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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 Charles River Village (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 Charles River Village. 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 Charles River Village ...

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.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might have occurred.

  • A typical abbreviation for Charles River Village: Charles Riv. Vlg. (in Canada, 'Vlge.' is the more common abbreviation.)
  • While the name of this community is Charles River Village, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Charles River Village may originally have been Charle's River Village.

    Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Charles River Village might be written as Charle River Village.

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.

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 hospitals 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.

Charles River Village is located in Norfolk County.

To see how the shape of Massachusetts' counties 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 Charles River Village. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Charles River Village:

  • Norfolk County     (The home county of Charles River Village)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Charles River Village, with the one closest to Charles River Village listed first.
    • Dover
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Dover. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dover
      • Dover is located in Norfolk County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,119 people
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Dover
      • From Charles River Village to Dover
    • Babson Park
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Babson Park have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Babson Park
      • Babson Park is located in Norfolk County
    • Needham Heights
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Needham Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Needham Heights
      • Needham Heights is located in Norfolk County
    • Needham
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Needham have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Needham
      • Needham is located in Norfolk County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 31,537 people
    • Wellesley
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wellesley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellesley
      • Wellesley is located in Norfolk County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 28,684 people
    • Wellesley Hills
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wellesley Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellesley Hills
      • Wellesley Hills is located in Norfolk County
    • Westwood
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Westwood have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westwood
      • Westwood is located in Norfolk County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 16,384 people
    • Dedham
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dedham have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dedham
      • Dedham is located in Norfolk County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 25,345 people
    • Norwood
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Medfield
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Medfield have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Medfield
      • Medfield is located in Norfolk County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 13,011 people
    • Readville Manor
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Westbrook Village
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Westbrook Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westbrook Village
      • Westbrook Village is located in Norfolk County
    • East Walpole
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Bristol County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Charles River Village, with the one closest to Charles River Village listed first.
    • Mansfield
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • North Easton
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Easton have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Easton
      • North Easton is located in Bristol County
    • East Mansfield
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Easton Center
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Easton
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Easton have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Easton
      • Easton is located in Bristol County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 25,116 people
    • Furnace Village
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Furnace Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Furnace Village
      • Furnace Village is located in Bristol County
    • South Easton
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Easton have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Easton
      • South Easton is located in Bristol County
    • North Attleboro
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Attleboro have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Attleboro
      • North Attleboro is located in Bristol County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 29,470 people
    • Attleboro Falls
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Attleboro Falls have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Attleboro Falls
      • Attleboro Falls is located in Bristol County
    • Norton
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Attleboro
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Chartley
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chartley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chartley
      • Chartley is located in Bristol County
    • Attleborough City
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Attleborough City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Attleborough City
      • Attleborough City is located in Bristol County
  • Essex County
  • Middlesex County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Charles River Village, with the one closest to Charles River Village listed first.
    • Newton Lower Falls
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Newton Lower Falls have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newton Lower Falls
      • Newton Lower Falls is located in Middlesex County
    • Waban
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Eliot
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Newton Highlands
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Newton Upper Falls
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Newton Upper Falls have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newton Upper Falls
      • Newton Upper Falls is located in Middlesex County
    • Natick
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Newton Centre
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Newton
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • North Natick
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Sherborn
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Auburndale
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Chestnut Hill
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chestnut Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Hill
      • Chestnut Hill is located in Middlesex County
    • Cochituate
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Plymouth County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Charles River Village, with the one closest to Charles River Village listed first.
    • Montello
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Brockton
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Hull
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • North Abington
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Hingham
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Abington
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Rockland
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rockland have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockland
      • Rockland is located in Plymouth County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 17,992 people
    • Accord
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Cochesett
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Whitman
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Whitman have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitman
      • Whitman is located in Plymouth County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 15,295 people
    • West Bridgewater
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Bridgewater have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Bridgewater
      • West Bridgewater is located in Plymouth County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,310 people
    • East Bridgewater
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Bridgewater
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
  • Suffolk County
  • Worcester County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Charles River Village, with the one closest to Charles River Village listed first.
    • Fayville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Cordaville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Southborough
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Southville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Milford
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Hopedale
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hopedale have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopedale
      • Hopedale is located in Worcester County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,934 people
    • South Milford
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • White City
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for White City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White City
      • White City is located in Worcester County
    • Westborough
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Mendon
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Upton
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Upton have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Upton
      • Upton is located in Worcester County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,088 people
    • East Blackstone
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Northborough
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Northborough have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Northborough
      • Northborough is located in Worcester County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 15,038 people
  • Providence County (RI)

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

Cemeteries Near Charles River Village ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Charles River Village.

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.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Charles River Village, with the one closest to Charles River Village 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.<7>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Charles River Village had a population of 250 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service.

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

  • Dover
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Dover. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dover
    • Dover is located in Norfolk County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,119 people
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Dover
    • From Charles River Village to Dover
  • Needham
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Needham have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Needham
    • Needham is located in Norfolk County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 31,537 people
  • South Natick
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Natick have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Natick
    • South Natick is located in Middlesex County
  • Wellesley Hills
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wellesley Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellesley Hills
    • Wellesley Hills is located in Norfolk County
  • Ellis
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ellis have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellis
    • Ellis is located in Norfolk County
  • Islington
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Islington have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Islington
    • Islington is located in Norfolk County
  • Newton Highlands
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Eliot
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Newton Upper Falls
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Newton Upper Falls have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newton Upper Falls
    • Newton Upper Falls is located in Middlesex County
  • Waban
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Newton Lower Falls
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Newton Lower Falls have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newton Lower Falls
    • Newton Lower Falls is located in Middlesex County
  • Wellesley Farms
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wellesley Farms have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellesley Farms
    • Wellesley Farms is located in Norfolk County
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Natick
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Sherborn
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • South Sherborn
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Sherborn have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Sherborn
      • South Sherborn is located in Middlesex County

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

Newspapers Published in Charles River Village ...

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 63 newspapers that have been published in the area around Charles River Village.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Charles River Village, there are papers which were published within 9 miles [14.5 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Charles River Village.

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 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 Charles River Village:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Charles River Village. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Norfolk County: www.norfolkcounty.org/

The official website for State of Massachusetts: https://www.mass.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties).
<2>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<3>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<4>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.

<5>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.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Charles River Village) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Charles River Village. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.2602, Longitude: -71.2611       In this case, the coordinates for Charles River Village have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<7>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 Charles River Village, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025