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 Plainville (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 Plainville. 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.
Plainville is located in Hampshire 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 Hampshire County : Berkshire , Franklin , Hampden & Worcester .
Below are the counties that are near Plainville. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Plainville:
Hampshire County (The home county of Plainville)
The following are listed by their distance from Plainville, with the one closest to Plainville listed first.
Amherst Center (Less than 2 miles to the east)
Amherst Center is located in Hampshire County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amherst Center Amherst (Less than 2 miles to the east)
Amherst is located in Hampshire County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amherst Population from the 2020 Census: 40,643 people
North Hadley (Less than 2 miles to the west)
North Hadley is located in Hampshire County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Hadley East Village (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
East Village is located in Hampshire County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Village North Amherst (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
North Amherst is located in Hampshire County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Amherst Hatfield (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
Hatfield is located in Hampshire County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hatfield Population from the 2020 Census: 3,243 people
West Pelham (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
West Pelham is located in Hampshire County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Pelham South Amherst (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
South Amherst is located in Hampshire County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Amherst Hadley (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
Hadley is located in Hampshire County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hadley Population from the 2020 Census: 5,327 people
North Hatfield (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
North Hatfield is located in Hampshire County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Hatfield West Hatfield (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
West Hatfield is located in Hampshire County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Hatfield Northampton (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
Northampton is located in Hampshire County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Northampton Population from the 2020 Census: 28,362 people
Bay State (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
Bay State is located in Hampshire County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bay State Berkshire County
The following are listed by their distance from Plainville, with the one closest to Plainville listed first.
East Windsor (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
East Windsor is located in Berkshire County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Windsor Peru (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
Peru is located in Berkshire County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peru Population from the 2020 Census: 833 people
Savoy (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
Savoy is located in Berkshire County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Savoy Population from the 2020 Census: 676 people
Becket (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
Becket is located in Berkshire County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Becket Population from the 2020 Census: 1,707 people
Windsor (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
Windsor is located in Berkshire County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windsor Population from the 2020 Census: 860 people
East Otis (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
East Otis is located in Berkshire County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Otis Washington (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
Washington is located in Berkshire County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Washington Population from the 2020 Census: 541 people
Drury (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
Drury is located in Berkshire County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drury Savoy Center (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
Savoy Center is located in Berkshire County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Savoy Center Hinsdale (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
Hinsdale is located in Berkshire County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hinsdale Population from the 2020 Census: 1,902 people
Florida (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
Florida is located in Berkshire County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florida Population from the 2020 Census: 711 people
Otis (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
Otis is located in Berkshire County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Otis Population from the 2020 Census: 1,531 people
North Otis (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
North Otis is located in Berkshire County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Otis Franklin County
The following are listed by their distance from Plainville, with the one closest to Plainville listed first.
Leverett (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
Leverett is located in Franklin County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leverett Population from the 2020 Census: 1,836 people
Sunderland (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
Sunderland is located in Franklin County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunderland Population from the 2020 Census: 3,634 people
Whately (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
Whately is located in Franklin County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whately Population from the 2020 Census: 1,583 people
South Deerfield (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
South Deerfield is located in Franklin County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Deerfield Shutesbury (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
Shutesbury is located in Franklin County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shutesbury Population from the 2020 Census: 1,753 people
Moores Corner (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
Moores Corner is located in Franklin County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moores Corner Montague (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
Montague is located in Franklin County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montague Population from the 2020 Census: 8,203 people
Cooleyville (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
Cooleyville is located in Franklin County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooleyville Locks Village (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
Locks Village is located in Franklin County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locks Village Smiths ‑ Historic(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
Smiths is located in Franklin County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smiths Deerfield (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
Deerfield is located in Franklin County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deerfield Population from the 2020 Census: 5,049 people
Conway (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
Conway is located in Franklin County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conway Population from the 2020 Census: 1,875 people
Lake Pleasant (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
Lake Pleasant is located in Franklin County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Pleasant Hampden County
The following are listed by their distance from Plainville, with the one closest to Plainville listed first.
