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 Boston (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 Boston. 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 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.
Boston is located in Fairfield County .
To see how the shape of Connecticut's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries .
The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Fairfield County : Litchfield , New Haven , Dutchess (NY) , Putnam (NY) & Westchester (NY) .
Below are the counties that are near Boston. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Boston:
Fairfield County (The home county of Boston)
The following are listed by their distance from Boston, with the one closest to Boston listed first.
Redding (Less than 2 miles to the north)
Redding is located in Fairfield County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redding Population from the 2020 Census: 9,051 people
Branchville (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
Branchville is located in Fairfield County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Branchville Redding (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
Topstone (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
Topstone is located in Fairfield County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Topstone Georgetown (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
Redding Ridge (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
West Redding (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
Weston (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
Weston is located in Fairfield County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weston Population from the 2020 Census: 10,204 people
Ridgefield (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
Easton (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
Easton is located in Fairfield County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Easton Population from the 2020 Census: 7,466 people
Easton (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
North Wilton (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
North Wilton is located in Fairfield County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Wilton Ridgefield (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
Ridgefield is located in Fairfield County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgefield Population from the 2020 Census: 24,898 people
Hartford County
Bloomfield (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
Litchfield County
The following are listed by their distance from Boston, with the one closest to Boston listed first.
Russian Village (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
Russian Village is located in Litchfield County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Russian Village Candlewood Lake Club (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
Candlewood Lake Club is located in Litchfield County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Candlewood Lake Club Chimney Point (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
Chimney Point is located in Litchfield County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chimney Point Bridgewater (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
Bridgewater is located in Litchfield County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bridgewater Population from the 2020 Census: 1,632 people
Bridgewater (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
Lanesville (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
Lanesville is located in Litchfield County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lanesville Roxbury Station (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
Roxbury Station is located in Litchfield County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roxbury Station Roxbury (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
Roxbury is located in Litchfield County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roxbury Population from the 2020 Census: 2,150 people
Roxbury (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
New Milford (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
Woodbury (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
Hotchkissville ‑ Historic(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
Hotchkissville is located in Litchfield County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hotchkissville Woodbury (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
Woodbury is located in Litchfield County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodbury Population from the 2020 Census: 9,453 people
New Haven County
The following are listed by their distance from Boston, with the one closest to Boston listed first.
Bowers Hill (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
Bowers Hill is located in New Haven County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowers Hill South Britain (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
Heritage Village (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
Heritage Village is located in New Haven County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heritage Village Southbury (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
Southbury is located in New Haven County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Southbury Population from the 2020 Census: 19,496 people
Ansonia (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
Ansonia is located in New Haven County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ansonia Population from the 2020 Census: 18,525 people
Derby (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
Derby is located in New Haven County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Derby Population from the 2020 Census: 12,257 people
Derby (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
Derby is located in New Haven County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Derby Population from the 2020 Census: 12,257 people
Former name for Derby:
Birmingham Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Derby <1>
Oxford (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
Oxford is located in New Haven County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oxford Population from the 2020 Census: 13,250 people
Southbury (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
Ansonia (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
Milford (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
Milford is located in New Haven County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milford Population from the 2020 Census: 54,781 people
Milford (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
Oxford (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
Dutchess County (NY)
The following are listed by their distance from Boston, with the one closest to Boston listed first.
Pawling (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
West Pawling (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
West Pawling is located in Dutchess County (NY) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Pawling Green Haven (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
Green Haven is located in Dutchess County (NY) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Haven Poughquag (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
Shenandoah (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
Shenandoah is located in Dutchess County (NY) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shenandoah Stormville (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
Dogtail Corners (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
Dogtail Corners is located in Dutchess County (NY) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dogtail Corners Beekman (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
Beekman is located in Dutchess County (NY) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beekman East Fishkill (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
East Fishkill is located in Dutchess County (NY) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Fishkill Sylvan Lake (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
Sylvan Lake is located in Dutchess County (NY) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sylvan Lake Hopewell Junction (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
Wiccopee (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
Wiccopee is located in Dutchess County (NY) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wiccopee Arthursburg (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
Arthursburg is located in Dutchess County (NY) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arthursburg Nassau County (NY)
The following are listed by their distance from Boston, with the one closest to Boston listed first.
