RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of New York >> Niagara County >> Wilson >> 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 Wilson (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 Wilson. 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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most 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.

Wilson is located in Niagara 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 Niagara County: Erie, Genesee & Orleans.

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

  • Niagara County     (The home county of Wilson)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wilson, with the one closest to Wilson listed first.
    • Roosevelt Beach
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roosevelt Beach
      • Roosevelt Beach is located in Niagara County
    • Olcott
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Olcott have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olcott
      • Olcott is located in Niagara County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Olcott <2>
    • Coomer
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coomer
      • Coomer is located in Niagara County
    • Newfane
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Ransomville
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Corwin
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corwin
      • Corwin is located in Niagara County
    • Warrens Corners
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warrens Corners
      • Warrens Corners is located in Niagara County
    • Porter Center
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Porter Center
      • Porter Center is located in Niagara County
    • Harrison Grove
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrison Grove
      • Harrison Grove is located in Niagara County
    • Hess Road
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hess Road. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hess Road
      • Hess Road is located in Niagara County
    • Ridgewood
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Dickersonville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dickersonville
      • Dickersonville is located in Niagara County
  • Erie County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wilson, with the one closest to Wilson listed first.
    • Swormville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swormville
      • Swormville is located in Erie County
    • Wolcottsburg
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolcottsburg
      • Wolcottsburg is located in Erie County
    • Getzville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Tonawanda
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Amherst
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Grandyle Village
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grandyle Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grandyle Village
      • Grandyle Village is located in Erie County
    • Clarence Center
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clarence Center have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarence Center
      • Clarence Center is located in Erie County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clarence Center <2>
    • Ferry Village
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ferry Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ferry Village
      • Ferry Village is located in Erie County
    • Kenmore
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Williamsville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Williamsville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williamsville
      • Williamsville is located in Erie County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,171 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Williamsville <2>
    • Harris Hill
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harris Hill
      • Harris Hill is located in Erie County
    • Akron Junction
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Akron Junction
      • Akron Junction is located in Erie County
  • Genesee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wilson, with the one closest to Wilson listed first.
    • Amherst
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amherst
      • Amherst is located in Genesee County
    • Alabama
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alabama
      • Alabama is located in Genesee County
    • Basom
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Wheatville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheatville
      • Wheatville is located in Genesee County
    • Indian Falls
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Indian Falls. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Falls
      • Indian Falls is located in Genesee County
  • Orleans County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Wilson, with the one closest to Wilson listed first.
    • Jeddo
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jeddo
      • Jeddo is located in Orleans County
    • Lakewood Village
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lakewood Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakewood Village
      • Lakewood Village is located in Orleans County
    • Lyndonville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Medina
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Shadigee
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shadigee
      • Shadigee is located in Orleans County
    • Kenyonville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Kenyonville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kenyonville
      • Kenyonville is located in Orleans County
    • Kuckville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kuckville
      • Kuckville is located in Orleans County
    • Eagle Harbor
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle Harbor
      • Eagle Harbor is located in Orleans County
    • Gaines
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Gaines. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gaines
      • Gaines is located in Orleans County
    • West Barre
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Barre
      • West Barre is located in Orleans County

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

Cemeteries Near Wilson ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Wilson.

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

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

  • Greenwood Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Halsted Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Halsted Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Halsted Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Lakeview Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lakeview Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lakeview Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • West Lake Road Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the West Lake Road Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the West Lake Road Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Pioneer Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pioneer Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pioneer Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • North Ridge Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the North Ridge Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the North Ridge Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Peter Lutheran Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Peter Lutheran Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Peter Lutheran Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Molyneaux Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Molyneaux Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Molyneaux Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Northeast Cambria Union Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • St. Bridgets Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Bridgets Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Bridgets Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Corwin Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • St. Charles Borromeo Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Charles Borromeo Cemetery
    • The St. Charles Borromeo Cemetery has also been known as:
    • St. Charles Cemetery
  • Continue List   (246 more) ...
    • Oakland Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oakland Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oakland Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Towers Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Towers Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Towers Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Hillside Cemetery of Cambria
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hillside Cemetery of Cambria
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hillside Cemetery of Cambria 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 Wilson had a population of 683 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service. In 2020, Wilson had a population of 1,211 people.

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

  • South Wilson
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Wilson have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Wilson
    • South Wilson is located in Niagara County
  • East Wilson
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Wilson have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Wilson
    • East Wilson is located in Niagara County
  • Coomer
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coomer
    • Coomer is located in Niagara County
  • Olcott
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Olcott have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olcott
    • Olcott is located in Niagara County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Olcott <2>
  • Ransomville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • North Ridge
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Ridge
    • North Ridge is located in Niagara County
  • Newfane
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Warrens Corners
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warrens Corners
    • Warrens Corners is located in Niagara County
  • Hess Road
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hess Road. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hess Road
    • Hess Road is located in Niagara County
  • Hickory Corners
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hickory Corners have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Corners
    • Hickory Corners is located in Niagara County
  • Wrights Corners
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wrights Corners
    • Wrights Corners is located in Niagara County
  • Pekin
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Pekin. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pekin
    • Pekin is located in Niagara County
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Youngstown
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Youngstown have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Youngstown
      • Youngstown is located in Niagara County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,833 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Youngstown <2>
    • Lockport Junction
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Lockport Junction. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lockport Junction
      • Lockport Junction is located in Niagara County
    • Lockport
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Wilson ...

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 46 newspapers that have been published in the area around Wilson.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Wilson. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Wilson and those printed in the larger area surrounding Wilson.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 20 miles [32.2 km]<6> of Wilson.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin 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 Wilson:

The official website for Wilson: www.wilsonnewyork.com/

The official website for Niagara County: www.niagaracounty.com/

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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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>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 Wilson, 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- Wilson) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Wilson. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.3116, Longitude: -78.8264       In this case, the coordinates for Wilson 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