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Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

So far, we found very little information about Dana. The little that we've found leads us believe that the community is historic.<1>

We've added Dana to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Dana, please Contact Us.

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 Dana (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 Dana. 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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

Although our information shows that the community of Dana is historic, it would have been located within present day Worcester 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 Worcester County: Tolland (CT), Windham (CT), Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire, Middlesex, Norfolk, Cheshire (NH), Hillsborough (NH) & Providence (RI).

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

  • Worcester County     (The home county of Dana)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Dana, with the one closest to Dana listed first.
    • North Dana ‑ Historic
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Greenwich Village ‑ Historic
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Petersham
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Greenwich ‑ Historic
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Hardwick
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Hardwick is located in Worcester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hardwick
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,047 people
    • Barre
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Heald Village
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Heald Village is located in Worcester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heald Village
    • Mill Village
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Mill Village is located in Worcester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mill Village
    • Gilbertville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Barre Plains
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Wheelwright
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Wheelwright is located in Worcester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheelwright
    • South Barre
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • South Barre is located in Worcester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Barre
  • Franklin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Dana, with the one closest to Dana listed first.
    • Millington ‑ Historic
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • New Salem
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • New Salem is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Salem
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,034 people
    • Cooleyville
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Smiths ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Shutesbury
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Morse Village
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Morse Village is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morse Village
    • Locks Village
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Locks Village is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locks Village
    • Orange
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Wendell
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Wendell is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wendell
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 881 people
    • Moores Corner
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Wendell Depot
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Wendell Depot is located in Franklin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wendell Depot
    • Leverett
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • Hampden County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Dana, with the one closest to Dana listed first.
    • Thorndike
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Thorndike is located in Hampden County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thorndike
    • West Brimfield
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • West Brimfield is located in Hampden County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Brimfield
    • Three Rivers
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Palmer
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Tenneyville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Ludlow City
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Ludlow City is located in Hampden County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ludlow City
    • Brimfield
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Brimfield is located in Hampden County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brimfield
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,679 people
    • Ludlow
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Ludlow is located in Hampden County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ludlow
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 21,101 people
    • North Wilbraham
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Indian Orchard
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Monson
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Wilbraham
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
  • Hampshire County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Dana, with the one closest to Dana listed first.
    • Pelham
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Enfield ‑ Historic
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • West Pelham
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Ware
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Ware is located in Hampshire County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ware
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,897 people
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Ware
      • From Dana to Ware
    • Belchertown
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • East Village
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • East Village is located in Hampshire County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Village
    • Amherst Center
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Amherst Center is located in Hampshire County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amherst Center
    • Amherst
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • North Amherst
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • South Amherst
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • South Amherst is located in Hampshire County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Amherst
    • Bondsville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Bondsville is located in Hampshire County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bondsville
    • North Hadley
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
  • Middlesex County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Dana, with the one closest to Dana listed first.
    • South Village
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • South Village is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Village
    • Ashby
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Old City
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Old City is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old City
  • Tolland County (CT)
  • Cheshire County (NH)
  • Hillsborough County (NH)
    • New Ipswich
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Windham County (VT)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Dana, with the one closest to Dana listed first.
    • South Vernon
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Vernon
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Vernon is located in Windham County (VT)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vernon
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,190 people
    • Guilford
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Guilford is located in Windham County (VT)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guilford
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,102 people
    • Guilford
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Dana ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Dana.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Dana, with the one closest to Dana 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.

Dana itself is historic and was described in the Rand McNally Atlas as having a population of 250 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • North Dana ‑ Historic
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Nichewaug ‑ Historic
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Nichewaug is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nichewaug
  • Millington ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Petersham
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • South Athol
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • South Athol is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Athol
  • Greenwich
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Greenwich is located in Hampshire County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwich
  • Hardwick
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Hardwick is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hardwick
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,047 people
  • New Salem
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • New Salem is located in Franklin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Salem
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,034 people
  • Cooleyville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Pelham
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Furnace
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Furnace is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Furnace
  • Barre
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (18 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in Dana ...

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 54 newspapers that have been published in the area around Dana.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Dana, there are papers which were published within 17 miles [27.4 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Dana.

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 Dana:

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Dana, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.

<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Dana) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.