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 Otter River (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 Otter River. 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.
Name Variations for Otter River ...
When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.
For example, a typical abbreviation for Otter River: Otter Riv.
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Otter River. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Otter River.
If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.
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.
Otter River 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 Otter River. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Otter River:
- Worcester County (The home county of Otter River)
- The following are listed by their distance from Otter River, with the one closest to Otter River listed first.
- Baldwinville
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Baldwinville is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baldwinville
- East Templeton
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- East Templeton is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Templeton
- Templeton
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Templeton is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Templeton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 8,134 people
- Gardner
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Gardner is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gardner
- Population from the 2020 Census: 20,585 people
- Olde English Village
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Olde English Village is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olde English Village
- Brooks Village
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Brooks Village is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brooks Village
- South Gardner
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- South Gardner is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Gardner
- Goulding Village
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Goulding Village is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goulding Village
- South Ashburnham
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- South Ashburnham is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Ashburnham
- Waterville
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Waterville is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterville
- Pequoig
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Pequoig is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pequoig
- Phillipston
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Phillipston is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Phillipston
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,739 people
- Winchendon Springs
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Winchendon Springs is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winchendon Springs
- Franklin County
- The following are listed by their distance from Otter River, with the one closest to Otter River listed first.
- North Orange
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- North Orange is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Orange
- Tully
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Tully is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tully
- Orange
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Orange is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orange
- Population from the 2020 Census: 7,581 people
- Mayo Corners
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Mayo Corners is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayo Corners
- Millington ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Millington is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millington
- New Salem
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- New Salem is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Salem
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,034 people
- Morse Village
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Morse Village is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morse Village
- Warwick
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Warwick is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warwick
- Population from the 2020 Census: 768 people
- Wendell Depot
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Wendell Depot is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wendell Depot
- Erving
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Erving is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erving
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,749 people
- Wendell
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Wendell is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wendell
- Population from the 2020 Census: 881 people
- Cooleyville
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Cooleyville is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooleyville
- Locks Village
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Locks Village is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locks Village
- Hampshire County
- The following are listed by their distance from Otter River, with the one closest to Otter River listed first.
- Pelham
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Pelham is located in Hampshire County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pelham
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,305 people
- Enfield ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Enfield is located in Hampshire County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Enfield
- Ware
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Ware is located in Hampshire County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ware
- Population from the 2020 Census: 9,897 people
- West Pelham
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- West Pelham is located in Hampshire County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Pelham
- East Village
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- East Village is located in Hampshire County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Village
- North Amherst
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- North Amherst is located in Hampshire County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Amherst
- Amherst Center
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Amherst Center is located in Hampshire County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amherst Center
- Amherst
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Amherst is located in Hampshire County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amherst
- Population from the 2020 Census: 40,643 people
- Belchertown
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Belchertown is located in Hampshire County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belchertown
- Population from the 2020 Census: 15,103 people
- South Amherst
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- South Amherst is located in Hampshire County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Amherst
- Bondsville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Bondsville is located in Hampshire County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bondsville
- North Hadley
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- North Hadley is located in Hampshire County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Hadley
- Middlesex County
- The following are listed by their distance from Otter River, with the one closest to Otter River listed first.
- Ashby
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Ashby is located in Middlesex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashby
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,204 people
- South Village
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- South Village is located in Middlesex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Village
- Old City
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Old City is located in Middlesex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old City
- West Townsend
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- West Townsend is located in Middlesex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Townsend
- Townsend
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Townsend is located in Middlesex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Townsend
- Population from the 2020 Census: 9,448 people
- Townsend Harbor
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Townsend Harbor is located in Middlesex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Townsend Harbor
- Shaker Village
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Shaker Village is located in Middlesex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shaker Village
- Shirley
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Shirley is located in Middlesex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shirley
- Population from the 2020 Census: 7,554 people
- West Groton
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- West Groton is located in Middlesex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Groton
- Devens
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Devens is located in Middlesex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Devens
- Ayer
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Ayer is located in Middlesex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ayer
- Population from the 2020 Census: 8,211 people
- Paper Mill Village
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Paper Mill Village is located in Middlesex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paper Mill Village
- Pepperell
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Pepperell is located in Middlesex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pepperell
- Population from the 2020 Census: 12,043 people
- Cheshire County (NH)
- The following are listed by their distance from Otter River, with the one closest to Otter River listed first.
