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 Preston (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 Preston. 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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.
Preston 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 Preston. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Preston:
New London County (The home county of Preston)
The following are listed by their distance from Preston, with the one closest to Preston listed first.
Preston (Less than 2 miles to the west)
Preston is also located in New London County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Preston Population from the 2020 Census: 4,629 people
Mashantucket (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
Hallville (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
Hallville is also located in New London County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hallville Glasgo (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
Griswold (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
Griswold is also located in New London County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Griswold Population from the 2020 Census: 11,660 people
Taftville (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
Greenville (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
Greenville is also located in New London County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenville Jewett City (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
Lisbon (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
Lisbon is also located in New London County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lisbon Population from the 2020 Census: 4,238 people
Norwich (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
Norwich is also located in New London County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norwich Population from the 2020 Census: 38,619 people
Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Norwich <1>
Ledyard (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
Ledyard is also located in New London County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ledyard Population from the 2020 Census: 14,579 people
Ledyard (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
North Stonington (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
North Stonington is also located in New London County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Stonington Population from the 2020 Census: 5,197 people
Hartford County
The following are listed by their distance from Preston, with the one closest to Preston listed first.
Marlborough (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
Terramuggus (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
Terramuggus is located in Hartford County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Terramuggus Marlborough (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
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 Preston, with the one closest to Preston listed first.
Crowley Corner (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
Crowley Corner is located in Middlesex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crowley Corner East Haddam (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
East Haddam is located in Middlesex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Haddam Population from the 2020 Census: 8,956 people
Little Haddam (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
Little Haddam is located in Middlesex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Haddam Moodus (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
Deep River (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
Essex (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
Essex is located in Middlesex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Essex Population from the 2020 Census: 6,634 people
Essex (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
East Haddam (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
Johnsonville ‑ Historic(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
Johnsonville was located in Middlesex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnsonville Johnsonville has also been known as:
Johnsonville Village Centerbrook (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
Fenwick (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
Fenwick is located in Middlesex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fenwick Old Saybrook (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
Old Saybrook is located in Middlesex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Saybrook Population from the 2020 Census: 10,028 people
Chester (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
Tolland County
The following are listed by their distance from Preston, with the one closest to Preston listed first.
Conantville (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
Conantville is located in Tolland County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conantville Atwoodville (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
Atwoodville is located in Tolland County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atwoodville Columbia (20 miles [32.2 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 (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
Mansfield Center (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
Amston (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
Turnerville ‑ Historic(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
Turnerville was located in Tolland County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turnerville Mansfield City (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
Mansfield City is located in Tolland County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mansfield City Hebron (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
Mansfield (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
Mount Hope (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
Mount Hope is located in Tolland County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Hope Coventry (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
Eagleville (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
Eagleville is located in Tolland County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagleville Windham County
The following are listed by their distance from Preston, with the one closest to Preston listed first.
Plainfield Village (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
Plainfield Village is located in Windham County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plainfield Village Plainfield (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
Ekonk (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
Ekonk is located in Windham County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ekonk Canterbury (11 miles [17.7 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
Canterbury (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
Plainfield (12 miles [19.3 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
Westminster (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
Westminster is located in Windham County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westminster Scotland (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
Central Village (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
Moosup (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
Scotland (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
Scotland is located in Windham County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scotland Population from the 2020 Census: 1,664 people
Almyville (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
Almyville is located in Windham County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Almyville Oneco (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
Suffolk County (NY)
The following are listed by their distance from Preston, with the one closest to Preston listed first.
Fishers Island (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
Orient Point (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
Orient Point is located in Suffolk County (NY) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orient Point Kent County (RI)
The following are listed by their distance from Preston, with the one closest to Preston listed first.
Greene (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
Greene is located in Kent County (RI) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greene Rice City (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
Rice City is located in Kent County (RI) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rice City West Greenwich (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
West Greenwich is located in Kent County (RI) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Greenwich Population from the 2020 Census: 6,418 people
Coventry (19 miles [30.6 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 (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
Gortons Corner is located in Kent County (RI) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gortons Corner Kitts Corner (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
Kitts Corner is located in Kent County (RI) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kitts Corner Coventry (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
Coventry is located in Kent County (RI) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coventry Spring Lake (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
Spring Lake is located in Kent County (RI) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Lake Shippee Corner (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
Shippee Corner is located in Kent County (RI) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shippee Corner East Greenwich (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
East Greenwich is located in Kent County (RI) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Greenwich Population from the 2020 Census: 13,141 people
Arkwright (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
Arkwright is located in Kent County (RI) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arkwright Quidnick (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
Quidnick is located in Kent County (RI) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quidnick Phenix (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
Phenix is located in Kent County (RI) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Phenix Newport County (RI)
The following are listed by their distance from Preston, with the one closest to Preston listed first.
