RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Connecticut >> Middlesex County >> Cromwell >> Genealogy HelperIndex...

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 Cromwell (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 Cromwell. 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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors were in the next county to the west. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the county to the north.

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 north 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.

Cromwell is located in Middlesex 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 Middlesex County: Hartford, New Haven & New London.

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

  • Middlesex County     (The home county of Cromwell)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cromwell, with the one closest to Cromwell listed first.
    • Cromwell
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Gildersleeve
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Gildersleeve is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gildersleeve
    • Portland
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Portland
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Portland is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Portland
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,213 people
    • Middletown
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Middletown
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Middletown is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middletown
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 46,013 people
    • Middlefield
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Middlefield is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middlefield
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,350 people
    • Middlefield
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Cobalt
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Middle Haddam
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Lake Pocotopaug
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Lake Pocotopaug is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Pocotopaug
    • Durham
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Fairfield County
    • Shelton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Hartford County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cromwell, with the one closest to Cromwell listed first.
    • East Berlin
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Rocky Hill
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Rocky Hill is located in Hartford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Hill
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 20,037 people
    • Rocky Hill
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Taylor Town
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Taylor Town is located in Hartford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taylor Town
    • Berlin
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Griswoldville
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Griswoldville is located in Hartford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Griswoldville
    • South Wethersfield
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • South Wethersfield is located in Hartford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Wethersfield
    • South Glastonbury
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Berlin
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Berlin is located in Hartford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berlin
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 20,390 people
    • Kensington
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Newington
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Newington is located in Hartford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newington
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 29,868 people
    • Newington
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Litchfield County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cromwell, with the one closest to Cromwell listed first.
    • Pequabuck
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Terryville Station
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Terryville Station is located in Litchfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Terryville Station
    • Terryville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Greystone
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Greystone is located in Litchfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greystone
    • Plymouth
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Plymouth is located in Litchfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plymouth
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 11,552 people
    • Plymouth
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Oakville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Thomaston
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Browns Corner
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Browns Corner is located in Litchfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Browns Corner
    • Harwinton
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Harwinton is located in Litchfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harwinton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,400 people
    • Thomaston
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Thomaston is located in Litchfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thomaston
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,505 people
    • Harwinton
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
  • New Haven County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cromwell, with the one closest to Cromwell listed first.
    • Meriden
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Meriden is located in New Haven County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meriden
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 58,981 people
    • Meriden
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • South Meriden
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • South Meriden is located in New Haven County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Meriden
    • Yalesville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Autumn HIll
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Autumn HIll is located in New Haven County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Autumn HIll
    • Wallingford
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Wallingford is located in New Haven County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wallingford
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 44,076 people
    • Wallingford
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Cheshire
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Cheshire is located in New Haven County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cheshire
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 28,806 people
    • Cheshire
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • West Cheshire
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • West Cheshire is located in New Haven County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Cheshire
    • Quinnipiac ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Quinnipiac is located in New Haven County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quinnipiac
    • Brooksvale
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Brooksvale is located in New Haven County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brooksvale
  • New London County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cromwell, with the one closest to Cromwell listed first.
    • North Westchester
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Westchester
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Westchester is located in New London County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westchester
    • Colchester
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Hadlyme
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Lebanon
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Lebanon is located in New London County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lebanon
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,112 people
    • Liberty Hill
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Liberty Hill is located in New London County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty Hill
    • Salem
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Lyme
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Lyme is located in New London County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyme
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,304 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lyme <1>
    • Lyme
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Lyme is located in New London County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyme
    • Salem
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Salem is located in New London County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salem
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,083 people
    • Hamburg
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Hamburg is located in New London County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hamburg
    • Sterling City
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Sterling City is located in New London County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sterling City
  • Tolland County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cromwell, with the one closest to Cromwell listed first.
    • Gilead
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Gilead is located in Tolland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilead
    • Gay City ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Gay City is located in Tolland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gay City
    • Hebron
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Hebron is located in Tolland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hebron
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,480 people
    • Hebron
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Bolton
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Bolton is located in Tolland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bolton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,855 people
    • Amston
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Turnerville ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Turnerville is located in Tolland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turnerville
    • Bolton
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Andover
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Andover is located in Tolland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Andover
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,228 people
    • Andover
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Vernon
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Vernon
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Vernon is located in Tolland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vernon
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 29,400 people
  • Windham County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cromwell, with the one closest to Cromwell listed first.
    • Willimantic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • South Windham
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Windham
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Windham is located in Windham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windham
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 24,463 people
    • Windham
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • North Windham
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Scotland
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Scotland is located in Windham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scotland
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,664 people
    • Scotland
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
    • Chaplin
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Chaplin is located in Windham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chaplin
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,232 people
    • Chaplin
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
    • West Ashford
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • West Ashford is located in Windham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Ashford

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

Cemeteries Near Cromwell ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Cromwell.

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 Cromwell - one of the links might be able to help.

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Cromwell covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • West Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the West Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the northwest of Cromwell.
    • The West Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Hillside Cemetery West
    • New Center Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1993524 <2>
  • East Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the East Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the northwest of Cromwell.
    • The East Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Hillside Cemetery East
    • Old Center Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1993525 <2>
  • Old Burying Ground
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Burying Ground
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Old Burying Ground is a large cemetery that is located in Cromwell.
    • The Old Burying Ground has also been known as:
    • Old Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1992418 <2>
  • Old East Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • St. Johns Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Swedish Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Wilcox Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Miner Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Old South Hill Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Veterans Memorial Park
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Indian Hill Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • West Burying Ground
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (544 more) ...
    • Mortimer Cemetery
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Riverside Cemetery
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverside Cemetery
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Riverside Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Middletown.
      • The Riverside Cemetery has also been known as:
      • MacDonough Cemetery
      • Old Cemetery
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1976954 <2>
    • Portland Burying Ground
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)

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.<3>

While we didn't find Cromwell in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Cromwell.

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

  • Cromwell
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • North Cromwell
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • North Cromwell is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Cromwell
  • Westfield
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Westfield is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westfield
  • Portland
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Gildersleeve
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Gildersleeve is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gildersleeve
  • East Berlin
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Middletown
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Rocky Hill
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Berlin
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • South Glastonbury
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • South Wethersfield
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • South Wethersfield is located in Hartford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Wethersfield
  • Kensington
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in Cromwell ...

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 343 newspapers that have been published in the area around Cromwell.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Cromwell, there are papers which were published within 13 miles [20.9 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Cromwell.

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 professional and volunteer 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 Cromwell:

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>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.
<3>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 Cromwell, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Cromwell) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.