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 Gates Crossing (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 Gates Crossing. 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 Gates Crossing ...
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 occur.
- A typical abbreviation for Gates Crossing: Gates Xing.
- While the name of this community is Gates Crossing, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Gates Crossing may originally have been Gate's Crossing.
Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Gates Crossing might be written as Gate Crossing.
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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals 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.
Gates Crossing is located in 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 Gates Crossing. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Gates Crossing:
- Worcester County (The home county of Gates Crossing)
- The following are listed by their distance from Gates Crossing, with the one closest to Gates Crossing listed first.
- Pratts Junction
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Pratts Junction is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pratts Junction
- Leominster
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Leominster is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leominster
- Population from the 2020 Census: 41,548 people
- Lunenburg Station
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Lunenburg Station is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lunenburg Station
- North Village
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- North Village is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Village
- Sterling
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Sterling is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sterling
- Population from the 2020 Census: 8,166 people
- Lancaster
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Lancaster is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lancaster
- Population from the 2020 Census: 7,857 people
- South Lancaster
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- South Lancaster is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Lancaster
- Still River
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Still River is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Still River
- South Fitchburg
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- South Fitchburg is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Fitchburg
- West Sterling
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- West Sterling is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Sterling
- East Princeton
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- East Princeton is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Princeton
- Fitchburg
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Fitchburg is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fitchburg
- Population from the 2020 Census: 40,310 people
- Clinton
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Clinton is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clinton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 13,952 people
- Essex County
- The following are listed by their distance from Gates Crossing, with the one closest to Gates Crossing listed first.
- Haggetts
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Haggetts is located in Essex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haggetts
- Lowell Junction
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Lowell Junction is located in Essex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lowell Junction
- Franklin County
- The following are listed by their distance from Gates Crossing, with the one closest to Gates Crossing listed first.
- Tully
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Tully is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tully
- Millington ‑ Historic
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Millington is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millington
- North Orange
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- North Orange is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Orange
- Orange
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Orange is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orange
- Population from the 2020 Census: 7,581 people
- Morse Village
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Morse Village is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morse Village
- New Salem
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- New Salem is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Salem
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,034 people
- Hampshire County
- Ware
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Ware is located in Hampshire County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ware
- Population from the 2020 Census: 9,897 people
- Middlesex County
- The following are listed by their distance from Gates Crossing, with the one closest to Gates Crossing listed first.
- Shaker Village
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Shaker Village is located in Middlesex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shaker Village
- Shirley
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Shirley is located in Middlesex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shirley
- Population from the 2020 Census: 7,554 people
- Devens
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Devens is located in Middlesex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Devens
- Ayer
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Ayer is located in Middlesex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ayer
- Population from the 2020 Census: 8,211 people
- Old City
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Old City is located in Middlesex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old City
- West Groton
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- West Groton is located in Middlesex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Groton
- Boxborough
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Boxborough is located in Middlesex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boxborough
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,752 people
- Littleton
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Littleton is located in Middlesex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Littleton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 10,253 people
- Townsend Harbor
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Townsend Harbor is located in Middlesex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Townsend Harbor
- Townsend
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Townsend is located in Middlesex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Townsend
- Population from the 2020 Census: 9,448 people
- Groton
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Groton is located in Middlesex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Groton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 11,256 people
- Paper Mill Village
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Paper Mill Village is located in Middlesex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paper Mill Village
- Hudson
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Hudson is located in Middlesex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hudson
- Population from the 2020 Census: 19,732 people
- Norfolk County
- The following are listed by their distance from Gates Crossing, with the one closest to Gates Crossing listed first.
- Wellesley Farms
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Wellesley Farms is located in Norfolk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellesley Farms
- Wellesley Hills
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Wellesley Hills is located in Norfolk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellesley Hills
- Wellesley
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Wellesley is located in Norfolk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellesley
- Population from the 2020 Census: 28,684 people
- Babson Park
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Babson Park is located in Norfolk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Babson Park
- Dover
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Dover is located in Norfolk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dover
- Population from the 2020 Census: 6,119 people
- Charles River Village
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Millis
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Millis is located in Norfolk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millis
- Population from the 2020 Census: 8,519 people
- Needham Heights
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Needham Heights is located in Norfolk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Needham Heights
- Needham
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Needham is located in Norfolk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Needham
- Population from the 2020 Census: 31,537 people
- Medfield
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Medfield is located in Norfolk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Medfield
- Population from the 2020 Census: 13,011 people
- Medway
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Medway is located in Norfolk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Medway
- Population from the 2020 Census: 13,443 people
- Cheshire County (NH)
- The following are listed by their distance from Gates Crossing, with the one closest to Gates Crossing listed first.
