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 Provincetown (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 Provincetown. 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 Provincetown ...
While it's still very early in our research, we found that:
- Provincetown was settled in 1700.
- It was incorporated in 1727.
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 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.
Provincetown is located in Barnstable County.
To see how the shape of Massachusetts' counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
Below are the counties that are near Provincetown. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Provincetown:
- Barnstable County (The home county of Provincetown)
- The following are listed by their distance from Provincetown, with the one closest to Provincetown listed first.
- North Truro
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- North Truro is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Truro
- Pond Village
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Pond Village is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pond Village
- Truro
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Truro is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Truro
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,007 people
- South Truro
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- South Truro is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Truro
- Wellfleet
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Wellfleet is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellfleet
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,728 people
- South Wellfleet
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- South Wellfleet is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Wellfleet
- North Eastham
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- North Eastham is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Eastham
- Eastham
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Eastham is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastham
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,902 people
- Thumpertown Beach
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Thumpertown Beach is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thumpertown Beach
- Orleans
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Orleans is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orleans
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,802 people
- Brewster
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Brewster is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brewster
- Population from the 2020 Census: 9,772 people
- East Dennis
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- East Dennis is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Dennis
- East Orleans
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- East Orleans is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Orleans
- Plymouth County
- The following are listed by their distance from Provincetown, with the one closest to Provincetown listed first.
- White Horse Beach
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- White Horse Beach is located in Plymouth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Horse Beach
- Manomet
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Manomet is located in Plymouth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manomet
- Brant Rock
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Brant Rock is located in Plymouth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brant Rock
- Chiltonville
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Chiltonville is located in Plymouth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chiltonville
- Green Harbor - Cedar Crest
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Green Harbor
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Green Harbor is located in Plymouth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Harbor
- Ocean Bluff
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Ocean Bluff is located in Plymouth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ocean Bluff
- Duxbury
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Duxbury is located in Plymouth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duxbury
- Population from the 2020 Census: 15,932 people
- South Duxbury
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- South Duxbury is located in Plymouth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Duxbury
- Humarock
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Humarock is located in Plymouth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Humarock
- North Plymouth
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- North Plymouth is located in Plymouth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Plymouth
- Plymouth
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Plymouth is located in Plymouth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plymouth
- Population from the 2020 Census: 62,654 people
- Island Creek
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Island Creek is located in Plymouth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Island Creek
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Provincetown, see our County-by-County Page for Provincetown.
Cemeteries Near Provincetown ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Provincetown.
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 Provincetown - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Provincetown covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Provincetown, with the one closest to Provincetown listed first.
- Provincetown Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- St. Peters Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Town Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Hamilton Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Gifford Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Winthrop Street Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Old North Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Mt. Pleasant Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Snow Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Hill of Churches Hills of Storms Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Sacred Heart Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Pine Grove Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Continue List (121 more) ...
- Chequessett Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chequessett Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Chequessett Cemetery is located in Wellfleet.
- The Chequessett Cemetery has also been known as:
- Chequessett Neck Cemetery
- Early Meeting House Cemetery
- First Meeting House Cemetery
- Taylor Hill Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2230356 <1>
- Duck Creek Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Oakdale Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
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.<3>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Provincetown had a population of 4,642 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Provincetown had a population of 2,957 people.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Provincetown, with the one closest to Provincetown listed first.
- North Truro
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- North Truro is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Truro
- Truro Station ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Truro Station is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Truro Station
- Truro
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Truro is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Truro
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,007 people
- South Truro
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- South Truro is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Truro
- Wellfleet
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Wellfleet is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellfleet
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,728 people
- South Wellfleet
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- South Wellfleet is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Wellfleet
- North Eastham
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- North Eastham is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Eastham
- Eastham
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Eastham is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastham
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,902 people
- East Brewster
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- East Brewster is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Brewster
- Orleans
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Orleans is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orleans
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,802 people
- East Dennis
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- East Dennis is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Dennis
- West Brewster
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- West Brewster is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Brewster
- Continue List (20 more) ...
- Brewster
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Brewster is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brewster
- Population from the 2020 Census: 9,772 people
- East Orleans
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- East Orleans is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Orleans
- Manomet
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Manomet is located in Plymouth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manomet
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Provincetown. See our List of 1890's Communities around Provincetown.
Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Provincetown ...
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 52 newspapers that have been published in the area around Provincetown.
We have organized these newspapers into two lists:
- A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Provincetown. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Provincetown and those printed in the larger area surrounding Provincetown.
- An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<4> of Provincetown.
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 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 Provincetown:
- Websites specific to Massachusetts
- Pages specific to Barnstable County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Massachusetts
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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. |
| <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> | 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 Provincetown, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Provincetown) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |