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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 Beechwood (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 Beechwood. 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 doctors 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.

Beechwood is located in Norfolk 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 Norfolk County: Bristol, Middlesex, Plymouth, Suffolk, Worcester & Providence (RI).

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

  • Norfolk County     (The home county of Beechwood)
  • Bristol County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Beechwood, with the one closest to Beechwood listed first.
    • North Easton
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • North Easton is located in Bristol County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Easton
    • South Easton
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • South Easton is located in Bristol County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Easton
    • Easton Center
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Easton
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Easton is located in Bristol County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Easton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 25,116 people
    • Furnace Village
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Furnace Village is located in Bristol County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Furnace Village
    • East Mansfield
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Raynham
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Mansfield
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Raynham Center
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Raynham Center is located in Bristol County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raynham Center
    • East Taunton
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Norton
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Taunton
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Essex County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Beechwood, with the one closest to Beechwood listed first.
    • Nahant
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • East Lynn
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Lynn
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Swampscott
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Clifton
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Cliftondale
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Pleasant Hills
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Pleasant Hills is located in Essex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Hills
    • West Lynn
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Marblehead
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Marblehead is located in Essex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marblehead
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 20,551 people
    • West Town Landing
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • West Town Landing is located in Essex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Town Landing
    • Saugus
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Salem
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
  • Middlesex County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Beechwood, with the one closest to Beechwood listed first.
    • Cambridgeport
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Cambridgeport is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cambridgeport
    • Everett
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Somerville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Cambridge
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Chestnut Hill
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Chestnut Hill is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Hill
    • Edgeworth
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Edgeworth is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgeworth
    • Malden
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Wellington
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Huron Village
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Huron Village is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huron Village
    • Medford
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Newton Centre
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Wyoming
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Plymouth County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Beechwood, with the one closest to Beechwood listed first.
    • North Scituate
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • North Scituate is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Scituate
    • Minot
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Minot is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minot
    • Norwell
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Scituate
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Scituate is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scituate
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 19,047 people
    • Hingham
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • West Hingham
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • West Hingham is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Hingham
    • Greenbush
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Greenbush is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenbush
    • Accord
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Kenberma
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Kenberma is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kenberma
    • North Marshfield
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • North Marshfield is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Marshfield
    • Bayside
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Bayside is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayside
    • Hanover
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Suffolk County

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

Cemeteries Near Beechwood ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Beechwood.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Beechwood, with the one closest to Beechwood 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 Beechwood had a population of 298 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • North Scituate
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • North Scituate is located in Plymouth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Scituate
  • South Hingham
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • South Hingham is located in Plymouth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Hingham
  • Cohasset
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Cohasset is located in Norfolk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cohasset
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,529 people
  • Norwell
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • North Cohasset
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Scituate Center
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Scituate Center is located in Plymouth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scituate Center
  • Egypt
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Egypt is located in Plymouth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Egypt
  • Hingham Center
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Hingham Center is located in Plymouth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hingham Center
  • Greenbush
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Greenbush is located in Plymouth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenbush
  • Scituate
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Scituate is located in Plymouth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scituate
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 19,047 people
  • Hingham
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • West Hingham
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • West Hingham is located in Plymouth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Hingham
  • Continue List   (20 more) ...
    • North Hanover
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • North Hanover is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Hanover
    • North Marshfield
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • North Marshfield is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Marshfield
    • Kenberma
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Kenberma is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kenberma

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

Newspapers Published in Beechwood ...

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 44 newspapers that have been published in the area around Beechwood.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Beechwood, there are papers which were published within 11 miles [17.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Beechwood.

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 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 Beechwood:

Footnotes ...

<1>The Massachusetts Historical Commission (MHC) has created and maintains a database of historic properties that is called MACRIS (for the Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System). More information about the MHC and MACRIS can be found on their website: mhc-macris.net.

When visiting the MACRIS website, you might encounter their page requiring the 'Acceptance of Terms'. With your acceptance, you'll be transfered to the desired page.

<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 Beechwood, 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' (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- Beechwood) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.