...

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 149 newspapers that have been published in the area around Oswego.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Oswego. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Oswego and those printed in the larger area surrounding Oswego.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 23 miles [37 km]<5> of Oswego.

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 helpful 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 Oswego:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Oswego. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Oswego County: www.co.oswego.ny.us/

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

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>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Oswego) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Oswego. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.4576, Longitude: -76.5077    
<6>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 Oswego, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025