RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Massachusetts >> Plymouth County >> Harbor Beach >> Genealogy HelperIndex...

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 Harbor Beach (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 Harbor Beach. 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 Harbor Beach ...

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.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Harbor Beach: Harbor Bch.

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Harbor Beach. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Harbor Beach.

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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

Harbor Beach is located in Plymouth 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 Plymouth County: Barnstable, Bristol & Norfolk.

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

  • Plymouth County     (The home county of Harbor Beach)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Harbor Beach, with the one closest to Harbor Beach listed first.
    • Marion
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Marion is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marion
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,189 people
    • Mattapoisett
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Mattapoisett is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mattapoisett
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,427 people
    • Briarwood Beach
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Briarwood Beach is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Briarwood Beach
    • Weweantic
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Weweantic is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weweantic
    • Rochester
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Rochester is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rochester
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,740 people
    • Wareham Center
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Wareham Center is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wareham Center
    • Wareham
      (6 miles [9.7 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
    • East Wareham
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • East Wareham is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Wareham
    • Onset Station
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Onset Station is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Onset Station
    • Onset
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Onset is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Onset
    • West Wareham
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • West Wareham is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Wareham
    • Pine Tree Village
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Pine Tree Village is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Tree Village
  • Barnstable County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Harbor Beach, with the one closest to Harbor Beach listed first.
    • Silver Beach
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Silver Beach is located in Barnstable County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Beach
    • Cataumet
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Cataumet is located in Barnstable County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cataumet
    • North Falmouth
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • North Falmouth is located in Barnstable County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Falmouth
    • Pocasset
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Pocasset is located in Barnstable County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pocasset
    • West Falmouth
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • West Falmouth is located in Barnstable County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Falmouth
    • Monument Beach
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Monument Beach is located in Barnstable County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monument Beach
    • Bourne
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Bourne is located in Barnstable County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bourne
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 19,743 people
    • Buzzards Bay
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Buzzards Bay is located in Barnstable County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buzzards Bay
    • Hatchville
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Hatchville is located in Barnstable County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hatchville
    • Woods Hole
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Woods Hole is located in Barnstable County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woods Hole
    • Falmouth
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Falmouth is located in Barnstable County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falmouth
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 31,107 people
    • Teaticket
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Teaticket is located in Barnstable County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Teaticket
  • Bristol County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Harbor Beach, with the one closest to Harbor Beach listed first.
    • Acushnet Center
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Acushnet Center is located in Bristol County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acushnet Center
    • Acushnet
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Acushnet is located in Bristol County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acushnet
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,673 people
    • Fairhaven
      (7 miles [11.3 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
    • Long Plain
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Long Plain is located in Bristol County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Plain
    • Bliss Corner
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Bliss Corner is located in Bristol County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bliss Corner
    • Acushnet Station ‑ Historic
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Acushnet Station is located in Bristol County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acushnet Station
    • New Bedford
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • New Bedford is located in Bristol County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Bedford
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 95,517 people
    • Clifford
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Clifford is located in Bristol County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clifford
    • South Dartmouth
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • South Dartmouth is located in Bristol County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Dartmouth
    • North Dartmouth
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • North Dartmouth is located in Bristol County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Dartmouth
    • Braleys
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Braleys is located in Bristol County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Braleys
    • Apponagansett
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Apponagansett is located in Bristol County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Apponagansett
  • Dukes County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Harbor Beach, with the one closest to Harbor Beach listed first.
    • Gosnold
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Gosnold is located in Dukes County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gosnold
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 75 people
    • West Chop
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • West Chop is located in Dukes County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Chop
    • Tisbury
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Tisbury is located in Dukes County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tisbury
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,128 people
    • Vineyard Haven
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Vineyard Haven is located in Dukes County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vineyard Haven
    • Christian Town
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Christian Town is located in Dukes County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Christian Town
    • Oak Bluffs
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Oak Bluffs is located in Dukes County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Bluffs
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,696 people
    • North Tisbury
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • North Tisbury is located in Dukes County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Tisbury
    • Cuttyhunk
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Cuttyhunk is located in Dukes County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cuttyhunk
    • West Tisbury
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • West Tisbury is located in Dukes County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Tisbury
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,927 people
    • Menemsha
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Menemsha is located in Dukes County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Menemsha
    • Aquinnah
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Aquinnah is located in Dukes County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aquinnah
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 322 people
      • Former name for Aquinnah:
      • Gay Head
    • Chilmark
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Chilmark is located in Dukes County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chilmark
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 930 people
  • Bristol County (RI)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Harbor Beach, with the one closest to Harbor Beach listed first.
    • Coggeshall
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Coggeshall is located in Bristol County (RI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coggeshall
    • Bristol
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Bristol is located in Bristol County (RI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bristol
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 21,866 people
    • Bristol
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Bristol is located in Bristol County (RI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bristol
    • Warren
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Warren is located in Bristol County (RI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warren
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,469 people
    • Warren
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Warren is located in Bristol County (RI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warren
    • Barrington
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Barrington is located in Bristol County (RI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barrington
    • Barrington
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Barrington is located in Bristol County (RI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barrington
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 16,015 people
    • Annawomscutt
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Annawomscutt is located in Bristol County (RI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Annawomscutt
  • Newport County (RI)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Harbor Beach, with the one closest to Harbor Beach listed first.
    • Adamsville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Adamsville is located in Newport County (RI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adamsville
    • Bliss Corners
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Bliss Corners is located in Newport County (RI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bliss Corners
    • Tiverton
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Tiverton is located in Newport County (RI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tiverton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 15,569 people
    • Tiverton Four Corners
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Tiverton Four Corners is located in Newport County (RI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tiverton Four Corners
    • Little Compton
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Little Compton is located in Newport County (RI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Compton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,462 people
    • Little Compton
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Little Compton is located in Newport County (RI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Compton
    • Tiverton
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Tiverton is located in Newport County (RI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tiverton
    • Portsmouth
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Portsmouth is located in Newport County (RI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Portsmouth
    • Sakonnet
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Sakonnet is located in Newport County (RI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sakonnet
    • Portsmouth
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Portsmouth is located in Newport County (RI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Portsmouth
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 17,108 people
    • Melville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Melville is located in Newport County (RI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melville
    • Lawtons
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Lawtons is located in Newport County (RI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawtons

