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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 Otter Creek (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 Otter Creek. 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 Otter Creek ...

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.

Another variation: Ottercreek.

  • A typical abbreviation for Otter Creek: Otter Crk. (or less commonly used: Otter Ck. or Otter Cr.)

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 doctors and 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.

Otter Creek is located in Lewis 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 Lewis County: Herkimer, Jefferson, Oneida, Oswego & Saint Lawrence.

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

  • Lewis County     (The home county of Otter Creek)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Otter Creek, with the one closest to Otter Creek listed first.
    • Greig
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Glendale
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • East Martinsburg
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for East Martinsburg. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Martinsburg
      • East Martinsburg is located in Lewis County
    • Petries Corners
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Petries Corners
      • Petries Corners is located in Lewis County
    • Watson
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Watson
      • Watson is located in Lewis County
    • Martinsburg
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Lyons Falls
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Turin
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Turin have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turin
      • Turin is located in Lewis County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 226 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Turin <1>
    • Crystal Dale
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Dale
      • Crystal Dale is located in Lewis County
    • Lowville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Collinsville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Collinsville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Collinsville
      • Collinsville is located in Lewis County
    • Lyonsdale
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyonsdale
      • Lyonsdale is located in Lewis County
  • Hamilton County
  • Herkimer County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Otter Creek, with the one closest to Otter Creek listed first.
    • Thendara
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thendara
      • Thendara is located in Herkimer County
    • Beaver River
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Beaver River. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaver River
      • Beaver River is located in Herkimer County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Beaver River <1>
    • Northwood
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Northwood. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Northwood
      • Northwood is located in Herkimer County
  • Jefferson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Otter Creek, with the one closest to Otter Creek listed first.
    • Carthage
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Carthage have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carthage
      • Carthage is located in Jefferson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,256 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Carthage <1>
    • West Carthage
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Carthage have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Carthage
      • West Carthage is located in Jefferson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,901 people
    • Worth Center
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Worth Center. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Worth Center
      • Worth Center is located in Jefferson County
    • Natural Bridge
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Herrings
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Herrings have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Herrings
      • Herrings is located in Jefferson County
      • Estimated population in 2017: 90 people
    • Worth
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Worth
      • Worth is located in Jefferson County
    • Deferiet
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Deferiet have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deferiet
      • Deferiet is located in Jefferson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 278 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Deferiet <1>
    • East Rodman
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for East Rodman. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Rodman
      • East Rodman is located in Jefferson County
    • Great Bend
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Black River
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Lorraine
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Sterlingville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Sterlingville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sterlingville
      • Sterlingville is located in Jefferson County
  • Oneida County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Otter Creek, with the one closest to Otter Creek listed first.
    • Boonville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Redmond Corner
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redmond Corner
      • Redmond Corner is located in Oneida County
    • Ava
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Point Rock
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Point Rock
      • Point Rock is located in Oneida County
    • Frenchville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frenchville
      • Frenchville is located in Oneida County
    • Remsen
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Westernville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Brookfield
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookfield
      • Brookfield is located in Oneida County
    • Prospect
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Oswego County

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

Cemeteries Near Otter Creek ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Otter Creek.

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

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

  • Burdicks Crossing Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Burdicks Crossing Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Burdicks Crossing Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Sands Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sands Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sands Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Brantingham Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Brantingham Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Brantingham Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Wetmore Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wetmore Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wetmore Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Beaches Bridge Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Beaches Bridge Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Beaches Bridge Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Old Martinsburg Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Martinsburg Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Martinsburg Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Carpenter Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Carpenter Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Carpenter Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Turin Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Turin Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Turin Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Collinsville Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Collinsville Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Collinsville Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Wildwood Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Ebblie Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ebblie Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ebblie Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Pauls Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Pauls Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Pauls Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (112 more) ...
    • Calvary Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Calvary Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Calvary Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Ashback Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Contableville Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Contableville Cemetery
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Contableville Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the northwest of Constableville.
      • The Contableville Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Contableville Rural Cemetery
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #65888 <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.<6>

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

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

  • Greig
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Glendale
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • East Martinsburg
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for East Martinsburg. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Martinsburg
    • East Martinsburg is located in Lewis County
  • Brantingham
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brantingham have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brantingham
    • Brantingham is located in Lewis County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Brantingham <1>
  • Bushes Landing
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bushes Landing have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bushes Landing
    • Bushes Landing is located in Lewis County
  • Petries Corners
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Petries Corners
    • Petries Corners is located in Lewis County
  • Watson
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Watson
    • Watson is located in Lewis County
  • Martinsburg
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Turin
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Turin have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turin
    • Turin is located in Lewis County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 226 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Turin <1>
  • Lyons Falls
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Collinsville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Collinsville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Collinsville
    • Collinsville is located in Lewis County
  • Lyonsdale
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyonsdale
    • Lyonsdale is located in Lewis County
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Crystal Dale
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Dale
      • Crystal Dale is located in Lewis County
    • Lowville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • New Bremen
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Bremen have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Bremen
      • New Bremen is located in Lewis County

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

Newspapers Published in Otter Creek ...

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 54 newspapers that have been published in the area around Otter Creek.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Otter Creek, there are papers which were published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Otter Creek.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to 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 Otter Creek:

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

The official website for Lewis County: www.lewiscountyny.org/

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

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>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.
<3>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.
<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 '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- Otter Creek) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Otter Creek. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.7187, Longitude: -75.3674       In this case, the coordinates for Otter Creek have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<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 Otter Creek, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025