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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 Old Saybrook (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 Old Saybrook. 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.

Old Saybrook 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 Old Saybrook. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Old Saybrook:

  • Middlesex County     (The home county of Old Saybrook)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Old Saybrook, with the one closest to Old Saybrook listed first.
    • Old Saybrook
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Old Saybrook is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Saybrook
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,028 people
    • Fenwick
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Fenwick is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fenwick
    • Plum Bank Beach
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • Plum Bank Beach is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plum Bank Beach
    • Saybrook Manor
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Saybrook Manor is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saybrook Manor
    • Westbrook
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Essex
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Centerbrook
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Essex
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Essex is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Essex
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,634 people
    • Westbrook
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Westbrook is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westbrook
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,842 people
    • Ivoryton
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Grove Beach
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Grove Beach is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grove Beach
    • Deep River
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Deep River is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deep River
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,419 people
  • Hartford County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Old Saybrook, with the one closest to Old Saybrook listed first.
    • Marlborough
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Marlborough
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Marlborough is located in Hartford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marlborough
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,303 people
    • Terramuggus
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Terramuggus is located in Hartford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Terramuggus
    • Taylor Town
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Taylor Town is located in Hartford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taylor Town
    • East Glastonbury
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Glastonbury
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Glastonbury is located in Hartford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glastonbury
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 34,426 people
    • East Berlin
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • South Glastonbury
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Berlin
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Rocky Hill
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • 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
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Berlin
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Berlin is located in Hartford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berlin
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 20,390 people
  • New Haven County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Old Saybrook, with the one closest to Old Saybrook listed first.
    • Madison
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • East River
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • East River is located in New Haven County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East River
    • Madison
      (13 miles [20.9 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
    • North Madison
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • North Madison is located in New Haven County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Madison
    • Guilford
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Guilford
      (16 miles [25.7 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
    • Stony Creek
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Stony Creek is located in New Haven County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stony Creek
    • North Branford
      (20 miles [32.2 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
    • North Branford
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Pine Orchard
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Pine Orchard is located in New Haven County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Orchard
    • Branford
      (22 miles [35.4 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
    • Branford
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
  • New London County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Old Saybrook, with the one closest to Old Saybrook listed first.
    • Old Lyme
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Old Lyme
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Old Lyme is located in New London County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Lyme
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,280 people
    • South Lyme
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Hamburg
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Hamburg is located in New London County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hamburg
    • Sterling City
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Sterling City is located in New London County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sterling City
    • Lyme
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • 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
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Lyme is located in New London County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyme
    • Hadlyme
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • East Lyme
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • 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
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Niantic
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Chesterfield
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Chesterfield is located in New London County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chesterfield
  • Tolland County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Old Saybrook, with the one closest to Old Saybrook listed first.
    • Amston
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Hebron
      (24 miles [38.6 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
    • 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)
    • Gilead
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Gilead is located in Tolland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilead
    • 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
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Gay City ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Gay City is located in Tolland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gay City
    • 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
    • Andover
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
  • Windham County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Old Saybrook, with the one closest to Old Saybrook listed first.
    • South Windham
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Willimantic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
    • Windham
      (30 miles [48.3 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
    • Windham
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
  • Suffolk County (NY)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Old Saybrook, with the one closest to Old Saybrook listed first.
    • East Marion
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Orient
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Orient Point
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Orient Point is located in Suffolk County (NY)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orient Point
    • Dering Harbor
      (13 miles [20.9 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
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Shelter Island Heights
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Shelter Island Heights is located in Suffolk County (NY)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shelter Island Heights
    • Shelter Island
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Southold
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Westmoreland
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Westmoreland is located in Suffolk County (NY)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westmoreland
    • Peconic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Fishers Island
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • 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
  • Washington County (RI)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Old Saybrook, with the one closest to Old Saybrook listed first.
    • Avondale
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Avondale is located in Washington County (RI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avondale
    • Westerly
      (28 miles [45.1 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
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Westerly is located in Washington County (RI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westerly

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

Cemeteries Near Old Saybrook ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Old Saybrook.

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 Old Saybrook - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Riverside Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • St. Johns Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Upper Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Cypress Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Lady Fenwicks Grave
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Duck River Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Champion Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Griswold Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Cypress Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cypress Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Cypress Cemetery is located outside and to the northeast of Westbrook.
  • Central Burying Ground
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Waite Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Riverview Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (399 more) ...
    • Ely Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Champion Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Sterling Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)

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

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

  • Fenwick
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Fenwick is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fenwick
  • Saybrook Point
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Saybrook Point is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saybrook Point
  • Black Hall
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Black Hall is located in New London County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Hall
  • Westbrook
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Essex
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Grove Beach
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Grove Beach is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grove Beach
  • Ivoryton
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • South Lyme
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Hamburg
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Hamburg is located in New London County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hamburg
  • Brockway
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Brockway is located in New London County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brockway
  • Deep River
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Lyme
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Lyme is located in New London County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyme
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Winthrop
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Winthrop is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winthrop
    • Clinton
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Chester
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Old Saybrook ...

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 94 newspapers that have been published in the area around Old Saybrook.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Old Saybrook. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Old Saybrook and those printed in the larger area surrounding Old Saybrook.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 16 miles [25.7 km]<4> of Old Saybrook.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These websites either 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 Old Saybrook:

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 Old Saybrook, 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Old Saybrook) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.