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

Cemeteries Near Harbor Beach ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Harbor Beach.

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 Harbor Beach - one of the links might be able to help.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Harbor Beach, with the one closest to Harbor Beach 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.<3>

While we didn't find Harbor Beach in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Harbor Beach.

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

  • Mattapoisett
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Mattapoisett is located in Plymouth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mattapoisett
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,427 people
  • Marion
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Marion is located in Plymouth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marion
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,189 people
  • Rochester
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Rochester is located in Plymouth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rochester
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,740 people
  • Wareham
    (6 miles [9.7 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
  • Fairhaven
    (7 miles [11.3 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
  • West Falmouth
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • West Falmouth is located in Barnstable County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Falmouth
  • North Falmouth
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • North Falmouth is located in Barnstable County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Falmouth
  • Cataumet
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Cataumet is located in Barnstable County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cataumet
  • Pocasset
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Pocasset is located in Barnstable County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pocasset
  • Onset
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Onset is located in Plymouth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Onset
  • East Wareham
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • East Wareham is located in Plymouth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Wareham
  • Onset Station
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Onset Station is located in Plymouth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Onset Station
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...
    • South Wareham
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • South Wareham is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Wareham
    • Acushnet
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Acushnet is located in Bristol County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acushnet
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,673 people
    • Monument Beach
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Monument Beach is located in Barnstable County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monument Beach

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

Newspapers Published in Harbor Beach ...

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 101 newspapers that have been published in the area around Harbor Beach.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Harbor Beach, there are papers which were published within 11 miles [17.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Harbor Beach.

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 Harbor Beach:

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>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 Harbor Beach, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 drawn from Point A (ie- Harbor Beach) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.