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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 South Canaan (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 South Canaan. 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 South Canaan ...

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 have occurred.

For example, a typical abbreviation for South Canaan: S. Canaan

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 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.

South Canaan is located in Litchfield County.

To see how the shape of Connecticut's counties have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Litchfield County: Fairfield, Hartford, New Haven, Berkshire (MA), Hampden (MA), Columbia (NY) & Dutchess (NY).

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

  • Litchfield County     (The home county of South Canaan)
    • The following are listed by their distance from South Canaan, with the one closest to South Canaan listed first.
    • Canaan
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Canaan have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canaan
      • Canaan is located in Litchfield County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,051 people
    • Falls Village
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Amesville
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Lower City
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lower City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lower City
      • Lower City is located in Litchfield County
    • Lime Rock
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Canaan
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Wangum Village
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wangum Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wangum Village
      • Wangum Village is located in Litchfield County
    • East Canaan
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Canaan have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Canaan
      • East Canaan is located in Litchfield County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for East Canaan <2>
    • North Canaan
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Canaan have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Canaan
      • North Canaan is located in Litchfield County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,235 people
    • Twin Lakes
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Salisbury
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Salisbury have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salisbury
      • Salisbury is located in Litchfield County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,584 people
    • Salisbury
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Fairfield County
    • The following are listed by their distance from South Canaan, with the one closest to South Canaan listed first.
    • Sherman
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sherman have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sherman
      • Sherman is located in Fairfield County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,610 people
    • Sherman
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
  • Hartford County
    • The following are listed by their distance from South Canaan, with the one closest to South Canaan listed first.
    • Hartland
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hartland have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartland
      • Hartland is located in Hartford County
    • West Hartland
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Hartland
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hartland have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartland
      • Hartland is located in Hartford County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,113 people
    • Canton Center
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Canton
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Canton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canton
      • Canton is located in Hartford County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,230 people
    • East Hartland
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Hartland have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Hartland
      • East Hartland is located in Hartford County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for East Hartland <2>
    • North Canton
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Canton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Canton
      • North Canton is located in Hartford County
    • Bloomfield
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Burlington
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Burlington have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burlington
      • Burlington is located in Hartford County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,748 people
    • Burlington
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Burlington have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burlington
      • Burlington is located in Hartford County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Burlington <2>
    • Collinsville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Canton Valley
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Canton Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canton Valley
      • Canton Valley is located in Hartford County
  • New Haven County
  • Berkshire County (MA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from South Canaan, with the one closest to South Canaan listed first.
    • Ashley Falls
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Clayton
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Clayton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clayton
      • Clayton is located in Berkshire County (MA)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Clayton
      • From South Canaan to Clayton
    • Gomorrah
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Mill River
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Sheffield
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Southfield
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Southfield have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Southfield
      • Southfield is located in Berkshire County (MA)
    • South Sandisfield
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Mount Washington
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Washington have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Washington
      • Mount Washington is located in Berkshire County (MA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 156 people
    • New Marlborough
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Hartsville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • South Egremont
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Egremont have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Egremont
      • South Egremont is located in Berkshire County (MA)
    • Sandisfield
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Hampden County (MA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from South Canaan, with the one closest to South Canaan listed first.
    • Tolland
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tolland have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tolland
      • Tolland is located in Hampden County (MA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 506 people
    • West Granville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • North Blandford
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Granville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Granville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Granville
      • Granville is located in Hampden County (MA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,606 people
    • Blandford
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Blandford have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blandford
      • Blandford is located in Hampden County (MA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,249 people
    • Chester
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chester have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chester
      • Chester is located in Hampden County (MA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,365 people
    • Southwick
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Southwick have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Southwick
      • Southwick is located in Hampden County (MA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,715 people
    • Russell
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Woronoco
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Chester Center
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Hampshire County (MA)
    • Huntington
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Huntington have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huntington
      • Huntington is located in Hampshire County (MA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,159 people
  • Columbia County (NY)
  • Dutchess County (NY)

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

Cemeteries Near South Canaan ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of South Canaan.

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.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

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

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

  • Sand Hill Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sand Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sand Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Under Mtn. Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Under Mtn. Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Under Mtn. Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Patricks Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Patricks Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Patricks Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hunt Memorial Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hunt Memorial Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hunt Memorial Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Barrack Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Barrack Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Barrack Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Lower City Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lower City Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lower City Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Dutcher Bridge Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Dutcher Bridge Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Dutcher Bridge Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Munson Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Munson Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Munson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Root Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Root Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Root Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mountain View Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mountain View Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mountain View Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Sedgwick Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sedgwick Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sedgwick Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Canaan Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Canaan Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Canaan Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (280 more) ...
    • Wright Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wright Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wright Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • South Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Sharon Eastside Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sharon Eastside Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sharon Eastside Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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.<5>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that South Canaan had a population of 150 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

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

Newspapers Published in South Canaan ...

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 83 newspapers that have been published in the area around South Canaan.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of South Canaan, there are papers which were published within 17 miles [27.4 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for South Canaan.

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 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 South Canaan:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for South Canaan. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for State of Connecticut: https://portal.ct.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<4>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.
<5>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 South Canaan, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>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- South Canaan) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in South Canaan. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.9618, Longitude: -73.3345    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025