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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 Barre (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 Barre. 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.

A Few Details for Barre ...

While it's still very early in our research, we found that:

  • Barre was settled in 1720.
  • It was incorporated in 1774.

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.

Barre is located in Worcester County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Worcester County: Tolland (CT), Windham (CT), Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire, Middlesex, Norfolk, Cheshire (NH), Hillsborough (NH) & Providence (RI).

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

  • Worcester County     (The home county of Barre)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Barre, with the one closest to Barre listed first.
    • Heald Village
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Heald Village is located in Worcester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heald Village
    • Mill Village
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Mill Village is located in Worcester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mill Village
    • South Barre
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • South Barre is located in Worcester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Barre
    • Barre Plains
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Wheelwright
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Wheelwright is located in Worcester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheelwright
    • Oakham
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Oakham is located in Worcester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakham
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,950 people
    • North Rutland
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Hubbardston
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Petersham
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Hubbardston Station
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Hardwick
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Hardwick is located in Worcester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hardwick
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,047 people
    • Dana ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Franklin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Barre, with the one closest to Barre listed first.
    • Millington ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • New Salem
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • New Salem is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Salem
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,034 people
    • Smiths ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Cooleyville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Morse Village
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Morse Village is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morse Village
    • Orange
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Shutesbury
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • North Orange
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Tully
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Wendell Depot
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Wendell Depot is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wendell Depot
    • Wendell
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Wendell is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wendell
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 881 people
    • Locks Village
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Locks Village is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locks Village
  • Hampden County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Barre, with the one closest to Barre listed first.
    • West Brimfield
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • West Brimfield is located in Hampden County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Brimfield
    • Thorndike
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Thorndike is located in Hampden County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thorndike
    • Brimfield
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Brimfield is located in Hampden County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brimfield
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,679 people
    • Palmer
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Tenneyville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Three Rivers
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Holland
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Ludlow City
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Ludlow City is located in Hampden County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ludlow City
    • Monson
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • North Wilbraham
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Wales
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Ludlow
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Ludlow is located in Hampden County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ludlow
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 21,101 people
  • Hampshire County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Barre, with the one closest to Barre listed first.
    • Enfield ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Ware
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Pelham
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Belchertown
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Bondsville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Bondsville is located in Hampshire County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bondsville
    • West Pelham
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • East Village
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • East Village is located in Hampshire County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Village
    • Amherst Center
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Amherst Center is located in Hampshire County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amherst Center
    • Amherst
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • North Amherst
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • South Amherst
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • South Amherst is located in Hampshire County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Amherst
    • Granby
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Granby is located in Hampshire County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Granby
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,262 people
  • Middlesex County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Barre, with the one closest to Barre listed first.
    • Ashby
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • South Village
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • South Village is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Village
    • Shaker Village
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Shaker Village is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shaker Village
    • Shirley
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Old City
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Old City is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old City
    • West Townsend
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • West Townsend is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Townsend
    • Devens
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Townsend
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Ayer
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Hudson
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Hudson is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hudson
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 19,732 people
    • Townsend Harbor
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • West Groton
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • West Groton is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Groton
  • Tolland County (CT)
  • Windham County (CT)
  • Cheshire County (NH)
  • Hillsborough County (NH)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Barre, with the one closest to Barre listed first.
    • New Ipswich
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Greenville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Mason
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Mason is located in Hillsborough County (NH)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mason
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,433 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mason <1>
    • Sharon
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Temple
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Temple is located in Hillsborough County (NH)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Temple
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,434 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Temple <1>
  • Windham County (VT)

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

Cemeteries Near Barre ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Barre.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Barre, with the one closest to Barre 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.<2>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Barre had a population of 2,090 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Barre had a population of 5,574 people.

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

  • Barre Plains
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Smithville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Smithville is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smithville
  • Coldbrook Springs
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Coldbrook Springs is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coldbrook Springs
  • Williamsville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Williamsville is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williamsville
  • Oakham
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Oakham is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakham
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,950 people
  • Nichewaug ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Nichewaug is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nichewaug
  • Furnace
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Furnace is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Furnace
  • North Rutland
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Hubbardston
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Petersham
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Hardwick
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Hardwick is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hardwick
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,047 people
  • New Braintree
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • New Braintree is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Braintree
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,020 people
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Barre ...

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 45 newspapers that have been published in the area around Barre.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Barre. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Barre and those printed in the larger area surrounding Barre.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 17 miles [27.4 km]<3> of Barre.

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 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 Barre:

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>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 Barre, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Barre) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.