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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 Otisco Valley (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 Otisco Valley. 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 Otisco Valley ...

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 Otisco Valley: Otisco Vly. (or less commonly used: Otisco Vally. or Otisco Vlly.)

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 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.

Otisco Valley is located in Onondaga 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 Onondaga County: Cayuga, Cortland, Madison & Oswego.

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

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

Cemeteries Near Otisco Valley ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Otisco Valley.

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

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

  • Spafford Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Spafford Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Spafford Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Otisco Valley Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Otisco Valley Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Otisco Valley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Lewis Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lewis Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lewis Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Vesper Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Vesper Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Vesper Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Stanton Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Stanton Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Stanton Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • The West Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The West Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for The West Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Cold Brook Valley Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cold Brook Valley Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cold Brook Valley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hillsdale Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hillsdale Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hillsdale Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Patricks Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Patricks Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Patricks Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bromley Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bromley Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bromley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Maple Grove Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • 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.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Brook Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Brook Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Brook Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (473 more) ...
    • Christian Hollow Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Christian Hollow Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Christian Hollow Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Amber Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Amber Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Amber Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Borodino Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Borodino Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Borodino Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> 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.<4>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Otisco Valley had a population of 63 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Spafford
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Spafford. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spafford
    • Spafford is located in Onondaga County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Spafford
    • From Otisco Valley to Spafford
  • Otisco
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • South Spafford
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Spafford have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Spafford
    • South Spafford is located in Onondaga County
  • Glen Haven
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Glen Haven have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Haven
    • Glen Haven is located in Cayuga County
  • Tully Lake Park
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tully Lake Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tully Lake Park
    • Tully Lake Park is located in Onondaga County
  • Amber
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Amber have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amber
    • Amber is located in Onondaga County
  • Borodino
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Borodino have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Borodino
    • Borodino is located in Onondaga County
  • New Hope
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Scott
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Tully
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tully have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tully
    • Tully is located in Onondaga County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 849 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tully <3>
  • Cardiff
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Kelloggsville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (19 more) ...
    • Navarino
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Navarino have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Navarino
      • Navarino is located in Onondaga County
    • East Scott
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Preble
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)

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

Newspapers Published in Otisco Valley ...

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 152 newspapers that have been published in the area around Otisco Valley.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Otisco Valley, there are papers which were published within 15 miles [24.1 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Otisco Valley.

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 Otisco Valley:

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

The official website for Onondaga County: www.ongov.net/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>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.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>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 Otisco Valley, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<5>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 from Point A (ie- Otisco Valley) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Otisco Valley. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.8283, Longitude: -76.2318    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025