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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 Lynn (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 Lynn. 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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

Lynn is located in Essex 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 Essex County: Middlesex, Suffolk & Rockingham (NH).

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

  • Essex County     (The home county of Lynn)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lynn, with the one closest to Lynn listed first.
    • East Lynn
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Swampscott
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • West Lynn
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Clifton
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Nahant
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Cliftondale
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Pleasant Hills
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Pleasant Hills is located in Essex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Hills
    • Saugus
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Peabody
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Salem
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • West Town Landing
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • West Town Landing is located in Essex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Town Landing
    • Marblehead
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Marblehead is located in Essex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marblehead
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 20,551 people
  • Bristol County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lynn, with the one closest to Lynn listed first.
    • North Easton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • North Easton is located in Bristol County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Easton
    • South Easton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • South Easton is located in Bristol County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Easton
    • Easton Center
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
    • Easton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Easton is located in Bristol County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Easton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 25,116 people
  • Middlesex County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lynn, with the one closest to Lynn listed first.
    • Montrose
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Everett
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Malden
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Melrose
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Wakefield
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Wyoming
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Edgeworth
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Edgeworth is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgeworth
    • Stoneham
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Reading
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Reading is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reading
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 25,535 people
    • Medford
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Wellington
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Lindenwood
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Lindenwood is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lindenwood
  • Norfolk County
  • Plymouth County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lynn, with the one closest to Lynn listed first.
    • Bayside
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Bayside is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayside
    • Hull
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Hull is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hull
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,484 people
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Hull
      • From Lynn to Hull
    • Kenberma
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Kenberma is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kenberma
    • Hingham
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • West Hingham
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • West Hingham is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Hingham
    • Minot
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Minot is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minot
    • North Scituate
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • North Scituate is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Scituate
    • Accord
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Scituate
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Scituate is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scituate
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 19,047 people
    • Norwell
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Greenbush
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Greenbush is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenbush
    • North Abington
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
  • Suffolk County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lynn, with the one closest to Lynn listed first.
    • Franklin Park
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Franklin Park is located in Suffolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin Park
    • Revere
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Winthrop
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Chelsea
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Point Shirley
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Charlestown
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • East Boston
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Boston
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Bay Village
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Bay Village is located in Suffolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bay Village
    • South Boston
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Allston
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Allston is located in Suffolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allston
    • Roxbury
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Worcester County
  • Hillsborough County (NH)
    • Pelham
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Pelham is located in Hillsborough County (NH)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pelham
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 14,306 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pelham <1>
  • Rockingham County (NH)

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

Cemeteries Near Lynn ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Lynn.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Lynn, with the one closest to Lynn 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 Lynn had a population of 55,727 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Lynn had a population of 94,539 people.

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

  • East Lynn
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Swampscott
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • West Lynn
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Pleasant Hills
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Pleasant Hills is located in Essex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Hills
  • Cliftondale
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Franklin Park
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Franklin Park is located in Suffolk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin Park
  • Oak Island
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Oak Island is located in Suffolk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Island
  • Nahant
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Beach Bluff
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Beach Bluff is located in Essex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beach Bluff
  • Clifton
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Saugus
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Linden
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Linden is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Linden
  • Continue List   (27 more) ...
    • Crescent Beach
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Crescent Beach is located in Suffolk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crescent Beach
    • Salem
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Peabody
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Lynn ...

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 157 newspapers that have been published in the area around Lynn.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Lynn. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Lynn and those printed in the larger area surrounding Lynn.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 11 miles [17.7 km]<5> of Lynn.

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 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 Lynn:

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 Lynn, 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Lynn) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.