- Rindge
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- West Rindge
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- West Rindge is located in Cheshire County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Rindge
- Fitzwilliam Depot
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Fitzwilliam Depot is located in Cheshire County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fitzwilliam Depot
- Fitzwilliam
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Jaffrey
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Richmond
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Troy
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Troy is located in Cheshire County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Troy
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,117 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Troy <1>
- Bonds Corner
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Bonds Corner is located in Cheshire County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonds Corner
- East Swanzey
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- East Swanzey is located in Cheshire County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Swanzey
- Winchester
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Dublin
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Marlborough
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Ashuelot
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Hillsborough County (NH)
- The following are listed by their distance from Otter River, with the one closest to Otter River listed first.
- New Ipswich
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Greenville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Sharon
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Sharon is located in Hillsborough County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sharon
- Population from the 2020 Census: 370 people
- Mason
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Mason is located in Hillsborough County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mason
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,433 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mason <1>
- Temple
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
- Temple is located in Hillsborough County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Temple
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,434 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Temple <1>
- Peterborough
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- West Peterborough
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- West Peterborough is located in Hillsborough County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Peterborough
- West Wilton
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- West Wilton is located in Hillsborough County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Wilton
- North Village
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- North Village is located in Hillsborough County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Village
- Brookline
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- South Lyndeborough
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- South Lyndeborough is located in Hillsborough County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Lyndeborough
- Wilton
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Wilton is located in Hillsborough County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,838 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wilton <1>
- Greenfield
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Windham County (VT)
- The following are listed by their distance from Otter River, with the one closest to Otter River listed first.
- South Vernon
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- South Vernon is located in Windham County (VT)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Vernon
- Vernon
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Vernon is located in Windham County (VT)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vernon
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,190 people
- Guilford
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Otter River, see our County-by-County Page for Otter River.
Cemeteries Near Otter River ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Otter River.
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 Otter River - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Otter River covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Otter River, with the one closest to Otter River listed first.
- St. Josephs Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Baptist Common Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Notre Dame Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Notre Dame Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Notre Dame Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the northwest of Gardner.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #91342 <2>
- Wildwood Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wildwood Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Wildwood Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the northwest of Gardner.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #91864 <2>
- St. John's Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for St. John's Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the St. John's Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the northwest of Gardner.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #91579 <2>
- St. Johns Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Greenlawn Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Crystal Lake Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- New Boston Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Pine Grove Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Norcross Hill Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Green Bower Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Continue List (398 more) ...
- Old Center Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Lower Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Phillipston Center Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
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 Otter River had a population of 511 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Otter River, with the one closest to Otter River listed first.
- Baldwinville
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Baldwinville is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baldwinville
- East Templeton
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- East Templeton is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Templeton
- Templeton
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Templeton is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Templeton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 8,134 people
- Gardner
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Gardner is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gardner
- Population from the 2020 Census: 20,585 people
- South Gardner
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- South Gardner is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Gardner
- Phillipston
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Phillipston is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Phillipston
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,739 people
- South Ashburnham
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- South Ashburnham is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Ashburnham
- South Royalston
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- South Royalston is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Royalston
- Waterville
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Waterville is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterville
- Winchendon Springs
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Winchendon Springs is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winchendon Springs
- Winchendon
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Winchendon is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winchendon
- Population from the 2020 Census: 10,835 people
- Westminster
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Westminster is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westminster
- Population from the 2020 Census: 8,091 people
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- Ashburnham
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Ashburnham is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashburnham
- Population from the 2020 Census: 6,350 people
- State Line
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- State Line is located in Cheshire County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for State Line
- Williamsville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Williamsville is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williamsville
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Otter River. See our List of 1890's Communities around Otter River.
Newspapers Published in Otter River ...
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 88 newspapers that have been published in the area around Otter River.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Otter River, there are papers which were published within 17 miles [27.4 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Otter River.
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 Otter River:
- Websites specific to Massachusetts
- Pages specific to Worcester County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Franklin County
- Hampshire County
- Middlesex County
- Cheshire County
- Hillsborough County
- Windham County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Massachusetts
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 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Otter River) 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 Otter River, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |