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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 Hyannis Port (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 Hyannis Port. 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 Hyannis Port ...

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 Hyannis Port: Hyannis Prt.

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 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.

Hyannis Port 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 Hyannis Port. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Hyannis Port:

  • Barnstable County     (The home county of Hyannis Port)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hyannis Port, with the one closest to Hyannis Port listed first.
    • West Hyannisport
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • West Hyannisport is located in Barnstable County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Hyannisport
    • Hyannis
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Craigville
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Craigville is located in Barnstable County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Craigville
    • Centerville
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • West Yarmouth
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Barnstable
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Barnstable Town
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Barnstable Town is located in Barnstable County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barnstable Town
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 44,535 people
    • Osterville
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Osterville is located in Barnstable County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osterville
    • Bass River
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Cobbs Village
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Cobbs Village is located in Barnstable County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cobbs Village
    • Cummaquid ‑ Historic
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Cummaquid is located in Barnstable County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cummaquid
    • Yarmouth Port
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Yarmouth Port is located in Barnstable County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yarmouth Port
    • Marstons Mills
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Dukes County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hyannis Port, with the one closest to Hyannis Port listed first.
    • Oak Bluffs
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • West Chop
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • West Chop is located in Dukes County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Chop
    • Edgartown
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Tisbury
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Vineyard Haven
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Katama
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Christian Town
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Christian Town is located in Dukes County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Christian Town
    • North Tisbury
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • West Tisbury
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Gosnold
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Gosnold is located in Dukes County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gosnold
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 75 people
    • Chilmark
      (30 miles [48.3 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
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Menemsha is located in Dukes County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Menemsha
  • Nantucket County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hyannis Port, with the one closest to Hyannis Port listed first.
    • Nantucket
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Pocomo
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Siasconset
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Siasconset is located in Nantucket County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Siasconset
  • Plymouth County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hyannis Port, with the one closest to Hyannis Port listed first.
    • Onset
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • East Wareham
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • East Wareham is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Wareham
    • White Island Shores
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • White Island Shores is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Island Shores
    • Onset Station
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Manomet
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Manomet is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manomet
    • Wareham Center
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Wareham Center is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wareham Center
    • Briarwood Beach
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Wareham
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Wareham is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wareham
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 22,778 people
    • Weweantic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Weweantic is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weweantic
    • White Horse Beach
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • White Horse Beach is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Horse Beach
    • Marion
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Cranberry Village
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Cranberry Village is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cranberry Village
    • West Wareham
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • West Wareham is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Wareham

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

Cemeteries Near Hyannis Port ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Hyannis Port.

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 Hyannis Port - one of the links might be able to help.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Hyannis Port, with the one closest to Hyannis Port 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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Hyannis Port had a population of 253 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Hyannis
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Craigville
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Craigville is located in Barnstable County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Craigville
  • Centerville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • West Yarmouth
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Wianno
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Wianno is located in Barnstable County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wianno
  • Barnstable
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Osterville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Osterville is located in Barnstable County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osterville
  • Yarmouth Port
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Yarmouth Port is located in Barnstable County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yarmouth Port
  • Yarmouth Station
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Yarmouth Station is located in Barnstable County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yarmouth Station
  • Marstons Mills
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • South Yarmouth
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • South Yarmouth is located in Barnstable County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Yarmouth
  • Yarmouth
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • West Barnstable
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • West Dennis
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • West Dennis is located in Barnstable County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Dennis
    • South Dennis
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • South Dennis is located in Barnstable County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Dennis

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

Newspapers Published in Hyannis Port ...

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 34 newspapers that have been published in the area around Hyannis Port.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Hyannis Port, there are papers which were published within 19 miles [30.6 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Hyannis Port.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 Hyannis Port:

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>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.

<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 Hyannis Port, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Hyannis Port) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.