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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 Lowell (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 Lowell. 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.

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 and doctors 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.

Lowell is located in Middlesex 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 Middlesex County: Essex, Norfolk, Suffolk, Worcester & Hillsborough (NH).

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

  • Middlesex County     (The home county of Lowell)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lowell, with the one closest to Lowell listed first.
    • Ayres City
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Ayres City is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ayres City
    • Middlesex Village
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Middlesex Village is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middlesex Village
    • Dracut
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Princeton Village
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Princeton Village is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Princeton Village
    • Collinsville
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Chelmsford
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • North Chelmsford
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • North Billerica
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Tewksbury
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Billerica
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Tyngsbororough
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Tyngsbororough is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tyngsbororough
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 12,646 people
    • Carlisle
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Essex County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lowell, with the one closest to Lowell listed first.
    • Haggetts
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Lowell Junction
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Andover
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Shawsheen Village
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Shawsheen Village is located in Essex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shawsheen Village
    • West Andover
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • West Andover is located in Essex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Andover
    • Lawrence
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Methuen
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Methuen is located in Essex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Methuen
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 50,910 people
    • North Andover
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • North Andover is located in Essex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Andover
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 31,460 people
    • Tozier Corner
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Ayers Village
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Ayers Village is located in Essex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ayers Village
    • West Boxford
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • West Boxford is located in Essex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Boxford
    • Ward Hill
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Norfolk County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lowell, with the one closest to Lowell listed first.
    • Wellesley Farms
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Wellesley Farms is located in Norfolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellesley Farms
    • Wellesley Hills
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Wellesley Hills is located in Norfolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellesley Hills
    • Wellesley
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Babson Park
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Babson Park is located in Norfolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Babson Park
    • Brookline Village
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Brookline Village is located in Norfolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookline Village
    • Brookline
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Needham Heights
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Needham Heights is located in Norfolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Needham Heights
    • Needham
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Needham is located in Norfolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Needham
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 31,537 people
    • Westbrook Village
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Westbrook Village is located in Norfolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westbrook Village
    • Charles River Village
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Dover
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Dedham
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
  • Suffolk County
  • Worcester County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lowell, with the one closest to Lowell listed first.
    • Shaker Village
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Shaker Village is located in Worcester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shaker Village
    • Harvard
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Still River
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Bolton
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Lunenburg Station
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Lunenburg Station is located in Worcester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lunenburg Station
    • North Village
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • North Village is located in Worcester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Village
    • Lunenburg
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Lancaster
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Seventh Day Adventist Village
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • South Lancaster
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Leominster
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Berlin
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
  • Hillsborough County (NH)
  • Merrimack County (NH)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lowell, with the one closest to Lowell listed first.
    • South Hooksett
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • South Hooksett is located in Merrimack County (NH)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Hooksett
    • Martin
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Martin is located in Merrimack County (NH)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martin
  • Rockingham County (NH)

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

Cemeteries Near Lowell ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Lowell.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Lowell, with the one closest to Lowell 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 Lowell had a population of 77,696 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Lowell had a population of 110,904 people.

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

  • Bleachery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Bleachery is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bleachery
  • Middlesex Village
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Middlesex Village is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middlesex Village
  • Wamesit ‑ Historic
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Wamesit is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wamesit
  • Dracut
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Chelmsford
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Collinsville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • North Chelmsford
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • West Chelmsford
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • West Chelmsford is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Chelmsford
  • North Billerica
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Tewksbury
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • South Chelmsford
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • South Chelmsford is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Chelmsford
  • Billerica
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (20 more) ...
    • East Billerica
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • East Billerica is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Billerica
    • Haggetts
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Westford Station
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Westford Station is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westford Station

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Lowell ...

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 320 newspapers that have been published in the area around Lowell.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Lowell. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Lowell and those printed in the larger area surrounding Lowell.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 13 miles [20.9 km]<5> of Lowell.

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 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 Lowell:

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 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>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>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 Lowell, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<5>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Lowell) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.