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Gazetteers

Online Gazetteers

• FamilySearch Places
• Gazetteer of the state of New York Gazetteer of the State of New York : comprehending its colonial history; general geography, geology, and internal improvements; its political state; a minute description of its several counties, towns and villages, with a map of the state, and plans of the cities and principal villages, 1836. Digital Publisher FamilySearch International
• Aboriginal place names of New York William Martin Beauchamp. Aboriginal Place Names of New York. Digital Publisher FamilySearch International
• A gazetteer of the State of New York Horation Gates Spafford. A Gazetteer of the State of New-York : embracing an ample survey and description of its counties, towns, cities, villages, canals, mountains, lakes, rivers, creeks, and natural topography ... with an appendix ..A gazetteer of the State of New-York : embracing an ample survey and description of its counties, towns, cities, villages, canals, mountains, lakes, rivers, creeks, and natural topography ... with an appendix ..1824. Albany : B. D. Packard
• A gazetteer of the State of New York A Gazetteer of the State of New-York; comprising its topography, geology, mineralogical resources, civil divisions, canals, railroads and public institutions, together with general statistics; the whole alphabetically arranged, also, statistical tables, including the census of 1840; and tables of distances, with a new township map of the State, engraved on steel. Albany, Disturnell 1842
• Gazetteer of the State of New York J H French. Gazetteer of the state of New York : embracing a comprehensive view of the geography, geology, and general history of the state, and a complete history and description of every county, city, town, village, and locality : With full tables of statistics, 1860. [Syracuse : R. P. Smith]
• A gazetteer of the state of New York Horatio Gates Spafford. A Gazetteer of the State of New York, 1913 : carefully written from original and authentic materials. Provo, Utah : Brigham Young University, 1969
• Gazetteer, New York State NY State Dept of Health. Gazetteer, New York State. 1980. Digital Publisher FamilySearch International

Print Only Gazetteers

• Omni gazetteer of the United States of America Frank R. Abate. Omni Gazetteer of the United States of America : providing name, location, and identification for nearly 1,500,000 populated places, structures, facilities, locales, historic places, and geographic features in the fifty states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and U.S. Territories. Detroit, Michigan : Omnigraphics, c1991
• Directory to collections of New York vital records, 1726-1989, with rare gazetteer Fred Q Bowman and Thomas J Lynch. Directory to Collections of New York Vital Records, 1726-1989, with rare gazetteer. Bowie, Maryland : Heritage Books, Inc., c1995
• Gazetteer of the state of New York Franklin B Hough. Gazetteer of the State of New York : embracing a comprehensive account of the history and statistics of the state, with geological and topographical descriptions, and recent statistical tables representing the present condition of each county, city, town and village in the state, 1872. Albany, New York : Van Benthuysen Printing House, [199-?]
• Gazetteer of the state of New York John Homer French. Gazetteer of the state of New York : embracing a comprehensive view of the geography, geology and general history of the state and a complete history and description of every county, city, town, village, and locality with full tables of statistics, 1860. Interlaken, New York : Heart of The Lakes Publishing, 1986, 1993
• Gazetteer of the state of New York : reprinted with an index of names compiled by Frank Place; two volumes in one J H French. Gazetteer of the state of New York : reprinted with an index of names compiled by Frank Place; two volumes in one, 1860. Baltimore, Maryland : Genealogical Publishing Company, [1994?]
• New York facts : more than an almanac : a comprehensive look at New York today, county by county John Clements. New York facts : more than an almanac : a comprehensive look at New York today, county by county. Dallas, Texas : Clements Research Inc., c1986
• New York Family History Research Guide and Gazetteer Naomi Goshi. New York Family History Research Guide and Gazetteer. New York, New York : New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, c2017
• New York State Atlas and Gazetteer New York State Atlas and Gazetteer. Freeport, Maine : DeLorme, c1988

Why Use Gazetteers

A gazetteer is a dictionary of place-names. Gazetteers list or describe towns and villages, parishes, states, populations, rivers and mountains, and other geographical features. They usually include only the names of places that existed at the time the gazetteer was published. Within a specific geographical area, the place-names are listed in alphabetical order, similar to a dictionary. You can use a gazetteer to locate the places where your family lived and to determine the civil and religious jurisdictions over those places.

There are many places within a state with similar or identical place-names. You will need to use a gazetteer to identify the specific town where your ancestor lived, the state the town was or is in, and the jurisdictions where records about the person was kept.

Gazetteer Contents

Gazetteers may also provide additional information about towns, such as:

• Different religious denominations
• Schools, colleges, and universities
• Major manufacturers, canals, docks, and railroad stations
• The population size.
• Boundaries of civil jurisdiction.
• Ecclesiastical jurisdiction(s)
• Longitude and latitude.
• Distances and direction from other from cities.
• Schools, colleges, and universities.
• Denominations and number of churches.
• Historical and biographical information on some individuals (usually high-ranking or famous individuals)