RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of New York >> Saint Lawrence County >> West Potsdam >> 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 West Potsdam (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 West Potsdam. 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 West Potsdam ...

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 West Potsdam: W. Potsdam

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.

West Potsdam is located in Saint Lawrence 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 Saint Lawrence County: Franklin, Hamilton, Herkimer, Jefferson & Lewis.

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

  • Saint Lawrence County     (The home county of West Potsdam)
    • The following are listed by their distance from West Potsdam, with the one closest to West Potsdam listed first.
    • Slab City
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Slab City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slab City
      • Slab City is located in Saint Lawrence County
    • Madrid Springs
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Madrid Springs. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Madrid Springs
      • Madrid Springs is located in Saint Lawrence County
    • Potsdam
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Potsdam
      • Potsdam is located in Saint Lawrence County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,796 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Potsdam <3>
    • Sisson
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Sisson. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sisson
      • Sisson is located in Saint Lawrence County
    • Norwood
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norwood
      • Norwood is located in Saint Lawrence County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,550 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Norwood <3>
    • Hannawa Falls
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Canton
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canton
      • Canton is located in Saint Lawrence County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,482 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Canton <3>
    • Coney Island
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Coney Island. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coney Island
      • Coney Island is located in Saint Lawrence County
    • West Parishville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Parishville
      • West Parishville is located in Saint Lawrence County
    • Sandfordville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandfordville
      • Sandfordville is located in Saint Lawrence County
    • Norfolk
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Norfolk have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norfolk
      • Norfolk is located in Saint Lawrence County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Norfolk <3>
    • North Stockholm
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Stockholm
      • North Stockholm is located in Saint Lawrence County
  • Franklin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from West Potsdam, with the one closest to West Potsdam listed first.
    • Alburg
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alburg
      • Alburg is located in Franklin County
    • Saint Regis Falls
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Moira
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Hogansburg
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hogansburg. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hogansburg
      • Hogansburg is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hogansburg <3>
    • Brushton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • East Dickinson
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Dickinson
      • East Dickinson is located in Franklin County
    • Bombay
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)

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

Cemeteries Near West Potsdam ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of West Potsdam.

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

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

  • West Potsdam Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the West Potsdam Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the West Potsdam Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • South Potsdam Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the South Potsdam Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the South Potsdam Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. James Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. James Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. James Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Doran Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Doran Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Doran Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Morley Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Morley Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Morley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Trinity Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Trinity Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Trinity Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Olin Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Olin Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Olin Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Leet Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Leet Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Leet Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Madrid Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Bayside Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Union Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Union Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Union Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Riverside Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Riverside Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Riverside Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (160 more) ...
    • Haskell Ridge Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Haskell Ridge Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Haskell Ridge Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • St. Marys Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Marys Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Marys Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Bridge Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bridge Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bridge Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 West Potsdam had a population of 72 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Bucks Bridge
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bucks Bridge have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bucks Bridge
    • Bucks Bridge is located in Saint Lawrence County
  • Madrid
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Madrid have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Madrid
    • Madrid is located in Saint Lawrence County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Madrid <3>
  • Madrid Springs
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Madrid Springs. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Madrid Springs
    • Madrid Springs is located in Saint Lawrence County
  • Morley
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Morley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morley
    • Morley is located in Saint Lawrence County
  • Potsdam
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Potsdam
    • Potsdam is located in Saint Lawrence County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,796 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Potsdam <3>
  • Sisson
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Sisson. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sisson
    • Sisson is located in Saint Lawrence County
  • Norwood
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norwood
    • Norwood is located in Saint Lawrence County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,550 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Norwood <3>
  • Canton
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canton
    • Canton is located in Saint Lawrence County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,482 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Canton <3>
  • Crary Mills
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crary Mills have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crary Mills
    • Crary Mills is located in Saint Lawrence County
  • Hannawa Falls
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • West Parishville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Parishville
    • West Parishville is located in Saint Lawrence County
  • West Stockholm
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...
    • North Stockholm
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Stockholm
      • North Stockholm is located in Saint Lawrence County
    • Norfolk
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Norfolk have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norfolk
      • Norfolk is located in Saint Lawrence County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Norfolk <3>
    • Pierrepont
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pierrepont
      • Pierrepont is located in Saint Lawrence County

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

Newspapers Published in West Potsdam ...

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 50 newspapers that have been published in the area around West Potsdam.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of West Potsdam, there are papers which were published within 23 miles [37 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for West Potsdam.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to 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 West Potsdam:

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

The official website for Saint Lawrence County: www.co.st-lawrence.ny.us/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>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.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 West Potsdam, 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' (or 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- West Potsdam) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in West Potsdam. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.6870, Longitude: -75.0896       In this case, the coordinates for West Potsdam have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

Copyright 2025
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: 29 Apr 2025