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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 Owls Head (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 Owls Head. 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 Owls Head ...

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.

While the name of this community is Owls Head, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Owls Head may originally have been Owl's Head.

Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Owls Head might be written as Owl Head.

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

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 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.

Owls Head is located in Franklin 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 Franklin County: Clinton, Essex, Hamilton & Saint Lawrence.

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

  • Franklin County     (The home county of Owls Head)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Owls Head, with the one closest to Owls Head listed first.
    • Whippleville
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Malone
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Brainardsville
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Skerry
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Skerry is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skerry
    • Burke
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Bangor
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Chateaugay
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • West Bangor
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • West Bangor is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Bangor
    • Constable
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Merrillsville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Merrillsville is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merrillsville
    • East Dickinson
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • East Dickinson is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Dickinson
    • Alder Brook
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Alder Brook is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alder Brook
    • Brushton
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
  • Clinton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Owls Head, with the one closest to Owls Head listed first.
    • Standish
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Standish is located in Clinton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Standish
    • Lyon Mountain
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Harrigan
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Harrigan is located in Clinton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrigan
    • Ellenburg Center
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Clayburg
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Clayburg is located in Clinton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clayburg
    • Churubusco
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Redford
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Moffitsville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Moffitsville is located in Clinton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moffitsville
    • Dannemora
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Cadyville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Altona
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Black Brook
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Black Brook is located in Clinton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Brook
    • Morrisonville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
  • Essex County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Owls Head, with the one closest to Owls Head listed first.
    • Bloomingdale
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Saranac Lake
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Wilmington
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Ray Brook
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
    • Whiteface
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Whiteface is located in Essex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whiteface
  • Saint Lawrence County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Owls Head, with the one closest to Owls Head listed first.
    • Nicholville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Hopkinton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Hopkinton is located in Saint Lawrence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopkinton
    • Brasher Iron Works
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Brasher Iron Works is located in Saint Lawrence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brasher Iron Works
    • Helena
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Brasher Falls
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
    • Winthrop
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)

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

Cemeteries Near Owls Head ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Owls Head.

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 Owls Head - one of the links might be able to help.

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Owls Head covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Chasm Falls Methodist Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • St. Helen's Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Hoose Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Kimpton Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Ladd Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Bellmont Center Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • St. Josephs Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Morningside Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Bunker Hill Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Merrill Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Morningside Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Notre Dame Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (115 more) ...
    • Webster Street Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Pike Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • St. John Bosco Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)

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 Owls Head in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Owls Head.

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

  • Chasm Falls
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Chasm Falls is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chasm Falls
  • Whippleville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Wolf Pond
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Wolf Pond is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolf Pond
  • Malone
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Merrill
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Merrill is located in Clinton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merrill
  • Brainardsville
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Skerry
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Skerry is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skerry
  • Burke
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Standish
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Standish is located in Clinton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Standish
  • Lyon Mountain
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
  • Bangor
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Loon Lake
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Loon Lake is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loon Lake
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Chateaugay
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Thayer Corners
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Thayer Corners is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thayer Corners
    • North Bangor
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)

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

Newspapers Published in Owls Head ...

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 29 newspapers that have been published in the area around Owls Head.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Owls Head, there are papers which were published within 23 miles [37 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Owls Head.

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 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 Owls Head:

Footnotes ...

<1>It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties).
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<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 Owls Head, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<5>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Owls Head) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.