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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 Stephentown (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 Stephentown. 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 Stephentown ...

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 Stephentown: W. Stephentown

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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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 Stephentown is located in Rensselaer 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 Rensselaer County: Berkshire (MA), Albany, Columbia, Greene, Saratoga, Washington & Bennington (VT).

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

  • Rensselaer County     (The home county of West Stephentown)
  • Albany County
  • Columbia County
  • Greene County
  • Saratoga County
  • Schenectady County
  • Washington County
  • Berkshire County (MA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from West Stephentown, with the one closest to West Stephentown listed first.
    • Hancock
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • 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.<1>
      • 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 West Stephentown to Hancock
    • New Ashford
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • 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
    • Shaker Village
      (12 miles [19.3 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)
    • Lanesborough
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • 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
    • Berkshire
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Berkshire have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berkshire
      • Berkshire is located in Berkshire County (MA)
    • Farnams
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • 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.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farnams
      • Farnams is located in Berkshire County (MA)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Farnams
      • From West Stephentown to Farnams
    • Pittsfield
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Stevens Corner
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Cheshire
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Richmond
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Coltsville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Town Crest Village
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • 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)
  • Franklin County (MA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from West Stephentown, with the one closest to West Stephentown listed first.
    • Monroe
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Monroe have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monroe
      • Monroe is located in Franklin County (MA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 115 people
    • Monroe Bridge
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Monroe Bridge have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monroe Bridge
      • Monroe Bridge is located in Franklin County (MA)
    • Charlemont
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
    • Hawley
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hawley have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hawley
      • Hawley is located in Franklin County (MA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 335 people
    • Rowe
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Hampshire County (MA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from West Stephentown, with the one closest to West Stephentown listed first.
    • Plainfield
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Plainfield have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plainfield
      • Plainfield is located in Hampshire County (MA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 663 people
    • Middlefield
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Middlefield have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middlefield
      • Middlefield is located in Hampshire County (MA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 538 people
    • Worthington Corners
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Worthington
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Worthington have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Worthington
      • Worthington is located in Hampshire County (MA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,176 people
    • Cummington
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Bennington County (VT)
    • The following are listed by their distance from West Stephentown, with the one closest to West Stephentown listed first.
    • Pownal Center
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Pownal
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • 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
    • Stamford
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Bennington
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • 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
    • Bennington
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Old Bennington
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • 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
    • Stamford
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • 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
    • Paper Mill Village
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • 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)
    • North Bennington
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Woodford Hollow
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • South Shaftsbury
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Woodford
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Woodford have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodford
      • Woodford is located in Bennington County (VT)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 398 people

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

Cemeteries Near West Stephentown ...

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

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

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

  • Hillside Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hillside Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hillside Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Larkin Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Tucker Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Garfield Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Garfield Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Garfield Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Sacred Heart Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sacred Heart Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sacred Heart Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Joseph's Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Presbyterian Hill Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Presbyterian Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Presbyterian Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Clarks Chapel Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Clarks Chapel Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Clarks Chapel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Gilbert Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Center Berlin Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Center Berlin Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Center Berlin Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Fifty Six Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fifty Six Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fifty Six Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Elmwood Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • 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.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (426 more) ...

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 Stephentown had a population of 644 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Hoag Corners
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • East Nassau
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Nassau have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Nassau
    • East Nassau is located in Rensselaer County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 566 people
  • Stephentown Center
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stephentown Center have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stephentown Center
    • Stephentown Center is located in Rensselaer County
  • North Nassau
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Nassau have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Nassau
    • North Nassau is located in Rensselaer County
  • Garfield
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Garfield have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garfield
    • Garfield is located in Rensselaer County
  • Stephentown
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stephentown have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stephentown
    • Stephentown is located in Rensselaer County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Stephentown <3>
  • North Stephentown
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Stephentown have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Stephentown
    • North Stephentown is located in Rensselaer County
  • Sand Lake
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Averill Park
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Averill Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Averill Park
    • Averill Park is located in Rensselaer County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Averill Park <3>
  • Brainard
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • West Lebanon
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Lebanon have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Lebanon
    • West Lebanon is located in Columbia County
  • New Lebanon Center
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Lebanon Center have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Lebanon Center
    • New Lebanon Center is located in Columbia County
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Center Berlin
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Sliters
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Sliters. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sliters
      • Sliters is located in Rensselaer County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Sliters
      • From West Stephentown to Sliters
    • Nassau
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)

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

Newspapers Published in West Stephentown ...

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 312 newspapers that have been published in the area around West Stephentown.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of West Stephentown, there are papers which were published within 16 miles [25.7 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for West Stephentown.

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 helpful 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 Stephentown:

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

The official website for Rensselaer County: www.rensco.com/

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>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>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 Stephentown, 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- West Stephentown) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in West Stephentown. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.5796, Longitude: -73.4726    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025