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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 West Sayville (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 Sayville. 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 Sayville ...

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 Sayville: W. Sayville

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 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 Sayville is located in Suffolk County.

To see how the shape of New York's counties have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

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

  • Suffolk County     (The home county of West Sayville)
    • The following are listed by their distance from West Sayville, with the one closest to West Sayville listed first.
    • Sayville
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Bayport
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Bohemia
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Oakdale
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oakdale have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakdale
      • Oakdale is located in Suffolk County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oakdale <1>
    • Blue Point
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Great River
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Great River have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Great River
      • Great River is located in Suffolk County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Great River <1>
    • Patchogue
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • East Islip
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Islip
      • East Islip is located in Suffolk County
    • North Great River
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Great River have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Great River
      • North Great River is located in Suffolk County
    • Holbrook
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Holbrook have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holbrook
      • Holbrook is located in Suffolk County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Holbrook <1>
    • East Patchogue
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Patchogue have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Patchogue
      • East Patchogue is located in Suffolk County
    • Islip Terrace
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Islip Terrace have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Islip Terrace
      • Islip Terrace is located in Suffolk County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Islip Terrace <1>
    • Islip
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Nassau County
    • The following are listed by their distance from West Sayville, with the one closest to West Sayville listed first.
    • South Farmingdale
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Farmingdale have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Farmingdale
      • South Farmingdale is located in Nassau County
    • East Massapequa
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Massapequa have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Massapequa
      • East Massapequa is located in Nassau County
    • Farmingdale
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Massapequa Park
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Massapequa Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Massapequa Park
      • Massapequa Park is located in Nassau County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 17,034 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Massapequa Park <1>
    • Old Bethpage
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Old Bethpage have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Bethpage
      • Old Bethpage is located in Nassau County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Old Bethpage <1>
    • Biltmore Shores
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Biltmore Shores
      • Biltmore Shores is located in Nassau County
    • Harbor Green
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harbor Green
      • Harbor Green is located in Nassau County
    • Massapequa
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • North Massapequa
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Massapequa have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Massapequa
      • North Massapequa is located in Nassau County
    • Plainview
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Plainview have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plainview
      • Plainview is located in Nassau County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Plainview <1>
    • Bethpage
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Plainedge
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plainedge
      • Plainedge is located in Nassau County
    • Seaford
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Seaford have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seaford
      • Seaford is located in Nassau County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Seaford <1>
  • Fairfield County (CT)
    • The following are listed by their distance from West Sayville, with the one closest to West Sayville listed first.
    • Fairfield
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Southport
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Compo
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Compo
      • Compo is located in Fairfield County (CT)
    • Darien
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Darien have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Darien
      • Darien is located in Fairfield County (CT)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 21,693 people
    • Greens Farms
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Greens Farms have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greens Farms
      • Greens Farms is located in Fairfield County (CT)
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Greens Farms <1>
    • Rowayton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rowayton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rowayton
      • Rowayton is located in Fairfield County (CT)
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rowayton <1>
    • Black Rock
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Rock
      • Black Rock is located in Fairfield County (CT)
    • Darien
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
    • East Norwalk
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Norwalk
      • East Norwalk is located in Fairfield County (CT)
    • Noroton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Noroton
      • Noroton is located in Fairfield County (CT)
    • Norwalk
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Norwalk have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norwalk
      • Norwalk is located in Fairfield County (CT)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 88,655 people
    • Shippan Point
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shippan Point
      • Shippan Point is located in Fairfield County (CT)
    • South Norwalk
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Norwalk
      • South Norwalk is located in Fairfield County (CT)

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

Newspapers Published in West Sayville ...

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 195 newspapers that have been published in the area around West Sayville.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of West Sayville, there are papers which were published within 18 miles [29 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for West Sayville.

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 West Sayville:

Cemeteries Near West Sayville ...

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

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

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

  • St. Ann's Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Ann's Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Ann's Cemetery
  • Union Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • St. Lawrence Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Lawrence Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Lawrence Cemetery
  • Bohemia Union Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • St. John Nepomucene RC Church Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. John Nepomucene RC Church Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. John Nepomucene RC Church Cemetery
  • Blue Point Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Blue Point Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Blue Point Cemetery
  • Rice Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rice Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rice Cemetery
  • Lakeview Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lakeview Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lakeview Cemetery
  • St. de Sales Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Cedar Grove Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Patchogue Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Patchogue Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Patchogue Cemetery
  • Old Central Islip Psychiatric Center Patient Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (172 more) ...
    • Waverly Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Waverly Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Waverly Cemetery
    • Cenacle Convent Graveyard
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cenacle Convent Graveyard have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cenacle Convent Graveyard
    • St. Johns Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Johns Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Johns 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.<5>

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

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

  • Sayville
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Bohemia
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Bayport
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Blue Point
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Great River
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Great River have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Great River
    • Great River is located in Suffolk County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Great River <1>
  • Patchogue
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Ronkonkoma
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • East Patchogue
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Patchogue have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Patchogue
    • East Patchogue is located in Suffolk County
  • Holbrook
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Holbrook have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holbrook
    • Holbrook is located in Suffolk County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Holbrook <1>
  • Islip
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Fire Island
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fire Island have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fire Island
    • Fire Island is located in Suffolk County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fire Island <1>
  • Holtsville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Central Islip
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Bay Shore
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Bellport
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bellport have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellport
      • Bellport is located in Suffolk County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,040 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bellport <1>

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

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

The official website for Suffolk County: www.co.suffolk.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>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 from Point A (ie- West Sayville) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in West Sayville. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.7279, Longitude: -73.0976       In this case, the coordinates for West Sayville have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<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 Sayville, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024