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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 Cambridge (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 Cambridge. 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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors 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.

Cambridge is located in Middlesex 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 Middlesex County: Essex, Norfolk, Suffolk, Worcester & Hillsborough (NH).

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

  • Middlesex County     (The home county of Cambridge)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cambridge, with the one closest to Cambridge listed first.
    • Somerville
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Huron Village
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Huron Village is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huron Village
    • Cambridgeport
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Cambridgeport is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cambridgeport
    • Medford
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • West Medford
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • West Medford is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Medford
    • Edgeworth
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Edgeworth is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgeworth
    • Wellington
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Arlington
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Belmont
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Chestnut Hill
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Chestnut Hill is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Hill
    • Watertown
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Waverley
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Waverley is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waverley
    • Arlington Heights
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Arlington Heights is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arlington Heights
  • Bristol County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cambridge, with the one closest to Cambridge listed first.
    • North Easton
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • North Easton is located in Bristol County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Easton
    • South Easton
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • South Easton is located in Bristol County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Easton
    • Easton Center
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Easton
      (23 miles [37 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
    • East Mansfield
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Furnace Village
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Furnace Village is located in Bristol County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Furnace Village
    • Mansfield
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Norton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Attleboro Falls
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Attleboro Falls is located in Bristol County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Attleboro Falls
    • 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 south)
      • North Attleboro is located in Bristol County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Attleboro
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 29,470 people
    • Raynham
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Attleboro
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Essex County
  • Norfolk County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cambridge, with the one closest to Cambridge listed first.
    • Brookline Village
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Brookline Village is located in Norfolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookline Village
    • Brookline
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Westbrook Village
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Westbrook Village is located in Norfolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westbrook Village
    • Milton Village
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Milton Village is located in Norfolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milton Village
    • Needham Heights
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Needham Heights is located in Norfolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Needham Heights
    • East Milton
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Montclair
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Norfolk Downs
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Babson Park
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Babson Park is located in Norfolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Babson Park
    • Needham
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Needham is located in Norfolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Needham
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 31,537 people
    • Wellesley Farms
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Wellesley Farms is located in Norfolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellesley Farms
    • Wellesley
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Ashcroft
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Ashcroft is located in Norfolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashcroft
  • Plymouth County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cambridge, with the one closest to Cambridge listed first.
    • Hull
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Bayside
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Bayside is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayside
    • Kenberma
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Kenberma is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kenberma
    • Hingham
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • West Hingham
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • West Hingham is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Hingham
    • Accord
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • North Abington
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Montello
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Rockland
      (19 miles [30.6 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
    • Brockton
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Abington
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Minot
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Minot is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minot
    • North Scituate
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • North Scituate is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Scituate
  • Suffolk County
  • Worcester County
  • Hillsborough County (NH)
    • Pelham
      (27 miles [43.5 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 Cambridge, see our County-by-County Page for Cambridge.

Cemeteries Near Cambridge ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Cambridge.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Cambridge, with the one closest to Cambridge 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 Cambridge had a population of 70,028 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Cambridge had a population of 119,192 people.

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

  • Allston
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Allston is located in Suffolk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allston
  • North Cambridge
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • North Cambridge is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Cambridge
  • Cambridgeport
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Cambridgeport is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cambridgeport
  • Somerville
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Winter Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Winter Hill is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winter Hill
  • West Somerville
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • West Somerville is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Somerville
  • Faneuil
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Faneuil is located in Suffolk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Faneuil
  • Brighton
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Brookline
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • East Cambridge
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • East Cambridge is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Cambridge
  • Medford Hillside
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Medford Hillside is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Medford Hillside
  • East Watertown
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • East Watertown is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Watertown
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • West Medford
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • West Medford is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Medford
    • Chestnut Hill
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Chestnut Hill is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Hill
    • Boston
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Cambridge ...

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 137 newspapers that have been published in the area around Cambridge.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

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

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 Cambridge:

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