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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 Rockland (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 Rockland. 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 Rockland ...

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: Rock Land.

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 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.

Rockland is located in Sullivan 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 Sullivan County: Delaware, Orange, Ulster, Pike (PA) & Wayne (PA).

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

  • Sullivan County     (The home county of Rockland)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rockland, with the one closest to Rockland listed first.
    • Roscoe
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Deckertown
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deckertown
      • Deckertown is located in Sullivan County
    • Beaverkill
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Beaverkill. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaverkill
      • Beaverkill is located in Sullivan County
    • Livingston Manor
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Morsston
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morsston
      • Morsston is located in Sullivan County
    • Acidalia
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acidalia
      • Acidalia is located in Sullivan County
    • Parkston
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkston
      • Parkston is located in Sullivan County
    • Lew Beach
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lew Beach
      • Lew Beach is located in Sullivan County
    • Debruce
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Debruce. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Debruce
      • Debruce is located in Sullivan County
    • Youngsville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Parksville
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • North Branch
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for North Branch. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Branch
      • North Branch is located in Sullivan County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for North Branch <1>
    • Jeffersonville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jeffersonville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jeffersonville
      • Jeffersonville is located in Sullivan County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 336 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Jeffersonville <1>
  • Broome County
    • Deposit
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Deposit have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deposit
      • Deposit is located in Broome County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,510 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Deposit <1>
  • Delaware County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rockland, with the one closest to Rockland listed first.
    • Cooks Falls
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooks Falls
      • Cooks Falls is located in Delaware County
    • Butternut Grove
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Butternut Grove. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Butternut Grove
      • Butternut Grove is located in Delaware County
    • Horton
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horton
      • Horton is located in Delaware County
    • Chiloway
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Chiloway. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chiloway
      • Chiloway is located in Delaware County
    • Corbett
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corbett
      • Corbett is located in Delaware County
    • Gregorytown
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gregorytown
      • Gregorytown is located in Delaware County
    • Rock Valley
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Valley
      • Rock Valley is located in Delaware County
    • Peakville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Peakville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peakville
      • Peakville is located in Delaware County
    • Shinhopple
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Harvard
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Harvard. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harvard
      • Harvard is located in Delaware County
    • Pea Brook
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pea Brook
      • Pea Brook is located in Delaware County
    • Arena ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Arena. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arena
      • Arena is located in Delaware County
    • Hamden
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
  • Ulster County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rockland, with the one closest to Rockland listed first.
    • Belle Ayr
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Belle Ayr. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belle Ayr
      • Belle Ayr is located in Ulster County
    • Branch
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Branch. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Branch
      • Branch is located in Ulster County
    • Oliverea
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Highmount
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Pine Hill
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pine Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Hill
      • Pine Hill is located in Ulster County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pine Hill <1>
    • Big Indian
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Big Indian. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Indian
      • Big Indian is located in Ulster County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Big Indian <1>
    • Bushnellsville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bushnellsville
      • Bushnellsville is located in Ulster County
    • Shandaken
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Ellenville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Pike County (PA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rockland, with the one closest to Rockland listed first.
    • Masthope
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Masthope
      • Masthope is located in Pike County (PA)
    • Westcolang
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Westcolang. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westcolang
      • Westcolang is located in Pike County (PA)
  • Wayne County (PA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rockland, with the one closest to Rockland listed first.
    • Damascus
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Milanville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milanville
      • Milanville is located in Wayne County (PA)
    • High Lake
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for High Lake. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Lake
      • High Lake is located in Wayne County (PA)
    • Calkins
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Calkins. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calkins
      • Calkins is located in Wayne County (PA)
    • Boyds Mills
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Boyds Mills. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boyds Mills
      • Boyds Mills is located in Wayne County (PA)
    • Lakewood
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Siko
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Siko. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Siko
      • Siko is located in Wayne County (PA)
    • Sherman
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Sherman. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sherman
      • Sherman is located in Wayne County (PA)
    • Carley Brook
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Carley Brook. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carley Brook
      • Carley Brook is located in Wayne County (PA)
    • Dyberry
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dyberry
      • Dyberry is located in Wayne County (PA)
    • Tanners Falls
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Tanners Falls. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tanners Falls
      • Tanners Falls is located in Wayne County (PA)
    • Poyntelle
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Poyntelle. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poyntelle
      • Poyntelle is located in Wayne County (PA)
    • Laurella
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurella
      • Laurella is located in Wayne County (PA)

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

Cemeteries Near Rockland ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Rockland.

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

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

  • Bonaire Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bonaire Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bonaire Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Riverview Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Riverview Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Riverview Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Aloysius Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Aloysius Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Aloysius Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Cooks Falls Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Orchard Street Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Orchard Street Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Orchard Street Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Horton Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Horton Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Horton Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Agudas Achim Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Agudas Achim Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Agudas Achim Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Davidson Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Lew Beach Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • St. Mary's Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Mary's Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Mary's Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Gregorytown Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Gregorytown Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Gregorytown Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Rickard Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rickard Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rickard Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (170 more) ...
    • Rock Valley Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rock Valley Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rock Valley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Green Hill Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Green Hill Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Green Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Paige Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Paige Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Paige 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 Rockland had a population of 507 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service.

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

  • Roscoe
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Cooks Falls
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooks Falls
    • Cooks Falls is located in Delaware County
  • Beaverkill
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Beaverkill. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaverkill
    • Beaverkill is located in Sullivan County
  • Butternut Grove
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Butternut Grove. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Butternut Grove
    • Butternut Grove is located in Delaware County
  • Livingston Manor
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Horton
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horton
    • Horton is located in Delaware County
  • Acidalia
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acidalia
    • Acidalia is located in Sullivan County
  • Chiloway
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Chiloway. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chiloway
    • Chiloway is located in Delaware County
  • Lew Beach
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lew Beach
    • Lew Beach is located in Sullivan County
  • Obernburg
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Obernburg have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Obernburg
    • Obernburg is located in Sullivan County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Obernburg <1>
  • Goulds
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Goulds have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goulds
    • Goulds is located in Delaware County
  • Rock Valley
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Valley
    • Rock Valley is located in Delaware County
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Fremont Center
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fremont Center have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fremont Center
      • Fremont Center is located in Sullivan County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fremont Center <1>
    • Youngsville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Debruce
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Debruce. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Debruce
      • Debruce is located in Sullivan County

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

Newspapers Published in Rockland ...

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 65 newspapers that have been published in the area around Rockland.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Rockland, there are papers which were published within 22 miles [35.4 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Rockland.

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 Rockland:

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

The official website for Sullivan County: www.co.sullivan.ny.us/

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>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 Rockland, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Rockland) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Rockland. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.9454, Longitude: -74.9129       In this case, the coordinates for Rockland have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025