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 Rock Harbor (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 Rock Harbor. 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 Rock Harbor ...
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 Rock Harbor: Rock Hbr. (or less commonly used: Rock Harb. or Rock Hrbr.)
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Rock Harbor. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Rock Harbor.
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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.
Rock Harbor 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 Rock Harbor. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Rock Harbor:
- Barnstable County (The home county of Rock Harbor)
- The following are listed by their distance from Rock Harbor, with the one closest to Rock Harbor listed first.
- Orleans
(Less than 2 miles 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 Orleans
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- East Orleans is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Orleans
- Thumpertown Beach
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Thumpertown Beach is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thumpertown Beach
- South Orleans
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- South Orleans is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Orleans
- Eastham
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Eastham is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastham
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,902 people
- North Eastham
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- North Eastham is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Eastham
- Brewster
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Brewster is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brewster
- Population from the 2020 Census: 9,772 people
- Chatham Port
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Chatham Port is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chatham Port
- East Harwich
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- East Harwich is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Harwich
- West Brewster
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- West Brewster is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Brewster
- North Chatham
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- North Chatham is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Chatham
- Chatham
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Chatham is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chatham
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,994 people
- Plymouth County
- The following are listed by their distance from Rock Harbor, with the one closest to Rock Harbor listed first.
- White Horse Beach
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- White Horse Beach is located in Plymouth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Horse Beach
- Manomet
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Manomet is located in Plymouth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manomet
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Rock Harbor, see our County-by-County Page for Rock Harbor.
Cemeteries Near Rock Harbor ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Rock Harbor.
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 Rock Harbor - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Rock Harbor covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Rock Harbor, with the one closest to Rock Harbor listed first.
- Orleans Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Cove Burying Ground
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Crosby Family Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crosby Family Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Crosby Family Cemetery is located outside and to the east of Brewster.
- The Crosby Family Cemetery has also been known as:
- Crosby Family Cemetery
- Jump to the Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System: MACRIS ID #BRE.801 <1>
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2199860 <2>
- Bridge Road Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Foster Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Pine Grove Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Soldiers Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Congregational and Soldiers Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Evergreen Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Brewster Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brewster Cemetery
- The Brewster Cemetery has also been known as:
- Brewster Lower Road Cemetery
- Lower Road Cemetery
- Jump to the Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System: MACRIS ID #BRE.806 <1>
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #90810 <2>
- Brewster Memorial Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Dillingham Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (99 more) ...
- Evergreen Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Ouivett Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Quivet Neck Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quivet Neck Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Quivet Neck Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the northeast of East Dennis.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #91406 <2>
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 Rock Harbor in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Rock Harbor.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Rock Harbor, with the one closest to Rock Harbor listed first.
- Orleans
(Less than 2 miles 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 Orleans
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- East Orleans is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Orleans
- East Brewster
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- East Brewster is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Brewster
- South Orleans
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- South Orleans is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Orleans
- Brewster
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Brewster is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brewster
- Population from the 2020 Census: 9,772 people
- South Brewster
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- South Brewster is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Brewster
- Eastham
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Eastham is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastham
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,902 people
- North Eastham
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- North Eastham is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Eastham
- West Brewster
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- West Brewster is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Brewster
- East Harwich
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- East Harwich is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Harwich
- Chatham Port
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Chatham Port is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chatham Port
- Pleasant Lake
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Pleasant Lake is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Lake
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- North Chatham
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- North Chatham is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Chatham
- East Dennis
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- East Dennis is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Dennis
- Harwich
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Harwich is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harwich
- Population from the 2020 Census: 12,144 people
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Rock Harbor. See our List of 1890's Communities around Rock Harbor.
Newspapers Published in Rock Harbor ...
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 33 newspapers that have been published in the area around Rock Harbor.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Rock Harbor, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Rock Harbor.
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 helpful 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 Rock Harbor:
- Websites specific to Massachusetts
- Pages specific to Barnstable County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Massachusetts
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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.
|
| <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 '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- Rock Harbor) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <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 Rock Harbor, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |