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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 Sound Beach (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 Sound Beach. 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 Sound Beach ...

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 occur.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Sound Beach: Sound Bch.

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Sound Beach. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Sound Beach.

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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

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

  • Suffolk County     (The home county of Sound Beach)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sound Beach, with the one closest to Sound Beach listed first.
    • Miller Place
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Rocky Point
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Shoreham
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Mount Sinai
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • East Shoreham
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • East Shoreham is located in Suffolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Shoreham
    • Port Jefferson Station
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Middle Island
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Ridge
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Ridge is located in Suffolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridge
    • Belle Terre
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Belle Terre is located in Suffolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belle Terre
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 785 people
    • Port Jefferson
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Coram
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Gordon Heights
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Gordon Heights is located in Suffolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gordon Heights
  • Nassau County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sound Beach, with the one closest to Sound Beach listed first.
    • Laurel Hollow
      (27 miles [43.5 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
    • Woodbury
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Old Bethpage
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Plainview
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Cove Neck
      (28 miles [45.1 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
      (28 miles [45.1 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
    • Farmingdale
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • South Farmingdale
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • South Farmingdale is located in Nassau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Farmingdale
    • Swedetown Village
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Swedetown Village is located in Nassau County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swedetown Village
    • Centre Island
      (29 miles [46.7 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
    • Syosset
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Bethpage
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Fairfield County (CT)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sound Beach, with the one closest to Sound Beach listed first.
    • Stratford
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Black Rock
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Black Rock is located in Fairfield County (CT)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Rock
    • Bridgeport
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Bridgeport is located in Fairfield County (CT)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bridgeport
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 143,525 people
    • Bridgeport
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • 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>
    • Fairfield
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Stratford
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Stratford is located in Fairfield County (CT)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stratford
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 51,660 people
    • Southport
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Oronoque
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Oronoque is located in Fairfield County (CT)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oronoque
    • Fairfield
      (21 miles [33.8 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
    • Greens Farms
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Melville Village
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Melville Village is located in Fairfield County (CT)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melville Village
    • Compo
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Compo is located in Fairfield County (CT)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Compo
  • New Haven County (CT)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sound Beach, with the one closest to Sound Beach listed first.
    • Milford
      (19 miles [30.6 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
      (19 miles [30.6 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>
    • Short Beach
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Short Beach is located in New Haven County (CT)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Short Beach
    • West Haven
      (21 miles [33.8 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
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Orange
      (22 miles [35.4 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
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Allingtown
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Branford
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Branford is located in New Haven County (CT)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Branford
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 27,736 people
    • Branford
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • East Haven
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Pine Orchard
      (23 miles [37 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 Sound Beach, see our County-by-County Page for Sound Beach.

Cemeteries Near Sound Beach ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Sound Beach.

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 Sound Beach - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Noah Hallock Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Washington Memorial Park
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Cedar Hill Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Elijah Davis Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Methodist Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Union Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Johah Smith Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • The Old Catholic Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • 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
  • Coram Village Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Old Coram Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Longwood Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Olivers Hill Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (308 more) ...
    • Wading River Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • St. James Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Nassakeage - Hawkins Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)

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.<2>

While we didn't find Sound Beach in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Sound Beach.

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

  • Rocky Point
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Mount Sinai
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Middle Island
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Port Jefferson
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Terryville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Terryville is located in Suffolk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Terryville
  • Coram
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Wading River
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Selden
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Setauket
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • East Setauket
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Yaphank
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Stony Brook
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Medford
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Lake Grove
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Holtsville
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)

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

Newspapers Published in Sound Beach ...

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 188 newspapers that have been published in the area around Sound Beach.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Sound Beach, there are papers which were published within 19 miles [30.6 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Sound Beach.

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 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 Sound Beach:

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>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 Sound Beach, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Sound Beach) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.