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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 Giants Neck (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 Giants Neck. 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.

Name Variations for Giants Neck ...

When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.

While the name of this community is Giants Neck, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Giants Neck may originally have been Giant's Neck.

Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Giants Neck might be written as Giant Neck.

If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.

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 and doctors 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.

Giants Neck is located in New London 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 New London County: Hartford, Middlesex, Tolland, Windham, Kent (RI) & Washington (RI).

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

  • New London County     (The home county of Giants Neck)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Giants Neck, with the one closest to Giants Neck listed first.
    • South Lyme
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Niantic
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • East Lyme
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • East Lyme is located in New London County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Lyme
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 18,525 people
    • East Lyme
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Old Lyme
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Old Lyme is located in New London County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Lyme
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,280 people
    • Pleasure Beach
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Pleasure Beach is located in New London County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasure Beach
    • Waterford
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Waterford is located in New London County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterford
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 18,865 people
    • Old Lyme
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Waterford
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • New London
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • New London is located in New London County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New London
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 26,870 people
    • New London
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Sterling City
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Sterling City is located in New London County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sterling City
  • Hartford County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Giants Neck, with the one closest to Giants Neck listed first.
    • Marlborough
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Marlborough
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Marlborough is located in Hartford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marlborough
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,303 people
    • Terramuggus
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Terramuggus is located in Hartford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Terramuggus
    • Taylor Town
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Taylor Town is located in Hartford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taylor Town
  • Middlesex County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Giants Neck, with the one closest to Giants Neck listed first.
    • Fenwick
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Fenwick is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fenwick
    • Old Saybrook
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Old Saybrook is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Saybrook
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,028 people
    • Old Saybrook
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Plum Bank Beach
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Plum Bank Beach is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plum Bank Beach
    • Saybrook Manor
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Saybrook Manor is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saybrook Manor
    • Essex
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Centerbrook
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Essex
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Essex is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Essex
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,634 people
    • Ivoryton
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Westbrook
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Crowley Corner
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Crowley Corner is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crowley Corner
    • Deep River
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Deep River is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deep River
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,419 people
  • New Haven County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Giants Neck, with the one closest to Giants Neck listed first.
    • Madison
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Madison
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Madison is located in New Haven County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Madison
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 17,924 people
    • East River
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • East River is located in New Haven County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East River
    • North Madison
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • North Madison is located in New Haven County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Madison
    • Guilford
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Guilford is located in New Haven County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guilford
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 22,043 people
    • Guilford
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • North Branford
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Stony Creek
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Stony Creek is located in New Haven County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stony Creek
    • North Branford
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • North Branford is located in New Haven County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Branford
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 14,066 people
    • Pine Orchard
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Pine Orchard is located in New Haven County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Orchard
    • Branford
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Branford is located in New Haven County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Branford
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 27,736 people
    • Northford
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Tolland County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Giants Neck, with the one closest to Giants Neck listed first.
    • Amston
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Turnerville ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Turnerville is located in Tolland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turnerville
    • Hebron
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Hebron is located in Tolland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hebron
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,480 people
    • Hebron
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Columbia
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Columbia is located in Tolland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Columbia
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,355 people
    • Columbia
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Gilead
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Gilead is located in Tolland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilead
    • Andover
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Andover is located in Tolland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Andover
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,228 people
    • Conantville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Conantville is located in Tolland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conantville
  • Windham County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Giants Neck, with the one closest to Giants Neck listed first.
    • South Windham
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Windham
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Scotland
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Scotland is located in Windham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scotland
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,664 people
    • Scotland
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Willimantic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Windham
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Windham is located in Windham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windham
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 24,463 people
    • Canterbury
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Canterbury is located in Windham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canterbury
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,088 people
    • Westminster
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Westminster is located in Windham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westminster
    • Canterbury
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Plainfield Village
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Plainfield Village is located in Windham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plainfield Village
    • Plainfield
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Suffolk County (NY)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Giants Neck, with the one closest to Giants Neck listed first.
    • Orient Point
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Orient Point is located in Suffolk County (NY)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orient Point
    • Fishers Island
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Orient
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • East Marion
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Dering Harbor
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Dering Harbor is located in Suffolk County (NY)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dering Harbor
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 11 people
    • Greenport
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Shelter Island
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Shelter Island Heights
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Shelter Island Heights is located in Suffolk County (NY)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shelter Island Heights
    • Westmoreland
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Westmoreland is located in Suffolk County (NY)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westmoreland
    • North Haven
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • North Haven is located in Suffolk County (NY)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Haven
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 894 people
    • Springs
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Springs is located in Suffolk County (NY)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springs
    • Southold
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
  • Washington County (RI)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Giants Neck, with the one closest to Giants Neck listed first.
    • Avondale
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Avondale is located in Washington County (RI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avondale
    • Westerly
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Westerly is located in Washington County (RI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westerly
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 22,328 people
    • Westerly
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Westerly is located in Washington County (RI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westerly
    • Ashaway
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Ashaway is located in Washington County (RI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashaway
    • Langworthy Corner
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Langworthy Corner is located in Washington County (RI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Langworthy Corner
    • Weekapaug
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Weekapaug is located in Washington County (RI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weekapaug
    • Bradford
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Bradford is located in Washington County (RI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bradford
    • Hopkinton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Hopkinton is located in Washington County (RI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopkinton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,095 people
    • Hopkinton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Hopkinton is located in Washington County (RI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopkinton
    • Burdickville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Burdickville is located in Washington County (RI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burdickville
    • Alton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Alton is located in Washington County (RI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alton
    • Canonchet
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Canonchet is located in Washington County (RI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canonchet

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

Cemeteries Near Giants Neck ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Giants Neck.

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 Giants Neck - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Union Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Champion Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Waite Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Champion Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Stone Church Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • East Lyme Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Duck River Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Griswold Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Whistletown Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Rogers Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Great Neck Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Jordan Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (408 more) ...
    • Congregation Ohave Sholem Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Cypress Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Lady Fenwicks Grave
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)

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 Giants Neck in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Giants Neck.

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

  • Crescent Beach
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Crescent Beach is located in New London County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crescent Beach
  • South Lyme
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Niantic
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • East Lyme
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Black Hall
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Black Hall is located in New London County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Hall
  • Saybrook Point
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Saybrook Point is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saybrook Point
  • Fenwick
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Fenwick is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fenwick
  • Waterford
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • New London
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Groton
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Groton is located in New London County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Groton
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,872 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Groton <2>
  • Chesterfield
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Chesterfield is located in New London County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chesterfield
  • Hamburg
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Hamburg is located in New London County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hamburg
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Quaker Hill
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • North Lyme
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • North Lyme is located in New London County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Lyme
    • Lyme
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Lyme is located in New London County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyme

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

Newspapers Published in Giants Neck ...

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 137 newspapers that have been published in the area around Giants Neck.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Giants Neck, there are papers which were published within 15 miles [24.1 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Giants Neck.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we start 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 Giants Neck:

Footnotes ...

<1>It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties).
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<4>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 Giants Neck, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<5>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- Giants Neck) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.