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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 Shelton (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 Shelton. 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 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.

Shelton is located in Fairfield 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 Fairfield County: Litchfield, New Haven, Dutchess (NY), Putnam (NY) & Westchester (NY).

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

  • Fairfield County     (The home county of Shelton)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shelton, with the one closest to Shelton listed first.
    • Shelton
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Shelton is also located in Fairfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shelton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 40,957 people
    • Huntington
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • White Hills
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Oronoque
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • East Village
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • East Village is also located in Fairfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Village
    • Monroe
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Stevenson
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Nichols
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Monroe
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Monroe is also located in Fairfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monroe
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 19,328 people
    • Stratford
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Stratford is also located in Fairfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stratford
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 51,660 people
    • Long Hill
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Trumbull
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Trumbull is also located in Fairfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trumbull
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 35,438 people
  • Hartford County
  • Litchfield County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shelton, with the one closest to Shelton listed first.
    • Russian Village
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Russian Village is located in Litchfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Russian Village
    • Woodbury
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Woodbury
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Woodbury is located in Litchfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodbury
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,453 people
    • Hotchkissville ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Oakville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Roxbury
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Roxbury is located in Litchfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roxbury
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,150 people
    • Roxbury
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Watertown
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Watertown is located in Litchfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Watertown
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 21,517 people
    • Watertown
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Bridgewater
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Bridgewater is located in Litchfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bridgewater
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,632 people
    • Bridgewater
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Roxbury Station
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Middlesex County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shelton, with the one closest to Shelton listed first.
    • Durham
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Durham is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Durham
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,137 people
    • Durham
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Middlefield
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Middlefield is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middlefield
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,350 people
    • Middlefield
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Killingworth
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Killingworth is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Killingworth
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,340 people
    • Killingworth
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Little City
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Little City is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little City
    • Middletown
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Middletown is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middletown
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 46,013 people
    • Middletown
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Clinton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Clinton is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clinton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 12,881 people
    • Clinton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Ponset
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
  • New Haven County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shelton, with the one closest to Shelton listed first.
    • Derby
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Derby is located in New Haven County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Derby
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 12,257 people
    • Derby
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Ansonia
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Ansonia is located in New Haven County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ansonia
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 18,525 people
    • Ansonia
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Seymour
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Seymour is located in New Haven County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seymour
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 16,326 people
    • Orange
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Orange is located in New Haven County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orange
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 13,882 people
    • Orange
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Seymour
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Woodbridge
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Woodbridge is located in New Haven County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodbridge
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,704 people
    • Woodbridge
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Milford
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Milford is located in New Haven County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milford
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 54,781 people
    • Milford
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Putnam County (NY)
  • Suffolk County (NY)
  • Westchester County (NY)

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

Cemeteries Near Shelton ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Shelton.

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

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

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

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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Shelton had railroad service and no post office. In 2020, Shelton had a population of 40,957 people.

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

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Shelton ...

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 177 newspapers that have been published in the area around Shelton.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Shelton. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Shelton and those printed in the larger area surrounding Shelton.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 12 miles [19.3 km]<3> of Shelton.

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 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 Shelton:

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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Shelton) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Shelton, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.