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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 Poestenkill (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 Poestenkill. 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 hospitals and doctors 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.

Poestenkill is located in Rensselaer 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 Rensselaer County: Berkshire (MA), Albany, Columbia, Greene, Saratoga, Washington & Bennington (VT).

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

  • Rensselaer County     (The home county of Poestenkill)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Poestenkill, with the one closest to Poestenkill listed first.
    • Brunswick
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Averill Park
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Averill Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Averill Park
      • Averill Park is located in Rensselaer County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Averill Park <1>
    • Sand Lake
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • West Sand Lake
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Sand Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Sand Lake
      • West Sand Lake is located in Rensselaer County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for West Sand Lake <1>
    • Albia
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Wyantskill
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wyantskill came from an uncertain source and they still need to be verified:<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyantskill
      • Wyantskill is located in Rensselaer County
    • Wynantskill
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wynantskill have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wynantskill
      • Wynantskill is located in Rensselaer County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wynantskill <1>
    • Quackenkill
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Sycaway
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Troy
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Sliters
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Sliters. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sliters
      • Sliters is located in Rensselaer County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Sliters
      • From Poestenkill to Sliters
    • Best
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Defreestville
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Albany County
  • Columbia County
  • Greene County
  • Saratoga County
  • Schenectady County
  • Washington County
  • Berkshire County (MA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Poestenkill, with the one closest to Poestenkill listed first.
    • Hancock
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hancock. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hancock
      • Hancock is located in Berkshire County (MA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 695 people
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Hancock
      • From Poestenkill to Hancock
    • New Ashford
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Ashford have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Ashford
      • New Ashford is located in Berkshire County (MA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 223 people
    • Williamstown
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Williamstown have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williamstown
      • Williamstown is located in Berkshire County (MA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,631 people
    • Greylock
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Greylock. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greylock
      • Greylock is located in Berkshire County (MA)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Greylock
      • From Poestenkill to Greylock
    • Lanesborough
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lanesborough have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lanesborough
      • Lanesborough is located in Berkshire County (MA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,925 people
    • Farnams
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Farnams. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farnams
      • Farnams is located in Berkshire County (MA)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Farnams
      • From Poestenkill to Farnams
    • Shaker Village
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shaker Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shaker Village
      • Shaker Village is located in Berkshire County (MA)
    • Town Crest Village
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Town Crest Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Town Crest Village
      • Town Crest Village is located in Berkshire County (MA)
    • Berkshire
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Berkshire have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berkshire
      • Berkshire is located in Berkshire County (MA)
    • Cheshire
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Pittsfield
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Adams
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Arnoldville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
  • Franklin County (MA)
    • Monroe
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Monroe have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monroe
      • Monroe is located in Franklin County (MA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 115 people
  • Bennington County (VT)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Poestenkill, with the one closest to Poestenkill listed first.
    • Pownal Center
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Pownal
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pownal have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pownal
      • Pownal is located in Bennington County (VT)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,386 people
    • Bennington
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bennington have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bennington
      • Bennington is located in Bennington County (VT)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 14,897 people
    • Bennington
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Old Bennington
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Old Bennington have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Bennington
      • Old Bennington is located in Bennington County (VT)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 128 people
    • Paper Mill Village
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Paper Mill Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paper Mill Village
      • Paper Mill Village is located in Bennington County (VT)
    • North Bennington
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Stamford
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stamford have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stamford
      • Stamford is located in Bennington County (VT)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 809 people
    • Stamford
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • South Shaftsbury
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Woodford Hollow
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Shaftsbury
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shaftsbury have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shaftsbury
      • Shaftsbury is located in Bennington County (VT)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,411 people
    • Woodford
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Woodford have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodford
      • Woodford is located in Bennington County (VT)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 398 people

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

Cemeteries Near Poestenkill ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Poestenkill.

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

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

  • Hillside Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hillside Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hillside Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Brookside Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Brookside Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Brookside Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Eagle Mills Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Coonradt Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Albany Muslim Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Elmwood Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Elmwood Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Elmwood Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Opposite Brick Church Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Fifty Six Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fifty Six Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fifty Six Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bonesteel Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bonesteel Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bonesteel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Morrison Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Morrison Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Morrison Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Forest Hill Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Forest Hills Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Forest Hills Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Forest Hills Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (477 more) ...
    • St. Jean Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Jean Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Jean Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Bethel Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bethel Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bethel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Martin Hayner Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)

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 Poestenkill had a population of 460 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • West Sand Lake
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Sand Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Sand Lake
    • West Sand Lake is located in Rensselaer County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for West Sand Lake <1>
  • Averill Park
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Averill Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Averill Park
    • Averill Park is located in Rensselaer County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Averill Park <1>
  • Sand Lake
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Eagle Mills
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eagle Mills have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle Mills
    • Eagle Mills is located in Rensselaer County
  • Cropseyville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cropseyville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cropseyville
    • Cropseyville is located in Rensselaer County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cropseyville <1>
  • Quackenkill
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Defreestville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Best
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Sliters
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Sliters. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sliters
    • Sliters is located in Rensselaer County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Sliters
    • From Poestenkill to Sliters
  • Haynersville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Haynersville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haynersville
    • Haynersville is located in Rensselaer County
  • Troy
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Luther
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • North Nassau
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Nassau have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Nassau
      • North Nassau is located in Rensselaer County
    • Grafton
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Green Island
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Green Island have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Island
      • Green Island is located in Albany County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,879 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Green Island <1>

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Poestenkill ...

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 312 newspapers that have been published in the area around Poestenkill.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Poestenkill. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Poestenkill and those printed in the larger area surrounding Poestenkill.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 14 miles [22.5 km]<6> of Poestenkill.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to 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 Poestenkill:

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

The official website for Rensselaer County: www.rensco.com/

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>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>If we found a location and have questions about the accuracy of our information, we will simply say that the marker is 'in the vicinity'. We are not confident about the location and the position of our marker is only a rough guide. If we have too many doubts about the location, we will not include it in our database.
<4>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.
<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 Poestenkill, 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 from Point A (ie- Poestenkill) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Poestenkill. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.6901, Longitude: -73.5644    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025