- Rindge
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- West Rindge
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- West Rindge is located in Cheshire County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Rindge
- Jaffrey
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Fitzwilliam Depot
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Fitzwilliam Depot is located in Cheshire County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fitzwilliam Depot
- Fitzwilliam
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Hillsborough County (NH)
- The following are listed by their distance from Gates Crossing, with the one closest to Gates Crossing listed first.
- Brookline
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Mason
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Mason is located in Hillsborough County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mason
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,433 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mason <2>
- Hollis Depot
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Hollis Depot is located in Hillsborough County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollis Depot
- New Ipswich
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Hollis
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Hollis is located in Hillsborough County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollis
- Population from the 2020 Census: 8,123 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hollis <2>
- Greenville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Temple
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Temple is located in Hillsborough County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Temple
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,434 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Temple <2>
- East Milford
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- East Milford is located in Hillsborough County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Milford
- Milford
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Milford is located in Hillsborough County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milford
- Population from the 2020 Census: 16,515 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Milford <2>
- Hudson
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Hudson is located in Hillsborough County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hudson
- Population from the 2020 Census: 25,620 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hudson <2>
- Nashua
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Nashua is located in Hillsborough County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nashua
- Population from the 2020 Census: 89,167 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Nashua <2>
- South Merrimack
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- South Merrimack is located in Hillsborough County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Merrimack
- Sharon
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Sharon is located in Hillsborough County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sharon
- Population from the 2020 Census: 370 people
- Rockingham County (NH)
- Windham
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Windham is located in Rockingham County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windham
- Population from the 2020 Census: 14,865 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Windham <2>
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Gates Crossing, see our County-by-County Page for Gates Crossing.
Cemeteries Near Gates Crossing ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Gates Crossing.
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 Gates Crossing - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Gates Crossing covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Gates Crossing, with the one closest to Gates Crossing listed first.
- St. Leo Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- St. Cecilias Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for St. Cecilias Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the St. Cecilias Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the southeast of Leominster.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1111015 <3>
- Evergreen Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Pine Grove Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- West Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Oak Hill Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Oak Hill Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Hillside Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillside Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Hillside Cemetery is located outside and to the northeast of Sterling.
- Hillside Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- North Village Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- North Village Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Evergreen Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Continue List (494 more) ...
- Chocksett Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- St. John's Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Middle Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
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.<5>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Gates Crossing had railroad service and no post office.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Gates Crossing, with the one closest to Gates Crossing listed first.
- Leominster
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Leominster is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leominster
- Population from the 2020 Census: 41,548 people
- North Leominster
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- North Leominster is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Leominster
- West Leominster
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- West Leominster is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Leominster
- North Village
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- North Village is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Village
- Lunenburg Station
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Lunenburg Station is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lunenburg Station
- Sterling
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Sterling is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sterling
- Population from the 2020 Census: 8,166 people
- South Lancaster
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- South Lancaster is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Lancaster
- Lancaster
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Lancaster is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lancaster
- Population from the 2020 Census: 7,857 people
- East Princeton
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- East Princeton is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Princeton
- West Sterling
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- West Sterling is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Sterling
- South Fitchburg
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- South Fitchburg is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Fitchburg
- Still River
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Still River is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Still River
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Shirley
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Shirley is located in Middlesex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shirley
- Population from the 2020 Census: 7,554 people
- Sterling Junction
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Sterling Junction is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sterling Junction
- Clinton
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Clinton is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clinton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 13,952 people
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Gates Crossing. See our List of 1890's Communities around Gates Crossing.
Newspapers Published in Gates Crossing ...
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 118 newspapers that have been published in the area around Gates Crossing.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Gates Crossing, there are papers which were published within 15 miles [24.1 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Gates Crossing.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we like to start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These websites either 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 Gates Crossing:
- Websites specific to Massachusetts
- Pages specific to Worcester County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Essex County
- Franklin County
- Hampshire County
- Middlesex County
- Norfolk County
- Cheshire County
- Hillsborough County
- Rockingham County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Massachusetts
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> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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> | 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> | 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 Gates Crossing, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <6> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Gates Crossing) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |