This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/jUB.2ACI/1144.1 Message Board Post: On 2/16/06 (12:48:18 PM MST), in a posting to the Suffolk County Ancestry Board that was 'gatewayed' to NYSUFFOL-L@rootsweb.com, Chuck Wagner (chuck_wagner@charter.net) asked, "Looking for the obit info for Frances Bahlert who died in Port Jefferson Station on Nov 1976." For questions such as yours, you may want to contact the Comsewogue Public Library (the library can suggest which local newspaper might have this information and other possible sources of information): Comsewogue Public Library 170 Terryville Road Port Jefferson Station, NY 11776 Tel: 631/928-1212 Fax: 631/928-6307 eMail form: http://cpl.suffolk.lib.ny.us/askreference.html http://cpl.suffolk.lib.ny.us/ Port Jefferson Station is one of those many villages and hamlets on Long Island where many of the places with the community name in their mailing address are in some other village or hamlet. The pertinent geography: Port Jefferson Station is a hamlet (unincorporated area) in the northwest part of the Town of Brookhaven, in the north-central part of Suffolk County. There are 8 villages (municipal corporations) and 36 hamlets (unincorporated areas) all or partly in the Town of Brookhaven. There are no cities and 10 towns in Suffolk County. There are 2 Indian reservations in Suffolk County. (I'm including after my name a NYS Geographic Glossary with the NYS definitions of county, city, town, village, hamlet and postal zone.) Beginning on the north and moving in a clockwise direction, the Hamlet of Port Jefferson Station in the Town of Brookhaven is bordered on the north by the Hamlet of Setauket, the Village of Port Jefferson and the Hamlet of Mount Sinai; on the east by the Hamlet of Mount Sinai and the Hamlet of Terryville; on the south by the Hamlet of Terryville and the Hamlet of Setauket; and, on the west by the Hamlet of Setauket. And, as occurs in every one of Suffolk County's 157 communities (0 cities, 32 villages and 125 hamlets), the Hamlet of Port Jefferson Station has a different border than does the "Port Jefferson Station, NY 11776" postal zone (i.e., a place can have a Port Jefferson Station mailing address and not be in Port Jefferson Station and a place can have other than a Port Jefferson Station mailing address and be in Port Jefferson Station). Those places that have a "Port Jefferson Station, NY" mailing address that are not in the Hamlet of Port Jefferson Station are in the Village of Port Jefferson, the Hamlet of Mount Sinai, the Hamlet of Coram, the Hamlet of Terryville and the Hamlet of Setauket; and, at the same time, there are places in the Hamlet of Port Jefferson Station with a "Setauket, NY 11733" mailing address. For those who have their copy of the 2005 or earlier edition of the LI Population Survey or have already downloaded the report from the Long Island Power Authority web site (eMail me directly if you need instructions on how to access and download the report), you'll find the Hamlet of Port Jefferson Station in the Town of Brookhaven, Suffolk County on pages 14 & 24 (map) and 25 (population estimate). I hope this information is useful or, at least, interesting. Walter Greenspan Great Falls, MT & Jericho, NY Cities, Towns, Villages, Hamlets and Postal Zones in New York State New York State is divided into counties. County A county is a municipal corporation, a subdivision of the state, created to perform state functions; a "regional" government. All counties are divided into cities, towns and Indian reservations. City A city is a unique governmental entity with its own special charter. Cities are not sub-divided, except into neighborhoods, which are informal geographic areas. Town A town is a municipal corporation and encompasses all territory within the state except that within cities or Indian reservations. Towns can be sub-divided into villages and hamlets. Village A village is a general purpose municipal corporation formed voluntarily by the residents of an area in one or more towns to provide themselves with municipal services. The pattern of village organization is similar to those of a city. A village is divided into neighborhoods, which are informal geographic areas. Hamlet A hamlet is an unincorporated area in one or more towns that is governed at-large by the town(s) it is in. A hamlet is divided into neighborhoods, which are informal geographic areas. Postal Zone "City" and "Town" A postal zone "City" and "Town" is an administrative district established by the U.S. Postal Service to deliver the mail. Postal zone "City" and "Town" may not (but are encouraged to) conform to municipal or community borders. Thus, postal zone location does not always determine city, village or hamlet location. Please be aware: In many areas of New York State, the problem of non-conforming postal zones leads to a situation where the majority of places have a different community name in their mailing address than the community where that place is actually located.