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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 Falmouth (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 Falmouth. 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.

A Few Details for Falmouth ...

While it's still very early in our research, we found that:

  • Falmouth was settled in 1660.
  • It was incorporated in 1686.

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 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.

Falmouth is located in Barnstable County.

To see how the shape of Massachusetts' counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

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

  • Barnstable County     (The home county of Falmouth)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Falmouth, with the one closest to Falmouth listed first.
    • Acapesket
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Teaticket
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Teaticket is located in Barnstable County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Teaticket
    • West Falmouth
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • West Falmouth is located in Barnstable County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Falmouth
    • East Falmouth
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Woods Hole
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Monomoscoy Island
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Monomoscoy Island is located in Barnstable County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monomoscoy Island
    • Seconsett Island
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Seconsett Island is located in Barnstable County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seconsett Island
    • Hatchville
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Seabrook
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Seabrook is located in Barnstable County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seabrook
    • North Falmouth
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • North Falmouth is located in Barnstable County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Falmouth
    • Silver Beach
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Silver Beach is located in Barnstable County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Beach
    • Cataumet
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Cataumet is located in Barnstable County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cataumet
  • Bristol County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Falmouth, with the one closest to Falmouth listed first.
    • Fairhaven
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Fairhaven is located in Bristol County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairhaven
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 16,103 people
    • Nonquitt
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Acushnet Center
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Acushnet
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Acushnet is located in Bristol County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acushnet
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,673 people
    • Bliss Corner
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Bliss Corner is located in Bristol County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bliss Corner
    • New Bedford
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • South Dartmouth
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • South Dartmouth is located in Bristol County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Dartmouth
    • Acushnet Station ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Acushnet Station is located in Bristol County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acushnet Station
    • Apponagansett
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Long Plain
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Dartmouth
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Dartmouth is located in Bristol County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dartmouth
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 33,926 people
    • North Dartmouth
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • North Dartmouth is located in Bristol County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Dartmouth
  • Dukes County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Falmouth, with the one closest to Falmouth listed first.
    • West Chop
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • West Chop is located in Dukes County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Chop
    • Tisbury
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Vineyard Haven
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Oak Bluffs
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Christian Town
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Christian Town is located in Dukes County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Christian Town
    • North Tisbury
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Gosnold
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Gosnold is located in Dukes County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gosnold
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 75 people
    • West Tisbury
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Edgartown
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Katama
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Chilmark
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Chilmark is located in Dukes County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chilmark
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 930 people
    • Menemsha
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Menemsha is located in Dukes County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Menemsha
  • Plymouth County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Falmouth, with the one closest to Falmouth listed first.
    • Marion
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Mattapoisett
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Mattapoisett is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mattapoisett
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,427 people
    • Onset
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • East Wareham
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • East Wareham is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Wareham
    • Onset Station
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Briarwood Beach
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Weweantic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Weweantic is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weweantic
    • Wareham Center
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Wareham Center is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wareham Center
    • Wareham
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Wareham is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wareham
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 22,778 people
    • Rochester
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • White Island Shores
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • White Island Shores is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Island Shores
    • West Wareham
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • West Wareham is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Wareham
  • Newport County (RI)

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

Cemeteries Near Falmouth ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Falmouth.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Falmouth, with the one closest to Falmouth 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 Falmouth had a population of 2,500 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Falmouth had a population of 31,107 people.

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

  • Falmouth Heights
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Falmouth Heights is located in Barnstable County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falmouth Heights
  • Teaticket
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Teaticket is located in Barnstable County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Teaticket
  • West Falmouth
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • West Falmouth is located in Barnstable County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Falmouth
  • East Falmouth
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • West Chop
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • West Chop is located in Dukes County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Chop
  • Hatchville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Vineyard Haven
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Vineyard Highlands
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Vineyard Highlands is located in Dukes County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vineyard Highlands
  • North Falmouth
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • North Falmouth is located in Barnstable County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Falmouth
  • Oak Bluffs
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Cataumet
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Cataumet is located in Barnstable County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cataumet
  • Pocasset
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Falmouth ...

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 33 newspapers that have been published in the area around Falmouth.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Falmouth. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Falmouth and those printed in the larger area surrounding Falmouth.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 16 miles [25.7 km]<3> of Falmouth.

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 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 Falmouth:

Footnotes ...

<1>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.

<2>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.
<3>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- Falmouth) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Falmouth, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.