RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of New York >> Richmond County >> Staten Island >> 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 Staten Island (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 Staten Island. 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 Staten Island ...

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 Staten Island: Staten Is. (in Canada, 'Isld.' is the more common abbreviation.)

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.

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Staten Island ...

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 87 newspapers that have been published in the area around Staten Island.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Staten Island. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Staten Island and those printed in the larger area surrounding Staten Island.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> of Staten Island.

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 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 Staten Island:

Cemeteries Near Staten Island ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Staten Island.

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

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

  • Fairview Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Vanderbilt Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Vanderbilt Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Vanderbilt Cemetery
  • Moravian Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Woodland Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Woodland Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Woodland Cemetery
  • St. Peters Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Peters Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Peters Cemetery
  • Lake Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Baron Hirsch Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Merrill Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Merrill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Merrill Cemetery
  • United Hebrew Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Mt. Richmond Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Richmond Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Richmond Cemetery
  • St. Marys Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Marys Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Marys Cemetery
  • St. Marys Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Marys Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Marys Cemetery
  • Continue List   (448 more) ...
    • Silver Lake Cemetery
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Silver Lake Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Silver Lake Cemetery
    • Silver Mount Cemetery
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Sailors Snug Harbor Cemetery
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sailors Snug Harbor Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sailors Snug Harbor Cemetery

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.<4>

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

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

  • Elm Park
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elm Park have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elm Park
    • Elm Park is located in Richmond County
  • Port Richmond
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Port Richmond have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Port Richmond
    • Port Richmond is located in Richmond County
  • Bergen Point
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bergen Point have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bergen Point
    • Bergen Point is located in Hudson County (NJ)
  • Richmond
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Richmond have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richmond
    • Richmond is located in Richmond County
  • New Dorp
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Dorp have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Dorp
    • New Dorp is located in Richmond County
  • Grasmere
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grasmere have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grasmere
    • Grasmere is located in Richmond County
  • Clifton
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clifton have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clifton
    • Clifton is located in Richmond County
  • West New Brighton
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West New Brighton have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West New Brighton
    • West New Brighton is located in Richmond County
  • Mariners Harbor
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mariners Harbor have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mariners Harbor
    • Mariners Harbor is located in Richmond County
  • Arlington
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Arlington have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arlington
    • Arlington is located in Richmond County
  • Greenridge
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Greenridge have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenridge
    • Greenridge is located in Richmond County
  • Great Kills
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Great Kills have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Great Kills
    • Great Kills is located in Richmond County
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Oakwood
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakwood
      • Oakwood is located in Richmond County
    • Arrochar
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Arrochar have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arrochar
      • Arrochar is located in Richmond County
    • Fort Wadsworth
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fort Wadsworth have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Wadsworth
      • Fort Wadsworth is located in Richmond County

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

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

The official website for State of New York: https://www.ny.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>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- Staten Island) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Staten Island. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.6079, Longitude: -74.1314    
<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>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>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 Staten Island, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

Copyright 2024
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: 07 Apr 2024