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.

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]<1> of Nantucket.

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 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 Nantucket:

• Websites specific to Massachusetts
  • Jump to Cyndi's List
  • Jump to Family Search
  • Jump to Genealogy Trails
  • Website for the Massachusetts Archives Division

• Pages specific to Nantucket County
  • Jump to Cyndi's List
  • Jump to Family Search
  • Jump to Genealogy Trails

• Genealogy information for nearby counties
  • Barnstable County
    • Jump to Cyndi's List
    • Jump to Family Search
    • Jump to Genealogy Trails
  • Dukes County
    • Jump to Cyndi's List
    • Jump to Family Search
    • Jump to Genealogy Trails

• Cemetery Information and Directories for Massachusetts
  • Cemetery Junction: Cemeteries of Massachusetts
  • Cyndi's List
  • Cemeteries of Massachusetts
  • Cemeteries of Nantucket County
  • FamilySearch.org: Cemeteries of Massachusetts
  • Find-A-Grave: Home Page
  • Interment.net
  • Cemeteries of Massachusetts
  • Cemeteries of Nantucket County

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)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Friends Burying Ground have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Friends Burying Ground
• Prospect Hill Cemetery
  (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Prospect Hill Cemetery
  • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #91483 <3>
• St. Mary's RC Cemetery
  (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • The St. Mary's RC Cemetery has also been known as:
  • St. Marys Cemetery
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Mary's RC Cemetery
  • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #91638 <3>
• African Baptist Cemetery
  (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the African Baptist Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the African Baptist Cemetery
• New Town Cemetery
  (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • The New Town Cemetery has also been known as:
  • Newtown Cemetery
  • Old South Cemetery
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the New Town Cemetery
  • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2174319 <3>
• Old North Cemetery
  (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old North Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old North Cemetery
• Old Town Cemetery
  (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Town Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Town Cemetery
• New Town Cemetery
  (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the New Town Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • The New Town Cemetery has also been known as:
  • Newtown Cemetery
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the New Town Cemetery
• Old Settlers Graves
  (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Settlers Graves have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Settlers Graves
• Polpis Burying Ground
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Polpis Burying Ground have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Polpis Burying Ground
• Westside Cemetery
  (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Westside Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Westside Cemetery
• Town Hill Burying Ground
  (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Town Hill Burying Ground have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Town Hill Burying Ground
• Continue List   (51 more) ...
  • New Westside Cemetery
    (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the New Westside Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the New Westside Cemetery
  • Baker Family Cemetery
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • The Baker Family Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Baker Family Burying Ground
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Baker Family Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2199515 <3>
  • Holy Trinity Memorial Wall
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Holy Trinity Memorial Wall
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2334912 <3>

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.<2> 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: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Katama have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Katama
  • Katama is located in Dukes County
• Edgartown
  (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgartown
  • Edgartown is located in Dukes County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,383 people
• 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.<2> 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)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Yarmouth have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Yarmouth
  • West Yarmouth is located in Barnstable County
• 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.<2> 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)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hyannis Port
  • Hyannis Port is located in Barnstable County
• Harwich Port
  (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harwich Port
  • Harwich Port is located in Barnstable County
• Oak Bluffs
  (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Bluffs
  • Oak Bluffs is located in Dukes County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,696 people
• 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.<2> 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.<2> 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)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hyannis
  • Hyannis is located in Barnstable County
• 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.<2> 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.<2> 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.<2> 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.

Off-the-Road Links ...

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

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