RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of New York >> Suffolk County >> Selden >> Genealogy HelperIndex...

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 Selden (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 Selden. 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.

Selden is located in Suffolk County.

To see how the shape of New York's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

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

  • Suffolk County     (The home county of Selden)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Selden, with the one closest to Selden listed first.
    • Coram
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Farmingville
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Gordon Heights
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Gordon Heights is located in Suffolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gordon Heights
    • Terryville
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Terryville is located in Suffolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Terryville
    • Holtsville
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Medford
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Centereach
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Port Jefferson Station
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Holbrook
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Lake Grove
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Middle Island
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Mount Sinai
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Lake Ronkonkoma
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Nassau County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Selden, with the one closest to Selden listed first.
    • Laurel Hollow
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Laurel Hollow is located in Nassau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurel Hollow
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,027 people
    • Old Bethpage
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Woodbury
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Farmingdale
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • South Farmingdale
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • South Farmingdale is located in Nassau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Farmingdale
    • Plainview
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • East Massapequa
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • East Massapequa is located in Nassau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Massapequa
    • Bethpage
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Cove Neck
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Cove Neck is located in Nassau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cove Neck
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 299 people
    • Oyster Bay Cove
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Oyster Bay Cove is located in Nassau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oyster Bay Cove
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,243 people
    • Swedetown Village
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Swedetown Village is located in Nassau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swedetown Village
    • Syosset
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Centre Island
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Centre Island is located in Nassau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centre Island
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 404 people
  • Fairfield County (CT)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Selden, with the one closest to Selden listed first.
    • Stratford
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Black Rock
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Black Rock is located in Fairfield County (CT)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Rock
    • Fairfield
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Southport
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Bridgeport
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Bridgeport is located in Fairfield County (CT)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bridgeport
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 143,525 people
    • Bridgeport
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Bridgeport is located in Fairfield County (CT)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bridgeport
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 143,525 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bridgeport <1>
    • Stratford
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Stratford is located in Fairfield County (CT)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stratford
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 51,660 people
    • Compo
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Compo is located in Fairfield County (CT)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Compo
    • Greens Farms
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Fairfield
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Fairfield is located in Fairfield County (CT)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairfield
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 62,215 people
    • Melville Village
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Melville Village is located in Fairfield County (CT)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melville Village
    • Saugatuck
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Saugatuck is located in Fairfield County (CT)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saugatuck
    • Westport
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Westport is located in Fairfield County (CT)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westport
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 28,444 people
  • New Haven County (CT)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Selden, with the one closest to Selden listed first.
    • Milford
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Milford is located in New Haven County (CT)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milford
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 54,781 people
    • Milford
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Milford is located in New Haven County (CT)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milford
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 53,259 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Milford <1>
    • Orange
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Orange is located in New Haven County (CT)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orange
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 13,882 people
    • Orange
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Short Beach
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Short Beach is located in New Haven County (CT)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Short Beach
    • West Haven
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • West Haven is located in New Haven County (CT)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Haven
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 54,367 people
    • West Haven
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • East Haven
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Allingtown
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
    • Branford
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
    • East Haven
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • East Haven is located in New Haven County (CT)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Haven
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 28,454 people
    • Branford
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Branford is located in New Haven County (CT)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Branford
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 27,736 people
    • Pine Orchard
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Pine Orchard is located in New Haven County (CT)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Orchard

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

Cemeteries Near Selden ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Selden.

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 Selden - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Union Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Roe Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Old Coram Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Coram Village Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Johah Smith Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • The Old Catholic Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Old Catholic Cemetery
    • The Old Catholic Cemetery has also been known as:
    • The Old Middle Country Road Cemetery
  • Holy Sepulchre Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Elijah Davis Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Cenacle Convent Graveyard
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Waverly Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Methodist Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Union Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (264 more) ...
    • New Village Congregation Church Cemetery
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Newton Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • UMC Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for UMC Cemetery
      • The UMC Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Lake Ronkonkoma Cemetery
      • Methodist Church Cemetery
      • Methodist Episcopal Church Cemetery
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #65037 <2>

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.<3>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Selden had a population of 90 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Coram
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Holtsville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Medford
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Terryville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Terryville is located in Suffolk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Terryville
  • Holbrook
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Lake Grove
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Port Jefferson
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Middle Island
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Mount Sinai
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Ronkonkoma
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Yaphank
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • East Setauket
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • 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 Selden. See our List of 1890's Communities around Selden.

Newspapers Published in Selden ...

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 184 newspapers that have been published in the area around Selden.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Selden, there are papers which were published within 19 miles [30.6 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Selden.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These websites either 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 Selden:

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 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.
<3>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 Selden, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Selden) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.