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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 Lancaster (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 Lancaster. 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 Lancaster ...

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

  • Lancaster was settled in 1643.
  • It was incorporated in 1653.

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 northwest 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 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 west 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.

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

  • Worcester County     (The home county of Lancaster)
  • Essex County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lancaster, with the one closest to Lancaster listed first.
    • Haggetts
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Lowell Junction
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • West Andover
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • West Andover is located in Essex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Andover
    • Andover
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Shawsheen Village
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Shawsheen Village is located in Essex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shawsheen Village
  • Middlesex County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lancaster, with the one closest to Lancaster listed first.
    • Shaker Village
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Shaker Village is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shaker Village
    • Shirley
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Devens
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Hudson
      (7 miles [11.3 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
    • Boxborough
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Stow
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Ayer
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Lower Village
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Lower Village is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lower Village
    • Littleton
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Littleton is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Littleton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,253 people
    • Marlborough
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • West Groton
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • West Groton is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Groton
    • Marlborough Junction
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Norfolk County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lancaster, with the one closest to Lancaster listed first.
    • Wellesley Farms
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Wellesley Farms is located in Norfolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellesley Farms
    • Wellesley Hills
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Wellesley Hills is located in Norfolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellesley Hills
    • Wellesley
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Babson Park
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Babson Park is located in Norfolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Babson Park
    • Dover
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Charles River Village
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Medway
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Millis
      (25 miles [40.2 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
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Needham Heights is located in Norfolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Needham Heights
    • Needham
      (25 miles [40.2 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
      (26 miles [41.8 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
    • Bellingham
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
  • Suffolk County
  • Cheshire County (NH)
  • Hillsborough County (NH)
  • Rockingham County (NH)

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

Cemeteries Near Lancaster ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Lancaster.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Lancaster, with the one closest to Lancaster 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.<5>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Lancaster had a population of 2,075 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Lancaster had a population of 7,857 people.

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

  • North Village
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • North Village is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Village
  • South Lancaster
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Clinton
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Bolton
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Still River
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Sterling
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Boylston
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Boylston is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boylston
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,728 people
  • West Berlin
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • West Berlin is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Berlin
  • Gates Crossing
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Gates Crossing is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gates Crossing
  • Lunenburg Station
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Lunenburg Station is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lunenburg Station
  • Berlin
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • South Bolton
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • South Bolton is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Bolton
  • Continue List   (19 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Lancaster ...

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 173 newspapers that have been published in the area around Lancaster.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Lancaster. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Lancaster and those printed in the larger area surrounding Lancaster.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 14 miles [22.5 km]<3> of Lancaster.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These professional and volunteer 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 Lancaster:

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Lancaster) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Lancaster, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.