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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 Pleasant Valley (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 Pleasant Valley. 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 Pleasant Valley ...

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.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might occur.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Pleasant Valley: Pleasant Vly. (or less commonly used: Pleasant Vally. or Pleasant Vlly.)

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Pleasant Valley. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Pleasant Valley.

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.

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

  • New London County     (The home county of Pleasant Valley)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pleasant Valley, with the one closest to Pleasant Valley listed first.
    • Conning Towers - Nautilus Park
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Long Hill
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Long Hill is located in New London County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Hill
    • New London
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Quaker Hill
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Groton
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Groton is located in New London County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Groton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 38,258 people
    • Pequot Village
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Pequot Village is located in New London County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pequot Village
    • Gales Ferry
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Eastern Point
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Eastern Point is located in New London County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastern Point
    • Groton
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • 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 <1>
    • New London
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • New London is located in New London County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New London
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 26,870 people
    • Poquonock Bridge
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Poquonock Bridge is located in New London County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poquonock Bridge
    • Waterford
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Hartford County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pleasant Valley, with the one closest to Pleasant Valley listed first.
    • Marlborough
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Terramuggus
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Terramuggus is located in Hartford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Terramuggus
    • Marlborough
      (28 miles [45.1 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
  • Middlesex County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pleasant Valley, with the one closest to Pleasant Valley listed first.
    • Crowley Corner
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Crowley Corner is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crowley Corner
    • Fenwick
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Fenwick is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fenwick
    • Old Saybrook
      (16 miles [25.7 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
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Plum Bank Beach
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Plum Bank Beach is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plum Bank Beach
    • Centerbrook
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Essex
      (17 miles [27.4 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
    • Essex
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Saybrook Manor
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Saybrook Manor is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saybrook Manor
    • East Haddam
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • East Haddam is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Haddam
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,956 people
    • Deep River
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Chester
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
  • New Haven County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pleasant Valley, with the one closest to Pleasant Valley listed first.
    • Madison
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Madison
      (28 miles [45.1 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
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • East River is located in New Haven County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East River
    • North Madison
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • North Madison is located in New Haven County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Madison
  • Tolland County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pleasant Valley, with the one closest to Pleasant Valley listed first.
    • Amston
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Turnerville ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Turnerville is located in Tolland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turnerville
    • Hebron
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Columbia
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Columbia is located in Tolland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Columbia
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,355 people
    • Columbia
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Hebron
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Hebron is located in Tolland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hebron
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,480 people
    • Conantville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Conantville is located in Tolland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conantville
    • Mansfield Center
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Gilead
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Gilead is located in Tolland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilead
    • Atwoodville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Atwoodville is located in Tolland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atwoodville
    • Mansfield City
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Mansfield City is located in Tolland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mansfield City
    • Andover
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Andover is located in Tolland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Andover
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,228 people
  • Windham County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pleasant Valley, with the one closest to Pleasant Valley listed first.
    • South Windham
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Canterbury
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Canterbury is located in Windham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canterbury
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,088 people
    • Plainfield Village
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Plainfield Village is located in Windham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plainfield Village
    • Plainfield
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Scotland
      (22 miles [35.4 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
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Ekonk
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Ekonk is located in Windham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ekonk
    • Canterbury
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Westminster
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Westminster is located in Windham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westminster
    • Windham
      (23 miles [37 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
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Plainfield
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Plainfield is located in Windham County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plainfield
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 15,084 people
  • Suffolk County (NY)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pleasant Valley, with the one closest to Pleasant Valley listed first.
    • Fishers Island
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Orient Point
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Orient Point is located in Suffolk County (NY)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orient Point
    • Orient
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • East Marion
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Montauk
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Dering Harbor
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Dering Harbor is located in Suffolk County (NY)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dering Harbor
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 11 people
    • Greenport
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Ditch Plains
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Ditch Plains is located in Suffolk County (NY)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ditch Plains
    • Napeague
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Napeague is located in Suffolk County (NY)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Napeague
    • Springs
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Springs is located in Suffolk County (NY)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springs
    • Shelter Island Heights
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Shelter Island Heights is located in Suffolk County (NY)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shelter Island Heights
    • Alberts Landing
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Alberts Landing is located in Suffolk County (NY)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alberts Landing
  • Kent County (RI)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pleasant Valley, with the one closest to Pleasant Valley listed first.
    • Greene
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Greene is located in Kent County (RI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greene
    • Rice City
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Rice City is located in Kent County (RI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rice City
    • West Greenwich
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • West Greenwich is located in Kent County (RI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Greenwich
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,418 people
    • Kitts Corner
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Kitts Corner is located in Kent County (RI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kitts Corner
    • Coventry
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Coventry is located in Kent County (RI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coventry
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 34,931 people
    • Gortons Corner
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Gortons Corner is located in Kent County (RI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gortons Corner
  • Washington County (RI)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Pleasant Valley, with the one closest to Pleasant Valley listed first.
    • Avondale
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Avondale is located in Washington County (RI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avondale
    • Westerly
      (12 miles [19.3 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
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Westerly is located in Washington County (RI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westerly
    • Ashaway
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Ashaway is located in Washington County (RI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashaway
    • Langworthy Corner
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Langworthy Corner is located in Washington County (RI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Langworthy Corner
    • Bradford
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Bradford is located in Washington County (RI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bradford
    • Weekapaug
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Weekapaug is located in Washington County (RI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weekapaug
    • Hopkinton
      (16 miles [25.7 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
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Hopkinton is located in Washington County (RI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopkinton
    • Burdickville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Burdickville is located in Washington County (RI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burdickville
    • Alton
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Alton is located in Washington County (RI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alton
    • Canonchet
      (19 miles [30.6 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 Pleasant Valley, see our County-by-County Page for Pleasant Valley.

Cemeteries Near Pleasant Valley ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Pleasant Valley.

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 Pleasant Valley - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Starr Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Bethel Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Ye Antientist Burial Ground
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Col Ledyard Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Toll Gate Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Captain Hopley Yeaton Memorial
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • St. Mary Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for St. Mary Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the St. Mary Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the west of New London.
    • The St. Mary Cemetery has also been known as:
    • St. Marys Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #103670 <2>
  • Cedar Grove Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Grove Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Cedar Grove Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located outside and to the northwest of New London.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #103253 <2>
  • Smith Lake Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Turner Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Jordan Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Gardiners Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (501 more) ...
    • Lester Cemetery
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Congregation Ohave Sholem Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Gay Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 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 Pleasant Valley in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Pleasant Valley.

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

  • New London
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Quaker Hill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Waterford
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Groton
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • 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 <1>
  • Poquonock Bridge
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Poquonock Bridge is located in New London County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poquonock Bridge
  • Gales Ferry
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Uncasville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • West Mystic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Allyn Point
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Allyn Point is located in New London County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allyn Point
  • Noank
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Mystic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Old Mystic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Ledyard
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Massapeag
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Massapeag is located in New London County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Massapeag
    • Niantic
      (6 miles [9.7 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 Pleasant Valley. See our List of 1890's Communities around Pleasant Valley.

Newspapers Published in Pleasant Valley ...

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 37 newspapers that have been published in the area around Pleasant Valley.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Pleasant Valley, there are papers which were published within 14 miles [22.5 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Pleasant Valley.

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 Pleasant Valley:

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 Pleasant Valley, 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- Pleasant Valley) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.