RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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Welcome to Charlestown ...

Charlestown is located in Suffolk County<1>.

Charlestown was settled in 1630.

When the people of Charlestown refer to themselves (known as a demonym), they frequently use Charlestowner<2>

Charlestown is 40 feet [12 m] above sea level.<3>.

Time Zone: Charlestown lies in the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT) and observes daylight saving time

Area Codes for Charlestown: 617 & 857<4>

The ZIP code for Charlestown: 02129<5>

Communities Also Named Charlestown ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 15 communities that are also named Charlestown - they are located in Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland (3), Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania (3) and Rhode Island.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Charlestown.

Communities near Charlestown ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Charlestown.

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Charlestown. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Charlestown.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Charlestown. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Charlestown.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Charlestown. See our Newspapers Page for Charlestown.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Charlestown ...

Looking for more information about Charlestown? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

While we are unaware of a Tourism page that is specific to Charlestown, there are neighboring communities that do have Tourism pages. A map of those communities can be found with our TripAdvisor Page for Charlestown.

Adding Charlestown to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Charlestown in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Charlestown was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<6>

From that list, the Charlestown post office opened in 1816.

We also found Charlestown in the book titled Business Atlas and Shippers' Guide (1895).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Charlestown.

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of Massachusetts' counties, including Suffolk, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>A demonym is the name for a resident of a community which is usually derived from (or is related to) the name of that community. In other words, it's how the residents of Charlestown refer to themselves. It's important to note that there aren't any rules for taking a community's name and turning it into a demonym. A demonym is informal and while the majority of Charlestown may use one name, keep in mind that others may use something different.
<3>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Charlestown - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<4>When there's a risk of an area code running out of phone numbers, an 'Overlay Area Code' is created that has the same geographic boundaries as the existing area code. In this case, the 617 code has been Overlayed with the 857 area code. New phone numbers in the Charlestown area will be assigned with one of these codes: 617 or 857. As a result, placing a call in the Charlestown area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number).
<5>ZIP Codes have been created by the United States Postal Service (USPS) as a way of grouping addresses to make delivery more efficient. The boundaries of the ZIP Code can be changed, re-assigned, eliminated or overlapped with other ZIP Codes. So keep in mind that any given ZIP Code is only 'loosely' associated with a community (such as Charlestown). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether Charlestown or elsewhere, it's always best to check the website of the United States Postal Service (USPS).
<6>A copy of their list with background information can be found at:

      https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/