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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 Boston (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 Boston. 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 Boston ...

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, Boston was referred to as Boston Courthouse.

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

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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors 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.

Boston is located in Suffolk County and is the County Seat.

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 Suffolk County: Essex, Middlesex & Norfolk.

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

  • Suffolk County     (The home county of Boston)
  • Bristol County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Boston, with the one closest to Boston listed first.
    • North Easton
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • North Easton is located in Bristol County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Easton
    • South Easton
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • South Easton is located in Bristol County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Easton
    • Easton Center
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Easton
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Easton is located in Bristol County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Easton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 25,116 people
    • Furnace Village
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Furnace Village is located in Bristol County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Furnace Village
    • East Mansfield
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Mansfield
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Norton
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Raynham
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Chartley
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Chartley is located in Bristol County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chartley
    • North Attleboro
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • North Attleboro is located in Bristol County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Attleboro
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 29,470 people
    • Raynham Center
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Raynham Center is located in Bristol County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raynham Center
    • Attleboro Falls
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Attleboro Falls is located in Bristol County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Attleboro Falls
  • Essex County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Boston, with the one closest to Boston listed first.
    • Cliftondale
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Pleasant Hills
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Pleasant Hills is located in Essex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Hills
    • Saugus
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Nahant
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • West Lynn
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • East Lynn
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Lynn
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Swampscott
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Lynnfield
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Clifton
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Marblehead
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Marblehead is located in Essex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marblehead
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 20,551 people
    • Peabody
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Salem
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Middlesex County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Boston, with the one closest to Boston listed first.
    • Somerville
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Cambridgeport
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Cambridgeport is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cambridgeport
    • Everett
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Wellington
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Cambridge
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Edgeworth
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Edgeworth is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgeworth
    • Malden
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Medford
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Huron Village
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Huron Village is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huron Village
    • West Medford
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • West Medford is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Medford
    • Chestnut Hill
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Chestnut Hill is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Hill
    • Arlington
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Belmont
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Norfolk County
  • Plymouth County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Boston, with the one closest to Boston listed first.
    • Hull
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Bayside
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Bayside is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayside
    • Kenberma
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Kenberma is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kenberma
    • Hingham
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • West Hingham
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • West Hingham is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Hingham
    • Accord
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • North Abington
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • North Scituate
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • North Scituate is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Scituate
    • Montello
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Minot
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Minot is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minot
    • Rockland
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Rockland is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockland
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 17,992 people
    • Abington
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Brockton
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
  • Worcester County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Boston, with the one closest to Boston listed first.
    • Fayville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Cordaville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Southborough
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Southville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Shaker Village
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Shaker Village is located in Worcester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shaker Village
    • Milford
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • South Milford
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Bolton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Chapinville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Chapinville is located in Worcester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chapinville
    • Harvard
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Hopedale
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Hopedale is located in Worcester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopedale
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,934 people
    • Berlin
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Northborough
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Hillsborough County (NH)
    • Pelham
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Pelham is located in Hillsborough County (NH)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pelham
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 14,306 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pelham <1>
  • Rockingham County (NH)
  • Providence County (RI)

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

Cemeteries Near Boston ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Boston.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Boston, with the one closest to Boston 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 Boston had a population of 448,477 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Boston had a population of 691,531 people.

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

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Boston ...

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 1,323 newspapers that have been published in the area around Boston.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Boston. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Boston and those printed in the larger area surrounding Boston.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 7 miles [11.3 km]<5> of Boston.

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 professional and volunteer 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 Boston:

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 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.

<3>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.
<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 Boston, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<5>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Boston) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.