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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 Waterford (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 Waterford. 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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors were in the next county to the west. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the county to the north.

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 north 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.

Waterford is located in Saratoga 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 Saratoga County: Albany, Fulton, Hamilton, Rensselaer, Schenectady, Warren & Washington.

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

  • Saratoga County     (The home county of Waterford)
  • Albany County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Waterford, with the one closest to Waterford listed first.
    • Cohoes
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Green Island
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Green Island have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Island
      • Green Island is located in Albany County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,879 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Green Island <1>
    • Watervliet
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Latham
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Newtonville
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Menands
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Loudonville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Loudonville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loudonville
      • Loudonville is located in Albany County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Loudonville <1>
    • West Albany
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Colonie
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Colonie have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colonie
      • Colonie is located in Albany County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,564 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Colonie <1>
    • Roessleville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Roessleville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roessleville
      • Roessleville is located in Albany County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Roessleville <1>
    • Albany
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Lisha Kill
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Lisha Kill. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lisha Kill
      • Lisha Kill is located in Albany County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Lisha Kill
      • From Waterford to Lisha Kill
  • Columbia County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Waterford, with the one closest to Waterford listed first.
    • Riders Mills
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Niverville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Niverville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Niverville
      • Niverville is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Niverville <1>
    • New Britain ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Chatham Center
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Valatie
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Kinderhook
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Rock City
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rock City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock City
      • Rock City is located in Columbia County
    • New Concord
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Canaan
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Chatham
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chatham have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chatham
      • Chatham is located in Columbia County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,623 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Chatham <1>
    • Moorhouse Corner
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
    • Canaan Center
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Fulton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Waterford, with the one closest to Waterford listed first.
    • Mills Corners
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Perth
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Union Mills
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Greene County
  • Montgomery County
  • Rensselaer County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Waterford, with the one closest to Waterford listed first.
    • Pleasantdale
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Lansingburgh
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Sycaway
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Troy
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Albia
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Wynantskill
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wynantskill have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wynantskill
      • Wynantskill is located in Rensselaer County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wynantskill <1>
    • Brunswick
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Raymertown
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Wyantskill
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wyantskill came from an uncertain source and they still need to be verified:<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyantskill
      • Wyantskill is located in Rensselaer County
    • Quackenkill
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Schaghticoke
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Schaghticoke have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Schaghticoke
      • Schaghticoke is located in Rensselaer County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 573 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Schaghticoke <1>
    • Defreestville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Schenectady County
  • Schoharie County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Waterford, with the one closest to Waterford listed first.
    • Esperance
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Esperance have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Esperance
      • Esperance is located in Schoharie County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 326 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Esperance <1>
    • Gallupville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Washington County
  • Berkshire County (MA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Waterford, with the one closest to Waterford listed first.
    • Williamstown
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Williamstown have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williamstown
      • Williamstown is located in Berkshire County (MA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,631 people
    • Hancock
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hancock. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hancock
      • Hancock is located in Berkshire County (MA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 695 people
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Hancock
      • From Waterford to Hancock
    • New Ashford
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Ashford have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Ashford
      • New Ashford is located in Berkshire County (MA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 223 people
    • Greylock
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Greylock. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greylock
      • Greylock is located in Berkshire County (MA)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Greylock
      • From Waterford to Greylock
    • North Adams
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Lanesborough
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lanesborough have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lanesborough
      • Lanesborough is located in Berkshire County (MA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,925 people
    • Adams
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
    • Renfrew
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Renfrew. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Renfrew
      • Renfrew is located in Berkshire County (MA)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Renfrew
      • From Waterford to Renfrew
    • Cheshire
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Farnams
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Farnams. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farnams
      • Farnams is located in Berkshire County (MA)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Farnams
      • From Waterford to Farnams
    • Shaker Village
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shaker Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shaker Village
      • Shaker Village is located in Berkshire County (MA)
    • Town Crest Village
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Town Crest Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Town Crest Village
      • Town Crest Village is located in Berkshire County (MA)
  • Bennington County (VT)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Waterford, with the one closest to Waterford listed first.
    • Paper Mill Village
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Paper Mill Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paper Mill Village
      • Paper Mill Village is located in Bennington County (VT)
    • Pownal Center
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Pownal
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pownal have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pownal
      • Pownal is located in Bennington County (VT)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,386 people
    • Bennington
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bennington have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bennington
      • Bennington is located in Bennington County (VT)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 14,897 people
    • Old Bennington
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Old Bennington have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Bennington
      • Old Bennington is located in Bennington County (VT)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 128 people
    • North Bennington
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Bennington
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • South Shaftsbury
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Shaftsbury
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shaftsbury have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shaftsbury
      • Shaftsbury is located in Bennington County (VT)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,411 people
    • Woodford Hollow
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Shaftsbury
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Stamford
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stamford have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stamford
      • Stamford is located in Bennington County (VT)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 809 people

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

Cemeteries Near Waterford ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Waterford.

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

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

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.<7>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Waterford had a population of 3,523 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Waterford had a population of 2,281 people.

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

  • Lansingburgh
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Cohoes
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Green Island
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Green Island have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Island
    • Green Island is located in Albany County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,879 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Green Island <1>
  • Halfmoon
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Crescent
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crescent have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crescent
    • Crescent is located in Saratoga County
  • Dunsbach Ferry
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dunsbach Ferry have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunsbach Ferry
    • Dunsbach Ferry is located in Albany County
  • Watervliet
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Troy
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Melrose
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Melrose have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melrose
    • Melrose is located in Rensselaer County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Melrose <1>
  • Eagle Mills
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eagle Mills have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle Mills
    • Eagle Mills is located in Rensselaer County
  • Haynersville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Haynersville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haynersville
    • Haynersville is located in Rensselaer County
  • Newtonville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Cropseyville
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cropseyville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cropseyville
      • Cropseyville is located in Rensselaer County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cropseyville <1>
    • Reynolds
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Reynolds have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reynolds
      • Reynolds is located in Rensselaer County
    • Shakers
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shakers have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shakers
      • Shakers is located in Albany County

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Waterford ...

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 86 newspapers that have been published in the area around Waterford.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Waterford. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Waterford and those printed in the larger area surrounding Waterford.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 13 miles [20.9 km]<6> of Waterford.

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 professional and volunteer 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 Waterford:

The official website for Waterford: www.waterfordny.org/

The official website for Saratoga County: www.co.saratoga.ny.us/

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

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 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.
<3>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.
<4>If we found a location and have questions about the accuracy of our information, we will simply say that the marker is 'in the vicinity'. We are not confident about the location and the position of our marker is only a rough guide. If we have too many doubts about the location, we will not include it in our database.
<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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Waterford) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Waterford. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.7902, Longitude: -73.6783    
<7>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 Waterford, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025