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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 Paradise (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 Paradise. 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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and 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.

Paradise is located in Orange 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 Orange County: Passaic (NJ), Sussex (NJ), Dutchess, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan, Ulster & Pike (PA).

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

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

Cemeteries Near Paradise ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Paradise.

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

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

  • Belle Terre Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Belle Terre Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Belle Terre Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mt. Hope Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Hope Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Hope Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Thomas Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Thomas Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Thomas Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Forestburg Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Forestburg Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Forestburg Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mongaup Lower River Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mongaup Lower River Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mongaup Lower River Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Agudath Achim Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • New Vernon Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the New Vernon Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the New Vernon Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Laurel Grove Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Laurel Grove Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Laurel Grove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Marys Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Marys Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Marys Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Seeley Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Seeley Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Seeley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Sylvan Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sylvan Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sylvan Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Glen Spey Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (162 more) ...
    • St. Johns Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Johns Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Johns Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Union Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Union Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Union Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • St. Peters Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • 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.<3> 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.<5>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Paradise had a population of 34 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service.

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

  • Oakland Valley
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oakland Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakland Valley
    • Oakland Valley is located in Sullivan County
  • Godeffroy
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Godeffroy have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Godeffroy
    • Godeffroy is located in Orange County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Godeffroy <2>
  • Roses Point
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Roses Point have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roses Point
    • Roses Point is located in Orange County
  • Cuddebackville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Port Orange
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Hartwood
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hartwood have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartwood
    • Hartwood is located in Sullivan County
  • Westbrookville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Westbrookville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westbrookville
    • Westbrookville is located in Orange County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Westbrookville <2>
  • Huguenot
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Guymard
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Guymard have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guymard
    • Guymard is located in Orange County
  • Otisville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Otisville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Otisville
    • Otisville is located in Orange County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,057 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Otisville <2>
  • Haven
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Haven have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haven
    • Haven is located in Sullivan County
  • Forestburg
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Forestburg have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forestburg
    • Forestburg is located in Sullivan County
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in Paradise ...

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 86 newspapers that have been published in the area around Paradise.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Paradise, there are papers which were published within 17 miles [27.4 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Paradise.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These professional and volunteer 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 Paradise:

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

The official website for Orange County: www.co.orange.ny.us/

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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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>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 Paradise, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Paradise) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Paradise. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.4966, Longitude: -74.6448       In this case, the coordinates for Paradise have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025