Ludlow City (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
Ludlow City is located in Hampden County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ludlow City Holyoke (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
Holyoke is located in Hampden County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holyoke Population from the 2020 Census: 39,921 people
Aldenville (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
Aldenville is located in Hampden County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aldenville Indian Orchard (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
Indian Orchard is located in Hampden County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Orchard Ludlow (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
Ludlow is located in Hampden County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ludlow Population from the 2020 Census: 21,101 people
Chicopee (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
Chicopee is located in Hampden County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chicopee Population from the 2020 Census: 54,825 people
North Wilbraham (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
North Wilbraham is located in Hampden County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Wilbraham Three Rivers (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
Three Rivers is located in Hampden County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Three Rivers Thorndike (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
Thorndike is located in Hampden County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thorndike Hampton Village (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
Hampton Village is located in Hampden County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hampton Village Montgomery (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
Montgomery is located in Hampden County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montgomery Population from the 2020 Census: 863 people
Merrick (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
Merrick is located in Hampden County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merrick Palmer (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
Palmer is located in Hampden County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palmer Population from the 2020 Census: 12,174 people
Worcester County
The following are listed by their distance from Plainville, with the one closest to Plainville listed first.
Greenwich ‑ Historic(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
Greenwich is located in Worcester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwich Greenwich Village ‑ Historic(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
Greenwich Village is located in Worcester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwich Village North Dana ‑ Historic(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
North Dana is located in Worcester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Dana Dana ‑ Historic(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
Dana is located in Worcester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dana Hardwick (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
Hardwick is located in Worcester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hardwick Population from the 2020 Census: 3,047 people
Gilbertville (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
Gilbertville is located in Worcester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilbertville West Warren (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
West Warren is located in Worcester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Warren Wheelwright (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
Wheelwright is located in Worcester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheelwright Petersham (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
Petersham is located in Worcester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Petersham Population from the 2020 Census: 1,237 people
Warren (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
Warren is located in Worcester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warren Population from the 2020 Census: 5,203 people
Barre Plains (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
Barre Plains is located in Worcester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barre Plains Barre (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
Barre is located in Worcester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barre Population from the 2020 Census: 5,574 people
Athol (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
Athol is located in Worcester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Athol Population from the 2020 Census: 11,698 people
Hartford County (CT)
The following are listed by their distance from Plainville, with the one closest to Plainville listed first.
Rising Corner (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
Rising Corner is located in Hartford County (CT) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rising Corner Sherwood Manor (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
Sherwood Manor is located in Hartford County (CT) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sherwood Manor Enfield (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
Hazardville (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
Hazardville is located in Hartford County (CT) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hazardville Thompsonville (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
Thompsonville is located in Hartford County (CT) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thompsonville Enfield (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
Enfield is located in Hartford County (CT) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Enfield Population from the 2020 Census: 43,559 people
Suffield Depot (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
Suffield Depot is located in Hartford County (CT) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Suffield Depot Suffield (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
West Suffield (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
Southwood Acres (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
Southwood Acres is located in Hartford County (CT) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Southwood Acres Suffield (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
Suffield is located in Hartford County (CT) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Suffield Population from the 2020 Census: 15,812 people
Green Manor Village (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
Green Manor Village is located in Hartford County (CT) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Manor Village North Granby (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
Tolland County (CT)
The following are listed by their distance from Plainville, with the one closest to Plainville listed first.
State Line (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
State Line is located in Tolland County (CT) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for State Line Somers (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
Somers is located in Tolland County (CT) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Somers Population from the 2020 Census: 10,741 people
Somers (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
Somersville (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
Stafford (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
Stafford is located in Tolland County (CT) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stafford Population from the 2020 Census: 11,834 people
Stafford (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
Staffordville (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
Cheshire County (NH)
The following are listed by their distance from Plainville, with the one closest to Plainville listed first.
