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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 occur.

Another variation: Ottercreek.

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

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Otter Creek. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Otter Creek.

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 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.

Otter Creek is located in Lewis County.

To see how the shape of New York's counties may 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)
      • East Martinsburg is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Martinsburg
    • Petries Corners
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Petries Corners is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Petries Corners
    • Watson
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Watson is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Watson
    • 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)
    • Crystal Dale
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Crystal Dale is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Dale
    • Lowville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Collinsville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Collinsville is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Collinsville
    • Lyonsdale
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Lyonsdale is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyonsdale
  • 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)
      • Thendara is located in Herkimer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thendara
    • Beaver River
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Northwood
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Northwood is located in Herkimer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Northwood
  • 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)
    • West Carthage
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • West Carthage is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Carthage
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,901 people
    • Worth Center
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Worth Center is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Worth Center
    • Natural Bridge
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Herrings
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Herrings is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Herrings
      • Estimated population in 2017: 90 people
    • Worth
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Worth is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Worth
    • Deferiet
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • East Rodman
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • East Rodman is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Rodman
    • 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)
      • Sterlingville is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sterlingville
  • 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)
      • Redmond Corner is located in Oneida County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redmond Corner
    • Woodgate
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Ava
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Point Rock
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Point Rock is located in Oneida County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Point Rock
    • Frenchville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Frenchville is located in Oneida County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frenchville
    • 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)
      • Brookfield is located in Oneida County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookfield
    • Prospect
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Oswego County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Otter Creek, with the one closest to Otter Creek listed first.
    • Redfield
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Smartville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Smartville is located in Oswego County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smartville

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.

Although we don't have the information ourselves, if you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our list of websites on our Genealogy Helper Page for Otter Creek - one of the links might be able to help.

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)
  • Sands Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Brantingham Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Wetmore Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Beaches Bridge Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Old Martinsburg Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Carpenter Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Turin Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Collinsville Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Wildwood Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Ebblie Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • St. Pauls Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (112 more) ...
    • Calvary Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • 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 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 <2>

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>

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)
    • East Martinsburg is located in Lewis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Martinsburg
  • Brantingham
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Bushes Landing
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Bushes Landing is located in Lewis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bushes Landing
  • Petries Corners
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Petries Corners is located in Lewis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Petries Corners
  • Watson
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Watson is located in Lewis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Watson
  • Martinsburg
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Turin
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Lyons Falls
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Collinsville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Collinsville is located in Lewis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Collinsville
  • Lyonsdale
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Lyonsdale is located in Lewis County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyonsdale
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Crystal Dale
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Crystal Dale is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Dale
    • Lowville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • New Bremen
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • New Bremen is located in Lewis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Bremen

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]<3>. 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 begin with 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:

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>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.
<3>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Otter Creek) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Otter Creek, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.