Bayville (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
Centre Island (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
Centre Island is located in Nassau County (NY) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centre Island Population from the 2020 Census: 404 people
Cove Neck (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
Cove Neck is located in Nassau County (NY) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cove Neck Population from the 2020 Census: 299 people
Lattingtown (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
Lattingtown is located in Nassau County (NY) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lattingtown Population from the 2020 Census: 1,756 people
Mill Neck (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
Laurel Hollow (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
Laurel Hollow is located in Nassau County (NY) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurel Hollow Population from the 2020 Census: 2,027 people
Locust Valley (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
Oyster Bay Cove (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
Oyster Bay Cove is located in Nassau County (NY) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oyster Bay Cove Population from the 2020 Census: 2,243 people
Oyster Bay (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
East Norwich (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
East Norwich is located in Nassau County (NY) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Norwich Matinecock (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
Matinecock is located in Nassau County (NY) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Matinecock Population from the 2020 Census: 825 people
Upper Brookville (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
Upper Brookville is located in Nassau County (NY) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Upper Brookville Population from the 2020 Census: 1,738 people
Orange County (NY)
The following are listed by their distance from Boston, with the one closest to Boston listed first.
Highland Falls (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
West Point (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
Fort Montgomery (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
Putnam County (NY)
The following are listed by their distance from Boston, with the one closest to Boston listed first.
Peach Lake (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
Peach Lake is located in Putnam County (NY) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peach Lake Brewster (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
Deforest Corners (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
Deforest Corners is located in Putnam County (NY) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deforest Corners Brewster Hill (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
Brewster Hill is located in Putnam County (NY) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brewster Hill Putnam Lake (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
Putnam Lake is located in Putnam County (NY) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Putnam Lake Dykemans (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
Dykemans is located in Putnam County (NY) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dykemans Crafts (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
Crafts is located in Putnam County (NY) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crafts Towners (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
Towners is located in Putnam County (NY) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Towners Lake Carmel (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
Lake Carmel is located in Putnam County (NY) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Carmel Mahopac (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
Patterson (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
Mahopac Mines (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
Mahopac Mines is located in Putnam County (NY) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mahopac Mines Farmers Mills (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
Farmers Mills is located in Putnam County (NY) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmers Mills Rockland County (NY)
The following are listed by their distance from Boston, with the one closest to Boston listed first.
Upper Nyack (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
Upper Nyack is located in Rockland County (NY) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Upper Nyack Population from the 2020 Census: 2,177 people
Nyack (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
Nyack is located in Rockland County (NY) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nyack Population from the 2020 Census: 7,133 people
Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Nyack <1>
South Nyack (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
South Nyack is located in Rockland County (NY) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Nyack Population from the 2020 Census: 3,305 people
Congers (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
Haverstraw (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
Central Nyack (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
Central Nyack is located in Rockland County (NY) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central Nyack Grand View-on-Hudson (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
Grand View-on-Hudson is located in Rockland County (NY) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand View-on-Hudson Population from the 2020 Census: 296 people
Piermont (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
Doodletown ‑ Historic(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
Doodletown is located in Rockland County (NY) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doodletown Stony Point (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
Valley Cottage (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
Valley Cottage is located in Rockland County (NY) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Cottage West Haverstraw (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
West Haverstraw is located in Rockland County (NY) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Haverstraw Population from the 2020 Census: 10,167 people
Suffolk County (NY)
The following are listed by their distance from Boston, with the one closest to Boston listed first.