Ashuelot (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
Hinsdale (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
Winchester (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
Richmond (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
Windham County (VT)
The following are listed by their distance from Plainville, with the one closest to Plainville listed first.
South Vernon (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
South Vernon is located in Windham County (VT) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Vernon Vernon (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
Vernon is located in Windham County (VT) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vernon Population from the 2020 Census: 2,190 people
Guilford (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
Guilford is located in Windham County (VT) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guilford Population from the 2020 Census: 2,102 people
Halifax (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
Halifax is located in Windham County (VT) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halifax Halifax (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
Halifax is located in Windham County (VT) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halifax Population from the 2020 Census: 674 people
Guilford (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
West Halifax (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Plainville, see our County-by-County Page for Plainville .
Cemeteries Near Plainville ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Plainville.
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 Plainville - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Plainville covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Plainville, with the one closest to Plainville listed first.
Plainville Cemetery (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
Holy Rosary Cemetery (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
St. Brigids Cemetery (Less than 2 miles to the south)
West Cemetery (Less than 2 miles to the east)
North Hadley Cemetery (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
Wildwood Cemetery (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
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 north of Amherst . Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #91862 <3>
North Amherst Cemetery (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
Old Hadley Cemetery (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
Russellville Cemetery (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
Holy Trinity Cemetery (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
Hebrew Cemetery (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hebrew Cemetery To give a relative sense of its location, the Hebrew Cemetery is located outside and to the north of Northampton . Jump to the Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System: MACRIS ID #NTH.807 <2>
St. Mary Cemetery (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
Continue List (381 more) ...
Bridge Street Cemetery (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
Dwight Cemetery (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
Valley Cemetery (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
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>
While we didn't find Plainville in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Plainville.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Plainville, with the one closest to Plainville listed first.
Amherst (Less than 2 miles to the east)
Amherst is located in Hampshire County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amherst Population from the 2020 Census: 40,643 people
North Hadley (Less than 2 miles to the west)
North Hadley is located in Hampshire County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Hadley Hatfield (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
Hatfield is located in Hampshire County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hatfield Population from the 2020 Census: 3,243 people
North Amherst (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
North Amherst is located in Hampshire County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Amherst Hadley (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
Hadley is located in Hampshire County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hadley Population from the 2020 Census: 5,327 people
South Amherst (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
South Amherst is located in Hampshire County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Amherst West Pelham (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
West Pelham is located in Hampshire County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Pelham North Hatfield (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
North Hatfield is located in Hampshire County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Hatfield West Hatfield (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
West Hatfield is located in Hampshire County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Hatfield Northampton (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
Northampton is located in Hampshire County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Northampton Population from the 2020 Census: 28,362 people
Leverett (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
Leverett is located in Franklin County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leverett Population from the 2020 Census: 1,836 people
East Whately (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
East Whately is located in Franklin County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Whately Continue List (13 more) ...
Florence (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
Florence is located in Hampshire County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florence Bay State (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
Bay State is located in Hampshire County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bay State Sunderland (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
Sunderland is located in Franklin County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunderland Population from the 2020 Census: 3,634 people
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Plainville. See our List of 1890's Communities around Plainville .
Newspapers Published in Plainville ...
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 39 newspapers that have been published in the area around Plainville.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Plainville, there are papers which were published within 15 miles [24.1 km]<5> Extended Newspaper List for Plainville.
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 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 Plainville:
Websites specific to Massachusetts Pages specific to Hampshire County Genealogy information for nearby counties
Berkshire County Franklin County Hampden County Worcester County Hartford County Tolland County Cheshire County Windham County Cemetery Information and Directories for Massachusetts Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Plainville. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page .
The official website for State of Massachusetts: https://www.mass.gov/
Footnotes ...
<1> While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. 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 . 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 . 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 Plainville, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Plainville) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.