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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 Thorn Hill (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 Thorn Hill. 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 Thorn Hill ...

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: Thornhill.

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 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.

Thorn Hill is located in Onondaga 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 Onondaga County: Cayuga, Cortland, Madison & Oswego.

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

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

Cemeteries Near Thorn Hill ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Thorn Hill.

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

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

  • Amber Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Amber Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Amber Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Burtis Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Burtis Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Burtis Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Burns Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Burns Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Burns Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Borodino Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Borodino Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Borodino Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jackson Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Jackson Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Jackson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • McCauley Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Pine Ridge Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pine Ridge Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pine Ridge Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Fellows Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fellows Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fellows Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Farmyard Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Stanton Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Stanton Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Stanton Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • The West Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The West Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for The West Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Marcellus Village Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Marcellus Village Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Marcellus Village Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (475 more) ...
    • Old Marcellus Village Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • St. Francis Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Francis Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Francis Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Lakeview Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lakeview Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lakeview 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.<6>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Thorn Hill had a population of 48 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Rose Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Rose Hill. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rose Hill
    • Rose Hill is located in Onondaga County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Rose Hill
    • From Thorn Hill to Rose Hill
  • Marietta
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Marietta have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marietta
    • Marietta is located in Onondaga County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Marietta <2>
  • Shamrock
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shamrock have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shamrock
    • Shamrock is located in Onondaga County
  • Borodino
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Borodino have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Borodino
    • Borodino is located in Onondaga County
  • Amber
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Amber have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amber
    • Amber is located in Onondaga County
  • Mandana
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Navarino
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Navarino have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Navarino
    • Navarino is located in Onondaga County
  • Niles
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Marcellus
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Skaneateles
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Skaneateles have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skaneateles
    • Skaneateles is located in Onondaga County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,465 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Skaneateles <2>
  • Owasco
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Owasco have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Owasco
    • Owasco is located in Cayuga County
  • New Hope
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Otisco
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • South Onondaga
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Onondaga have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Onondaga
      • South Onondaga is located in Onondaga County
    • Cedarvale
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cedarvale have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedarvale
      • Cedarvale is located in Onondaga County

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

Newspapers Published in Thorn Hill ...

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 152 newspapers that have been published in the area around Thorn Hill.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Thorn Hill, there are papers which were published within 14 miles [22.5 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Thorn Hill.

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 Thorn Hill:

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

The official website for Onondaga County: www.ongov.net/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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>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 from Point A (ie- Thorn Hill) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Thorn Hill. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.8979, Longitude: -76.3412       In this case, the coordinates for Thorn Hill have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<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 Thorn Hill, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025