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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 Urbana (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 Urbana. 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 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.

Urbana is located in Steuben 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 Steuben County: Allegany, Chemung, Livingston, Ontario, Schuyler, Yates, Potter (PA) & Tioga (PA).

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

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

Cemeteries Near Urbana ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Urbana.

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

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

  • Chestnut Grove Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Chestnut Grove Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Chestnut Grove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Shuart Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Jacobus Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Depew Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Depew Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Depew Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Elmwood Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Elmwood Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Elmwood Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • McDowell Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the McDowell Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the McDowell Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Free Baptist Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Free Baptist Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Free Baptist Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Gobel Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Gobel Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Gobel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Thomas Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Thomas Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Thomas Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Pleasant Valley Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Glenview Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Mitchellsville Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mitchellsville Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mitchellsville Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (396 more) ...
    • Mt. Washington Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Washington Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Washington Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Bradford Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bradford Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bradford Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Tyrone Union Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Tyrone Union Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Tyrone Union 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.<5>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Urbana had a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Grove Springs
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grove Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grove Springs
    • Grove Springs is located in Steuben County
  • North Urbana
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Urbana have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Urbana
    • North Urbana is located in Steuben County
  • Hammondsport
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Wayne
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Keuka
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Keuka. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keuka
    • Keuka is located in Steuben County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Keuka
    • From Urbana to Keuka
  • Catawba
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Catawba have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Catawba
    • Catawba is located in Steuben County
  • South Pulteney
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Pulteney have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Pulteney
    • South Pulteney is located in Steuben County
  • Pulteney
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pulteney have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pulteney
    • Pulteney is located in Steuben County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pulteney <2>
  • Rheims
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rheims have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rheims
    • Rheims is located in Steuben County
  • Pleasant Valley
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Weston
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Weston have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weston
    • Weston is located in Schuyler County
  • Mitchellsville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (18 more) ...
    • Hermitage
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hermitage. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hermitage
      • Hermitage is located in Steuben County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Hermitage
      • From Urbana to Hermitage
    • Bradford
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Crystal Spring
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crystal Spring have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Spring
      • Crystal Spring is located in Yates County

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

Newspapers Published in Urbana ...

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 71 newspapers that have been published in the area around Urbana.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Urbana, there are papers which were published within 21 miles [33.8 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Urbana.

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 Urbana:

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

The official website for Steuben County: www.steubencony.org/

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>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.
<5>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 Urbana, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Urbana) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Urbana. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.4546, Longitude: -77.1807    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025