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The Commemorative Quarter for Massachusetts





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 Nantucket (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 Nantucket. 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 Nantucket ...

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

  • Nantucket was settled in 1641.
  • It was incorporated in 1671.

Cemeteries Near Nantucket ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Nantucket.

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.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Nantucket, with the one closest to Nantucket listed first.

  • Friends Burying Ground
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Friends Burying Ground
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Friends Burying Ground have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Prospect Hill Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • St. Mary's RC Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • African Baptist Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the African Baptist Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the African Baptist Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • New Town Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Old North Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old North Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old North Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Old Town Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Town Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Town Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • New Town Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the New Town Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the New Town Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • The New Town Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Newtown Cemetery
  • Old Settlers Graves
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Settlers Graves
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Settlers Graves have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Polpis Burying Ground
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Polpis Burying Ground
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Polpis Burying Ground have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Westside Cemetery
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Westside Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Westside Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Town Hill Burying Ground
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Town Hill Burying Ground
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Town Hill Burying Ground have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (54 more) ...

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 Nantucket had a population of 3,101 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Nantucket had a population of 11,376 people.

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

  • Siasconset
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Siasconset have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Siasconset
    • Siasconset is located in Nantucket County
  • Katama
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Katama. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<5>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Katama
    • Katama is located in Dukes County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Katama
    • From Nantucket to Katama
  • Edgartown
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
  • Dennis Port
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dennis Port have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dennis Port
    • Dennis Port is located in Barnstable County
  • West Yarmouth
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
  • West Harwich
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Harwich have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Harwich
    • West Harwich is located in Barnstable County
  • Hyannis Port
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Harwich Port
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
  • Oak Bluffs
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
  • West Dennis
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Dennis have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Dennis
    • West Dennis is located in Barnstable County
  • South Yarmouth
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Yarmouth have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Yarmouth
    • South Yarmouth is located in Barnstable County
  • Hyannis
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Craigville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Craigville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Craigville
      • Craigville is located in Barnstable County
    • Wianno
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wianno have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wianno
      • Wianno is located in Barnstable County
    • South Chatham
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Chatham have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Chatham
      • South Chatham is located in Barnstable County

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Nantucket ...

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 40 newspapers that have been published in the area around Nantucket.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Nantucket. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Nantucket and those printed in the larger area surrounding Nantucket.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<6> of Nantucket.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to 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 Nantucket:

The official website for Nantucket: www.nantucket-ma.gov/

The official website for State of Massachusetts: https://www.mass.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<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>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.

<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 Nantucket, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<5>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<6>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- Nantucket) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Nantucket. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.2832, Longitude: -70.0993    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 14 Jul 2025