Clarks Village (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
Clarks Village is located in Newport County (RI) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarks Village Jamestown (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
Jamestown is located in Newport County (RI) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamestown Population from the 2020 Census: 5,482 people
Providence County (RI)
The following are listed by their distance from Preston, with the one closest to Preston listed first.
Foster (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
Foster is located in Providence County (RI) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foster Population from the 2020 Census: 4,747 people
Clayville (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
Clayville is located in Providence County (RI) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clayville Simmons Corner (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
Simmons Corner is located in Providence County (RI) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Simmons Corner Richmond ‑ Historic(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
Richmond was located in Providence County (RI) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richmond Rockland ‑ Historic(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
Rockland was located in Providence County (RI) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockland Chopmist (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
Chopmist is located in Providence County (RI) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chopmist Foster (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
Foster is located in Providence County (RI) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foster Kent ‑ Historic(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
Kent was located in Providence County (RI) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kent Ashland ‑ Historic(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
Ashland was located in Providence County (RI) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashland Scituate (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
Scituate is located in Providence County (RI) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scituate Population from the 2020 Census: 10,727 people
West Glocester (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
West Glocester is located in Providence County (RI) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Glocester Burrillville (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
Burrillville is located in Providence County (RI) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burrillville Population from the 2020 Census: 16,810 people
North Scituate (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
North Scituate is located in Providence County (RI) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Scituate Washington County (RI)
The following are listed by their distance from Preston, with the one closest to Preston listed first.
Hopkinton (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
Hopkinton is located in Washington County (RI) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopkinton Population from the 2020 Census: 8,095 people
Hopkinton (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
Hopkinton is located in Washington County (RI) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopkinton Canonchet (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
Canonchet is located in Washington County (RI) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canonchet Moscow (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
Moscow is located in Washington County (RI) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moscow Ashaway (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
Ashaway is located in Washington County (RI) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashaway Westerly (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
Westerly is located in Washington County (RI) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westerly Hope Valley (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
Hope Valley is located in Washington County (RI) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hope Valley Westerly (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
Westerly is located in Washington County (RI) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westerly Population from the 2020 Census: 22,328 people
Arcadia (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
Arcadia is located in Washington County (RI) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arcadia Lewis City (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
Lewis City is located in Washington County (RI) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lewis City Alton (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
Alton is located in Washington County (RI) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alton Bradford (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
Bradford is located in Washington County (RI) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bradford Burdickville (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
Burdickville is located in Washington County (RI) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burdickville
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Preston, see our County-by-County Page for Preston .
Cemeteries Near Preston ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Preston.
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 Preston - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Preston covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Preston, with the one closest to Preston listed first.
Fobes - Amos Cemetery (Less than 2 miles to the west)
Davis Cemetery (Less than 2 miles to the east)
Crary Cemetery (Less than 2 miles to the east)
Smallpox Cemetery (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
Gore Cemetery (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
Avery Cemetery (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
Woodward Cemetery (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
Brown Cemetery (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
Gates Cemetery (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
Leonard Cemetery (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
Long Society Cemetery (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
Hamilton Ave. Cemetery (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
Continue List (706 more) ...
Hebrew Cemetery (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
Poquetanuck Cemetery (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
Fanning Cemetery (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
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.<2>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Preston had a population of 204 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Preston, with the one closest to Preston listed first.
Shewville (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
Shewville is also located in New London County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shewville Poquetanuck (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
Poquetanuck is also located in New London County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poquetanuck Glasgo (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
Taftville (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
Greenville (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
Greenville is also located in New London County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenville Jewett City (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
Norwich (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
Norwich is also located in New London County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norwich Population from the 2020 Census: 38,619 people
Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Norwich <1>
Thamesville (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
Thamesville is also located in New London County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thamesville Ledyard (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
Voluntown (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
Versailles (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
Mohegan ‑ Historic(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
Mohegan was located in New London County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mohegan Continue List (15 more) ...
Massapeag (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
Massapeag is also located in New London County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Massapeag North Stonington (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
Norwichtown (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
Norwichtown is also located in New London County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norwichtown
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Preston. See our List of 1890's Communities around Preston .
Newspapers Published in Preston ...
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 120 newspapers that have been published in the area around Preston.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Preston, there are papers which were published within 15 miles [24.1 km]<3> Extended Newspaper List for Preston.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 Preston:
Websites specific to Connecticut Pages specific to New London County Genealogy information for nearby counties
Hartford County Middlesex County Tolland County Windham County Suffolk County Kent County Newport County Providence County Washington County Cemetery Information and Directories for Connecticut Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Preston. 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. 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 Preston, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Preston) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.