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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 Tolland (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 Tolland. 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 Tolland ...

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.

In past government published Postal Guides, Tolland was referred to as Tolland Courthouse.

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

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.

For more information about how community names might have been affected by the Board of Geographic Names (BGN), see our page about Placename Rules.

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 doctors and hospitals 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.

Tolland is located in Tolland 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 Tolland County: Hartford, New London, Windham, Hampden (MA) & Worcester (MA).

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

  • Tolland County     (The home county of Tolland)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Tolland, with the one closest to Tolland listed first.
    • Tolland
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Tolland is located in Tolland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tolland
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 14,567 people
    • Quarryville
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Quarryville is located in Tolland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quarryville
    • South Willington
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Crystal Lake
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Rockville
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Willington
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Ellington
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Ellington is located in Tolland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellington
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 16,652 people
    • Mansfield Depot
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Vernon
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Vernon is located in Tolland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vernon
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 29,400 people
    • Ellington
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Windermere
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Coventry
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Coventry is located in Tolland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coventry
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 12,389 people
  • Hartford County
  • Litchfield County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Tolland, with the one closest to Tolland listed first.
    • Hampsted
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Hampsted is located in Litchfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hampsted
    • Barkhamsted
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Pine Meadow
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
    • Puddle Town
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Puddle Town is located in Litchfield County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Puddle Town
  • Middlesex County
  • New London County
  • Windham County
  • Hampden County (MA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Tolland, with the one closest to Tolland listed first.
    • State Line
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Hampden
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Hampden is located in Hampden County (MA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hampden
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,154 people
    • South Factory Village
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • South Factory Village is located in Hampden County (MA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Factory Village
    • Baptist Village
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Baptist Village is located in Hampden County (MA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baptist Village
    • Wales
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • East Longmeadow
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • East Longmeadow is located in Hampden County (MA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Longmeadow
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 16,093 people
    • Monson
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Longmeadow
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Wilbraham
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Holland
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Agawam
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Brimfield
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Brimfield is located in Hampden County (MA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brimfield
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,679 people
  • Hampshire County (MA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Tolland, with the one closest to Tolland listed first.
    • Bondsville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Bondsville is located in Hampshire County (MA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bondsville
    • Belchertown
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Granby
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Granby is located in Hampshire County (MA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Granby
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,262 people
    • Ware
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • South Hadley
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Enfield ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
    • Southampton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Southampton is located in Hampshire County (MA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Southampton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,162 people
  • Worcester County (MA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Tolland, with the one closest to Tolland listed first.
    • Fiskdale
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Old Sturbridge Village
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Old Sturbridge Village is located in Worcester County (MA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Sturbridge Village
    • Globe Village
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Globe Village is located in Worcester County (MA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Globe Village
    • Southbridge
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Sturbridge
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Sturbridge is located in Worcester County (MA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sturbridge
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,561 people
    • West Warren
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Warren
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Warren is located in Worcester County (MA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warren
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,203 people
    • Dudley
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Dudley is located in Worcester County (MA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dudley
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 11,663 people
    • Tufts Village ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Tufts Village is located in Worcester County (MA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tufts Village
    • Brookfield
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Brookfield is located in Worcester County (MA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookfield
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,439 people
    • Charlton City
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Charlton
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Charlton is located in Worcester County (MA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charlton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 13,698 people
  • Providence County (RI)

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

Cemeteries Near Tolland ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Tolland.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Tolland, with the one closest to Tolland 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.<3>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Tolland had a population of 375 people in 1895 with railroad service and no post office.

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

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Tolland ...

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 84 newspapers that have been published in the area around Tolland.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Tolland. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Tolland and those printed in the larger area surrounding Tolland.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 14 miles [22.5 km]<4> of Tolland.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to 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 Tolland:

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 Tolland, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Tolland) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.