RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of New York >> Rensselaer County >> Sand Lake >> Genealogy HelperIndex...










Learn About
The Commemorative
Quarter for
New York

The Commemorative Quarter for New York





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 Sand Lake (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 Sand Lake. 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 Sand Lake ...

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.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Sand Lake: Sand Lk.

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 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.

Sand Lake 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 Sand Lake. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Sand Lake:

  • Rensselaer County     (The home county of Sand Lake)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sand Lake, with the one closest to Sand Lake listed first.
    • Averill Park
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Averill Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
    • Poestenkill
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • West Sand Lake
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Sand Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
    • Sliters
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • 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.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sliters
      • Sliters is located in Rensselaer County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Sliters
      • From Sand Lake to Sliters
    • Hoag Corners
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • West Stephentown
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Best
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Brunswick
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Wyantskill
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wyantskill came from an uncertain source and they still need to be verified:<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyantskill
      • Wyantskill is located in Rensselaer County
    • Wynantskill
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wynantskill have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
    • Luther
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Albia
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Albany County
  • Columbia County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sand Lake, with the one closest to Sand Lake listed first.
    • Riders Mills
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • New Britain ‑ Historic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Niverville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Niverville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Niverville
      • Niverville is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Niverville <2>
    • Chatham Center
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Canaan
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • New Concord
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Rock City
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rock City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock City
      • Rock City is located in Columbia County
    • Valatie
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Canaan Center
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Kinderhook
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Chatham
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chatham have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chatham
      • Chatham is located in Columbia County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,623 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Chatham <2>
    • Moorhouse Corner
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
  • Greene County
  • Saratoga County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sand Lake, with the one closest to Sand Lake listed first.
    • Waterford
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Halfmoon Beach
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Halfmoon
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Mechanicville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Clifton Park
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clifton Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clifton Park
      • Clifton Park is located in Saratoga County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clifton Park <2>
    • Stillwater
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Willow Glen
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Coons
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Coons. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coons
      • Coons is located in Saratoga County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Coons
      • From Sand Lake to Coons
    • Elnora
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Elnora. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elnora
      • Elnora is located in Saratoga County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Elnora
      • From Sand Lake to Elnora
    • Country Knolls
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Country Knolls have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Country Knolls
      • Country Knolls is located in Saratoga County
    • Jonesville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Round Lake
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Round Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Round Lake
      • Round Lake is located in Saratoga County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 793 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Round Lake <2>
  • Schenectady County
  • Washington County
  • Berkshire County (MA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sand Lake, with the one closest to Sand Lake listed first.
    • Hancock
      (12 miles [19.3 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.<3>
      • 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 Sand Lake to Hancock
    • New Ashford
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Ashford have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Williamstown have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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
    • Lanesborough
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lanesborough have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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
    • Shaker Village
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shaker Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shaker Village
      • Shaker Village is located in Berkshire County (MA)
    • Cheshire
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Farnams
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • 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.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farnams
      • Farnams is located in Berkshire County (MA)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Farnams
      • From Sand Lake to Farnams
    • Berkshire
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Berkshire have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berkshire
      • Berkshire is located in Berkshire County (MA)
    • Pittsfield
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Stevens Corner
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • 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.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greylock
      • Greylock is located in Berkshire County (MA)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Greylock
      • From Sand Lake to Greylock
    • Coltsville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Coltsville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coltsville
      • Coltsville is located in Berkshire County (MA)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Coltsville
      • From Sand Lake to Coltsville
  • Franklin County (MA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sand Lake, with the one closest to Sand Lake listed first.
    • Monroe
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Monroe have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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
    • Monroe Bridge
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Monroe Bridge have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monroe Bridge
      • Monroe Bridge is located in Franklin County (MA)
  • Bennington County (VT)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sand Lake, with the one closest to Sand Lake listed first.
    • Pownal Center
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Pownal
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pownal have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bennington have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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
    • Old Bennington
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Old Bennington have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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
    • Bennington
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Paper Mill Village
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Paper Mill Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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)
    • Stamford
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • North Bennington
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Stamford
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stamford have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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
    • South Shaftsbury
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Woodford Hollow
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Woodford
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Woodford have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 Sand Lake, see our County-by-County Page for Sand Lake.

Cemeteries Near Sand Lake ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Sand Lake.

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

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

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.<6>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Sand Lake had a population of 781 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Averill Park
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Averill Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
  • Poestenkill
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • West Sand Lake
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Sand Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
  • Sliters
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • 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.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sliters
    • Sliters is located in Rensselaer County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Sliters
    • From Sand Lake to Sliters
  • North Nassau
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Nassau have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Nassau
    • North Nassau is located in Rensselaer County
  • Best
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Hoag Corners
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • West Stephentown
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Luther
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • East Schodack
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • East Nassau
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Nassau have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Nassau
    • East Nassau is located in Rensselaer County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 566 people
  • Eagle Mills
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eagle Mills have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle Mills
    • Eagle Mills is located in Rensselaer County
  • Continue List   (20 more) ...
    • Cropseyville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cropseyville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
    • Defreestville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Schodack Center
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Sand Lake ...

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 351 newspapers that have been published in the area around Sand Lake.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Sand Lake. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Sand Lake and those printed in the larger area surrounding Sand Lake.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 16 miles [25.7 km]<7> of Sand Lake.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 Sand Lake:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Sand Lake. 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>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<4>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.
<5>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.
<6>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 Sand Lake, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<7>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Sand Lake) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Sand Lake. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.6375, Longitude: -73.5407    









 

Copyright 2025
All Rights Reserved

Thank you for visiting our website.

In closing, please keep in mind that we can not guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of the information on this website, so use with care. We encourage you to double-check the information that is critical to you.

If you've found an error or have additional information that you would like to share, please don't hesitate to write: Click here to contact us.

This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025