Asharoken (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
Asharoken is located in Suffolk County (NY) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Asharoken Population from the 2020 Census: 637 people
Eatons Neck (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
Eatons Neck is located in Suffolk County (NY) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eatons Neck Fort Salonga (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
Huntington Bay (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
Lloyd Harbor (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
Lloyd Harbor is located in Suffolk County (NY) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lloyd Harbor Population from the 2020 Census: 3,650 people
Centerport (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
Halesite (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
Northport (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
Old Field (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
Poquott (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
Poquott is located in Suffolk County (NY) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poquott Population from the 2020 Census: 929 people
Setauket (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
Cold Spring Harbor (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
Belle Terre (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
Belle Terre is located in Suffolk County (NY) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belle Terre Population from the 2020 Census: 785 people
Westchester County (NY)
The following are listed by their distance from Boston, with the one closest to Boston listed first.
Lewisboro (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
Boutonville (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
Boutonville is located in Westchester County (NY) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boutonville Twin Lakes Village (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
Twin Lakes Village is located in Westchester County (NY) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Lakes Village Pound Ridge (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
Scotts Corners (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
Scotts Corners is located in Westchester County (NY) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scotts Corners Cross River (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
Bedford (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
Goldens Bridge (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
Somers (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
Banksville (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
Banksville is located in Westchester County (NY) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Banksville Heritage Hills (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
Heritage Hills is located in Westchester County (NY) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heritage Hills Lincolndale (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
Mount Kisco (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Boston, see our County-by-County Page for Boston .
Cemeteries Near Boston ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Boston.
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.
Although we don't have the information ourselves, if you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our list of websites on our Genealogy Helper Page for Boston - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Boston covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Boston, with the one closest to Boston listed first.
Umpawaug Cemetery (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Umpawaug Cemetery To give a relative sense of its location, the Umpawaug Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located 5 miles [8 km]<2> Bethel . Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #103770 <3>
Old Congregational Church Cemetery (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
Hull Cemetery (Less than 2 miles to the north)
Florida Cemetery (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
Old Indian Cemetery (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
Redding Ridge Cemetery (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
Christ Church Cemetery (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Christ Church Cemetery To give a relative sense of its location, the Christ Church Cemetery is located 7 miles [11.3 km]<2> Danbury . Lonetown Cemetery (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
St. Marys Cemetery (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
Bald Hill Cemetery (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
Hillside Cemetery (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
Aspetuck Cemetery (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
Continue List (465 more) ...
Gilbertown Cemetery (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
Union Cemetery (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Cemetery To give a relative sense of its location, the Union Cemetery is located outside and to the north of Easton . St. Marys Cemetery (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
Jump to our Gazetteer entry for St. Marys Cemetery To give a relative sense of its location, the St. Marys Cemetery is located outside and to the south of Bethel .
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.<4>
While we didn't find Boston in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Boston.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Boston, with the one closest to Boston listed first.
Branchville (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
Branchville is located in Fairfield County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Branchville Georgetown (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
Redding (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
West Redding (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
Redding Ridge (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
Ridgefield (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
North Wilton (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
North Wilton is located in Fairfield County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Wilton Wilton (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
Weston (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
Easton (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
Titicus (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
Titicus is located in Fairfield County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Titicus Lewisboro (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
Continue List (19 more) ...
Aspetuck (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
Aspetuck is located in Fairfield County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aspetuck Bethel (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
Vista (7 miles [11.3 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 Boston. See our List of 1890's Communities around Boston .
Newspapers Published in Boston ...
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 177 newspapers that have been published in the area around Boston.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Boston, there are papers which were published within 13 miles [20.9 km]<2> Extended Newspaper List for Boston.
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 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 Boston:
Websites specific to Connecticut Pages specific to Fairfield County Genealogy information for nearby counties
Hartford County Litchfield County New Haven County Dutchess County Nassau County Orange County Putnam County Rockland County Suffolk County Westchester County Cemetery Information and Directories for Connecticut Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Boston. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page .
The official website for State of Connecticut: https://portal.ct.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. Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Boston) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. 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 . 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 Boston, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.