RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Massachusetts >> Essex County >> Saugus >> Genealogy HelperIndex...

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 Saugus (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 Saugus. 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 Saugus ...

While it's still very early in our research, we found that:

  • Saugus was settled in 1630.
  • It was incorporated in 1815.

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 and hospitals 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.

Saugus is located in Essex 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 Essex County: Middlesex, Suffolk & Rockingham (NH).

Below are the counties that are near Saugus. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Saugus:

  • Essex County     (The home county of Saugus)
  • Bristol County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Saugus, with the one closest to Saugus listed first.
    • North Easton
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • North Easton is located in Bristol County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Easton
    • Easton Center
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Easton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Easton is located in Bristol County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Easton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 25,116 people
    • South Easton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • South Easton is located in Bristol County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Easton
  • Middlesex County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Saugus, with the one closest to Saugus listed first.
    • Melrose
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Wyoming
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Montrose
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Wakefield
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Edgeworth
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Edgeworth is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgeworth
    • Everett
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Malden
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Stoneham
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Medford
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Wellington
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Lindenwood
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Lindenwood is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lindenwood
    • Montvale
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Norfolk County
  • Plymouth County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Saugus, with the one closest to Saugus listed first.
    • Hull
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Bayside
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Bayside is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayside
    • Kenberma
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Kenberma is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kenberma
    • Hingham
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • West Hingham
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • West Hingham is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Hingham
    • Minot
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Minot is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minot
    • North Scituate
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • North Scituate is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Scituate
    • Accord
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • North Abington
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Rockland
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Rockland is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockland
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 17,992 people
    • Greenbush
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Greenbush is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenbush
    • Norwell
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
  • Suffolk County
  • Worcester County
  • Hillsborough County (NH)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Saugus, with the one closest to Saugus listed first.
    • Pelham
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Pelham is located in Hillsborough County (NH)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pelham
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 14,306 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pelham <1>
    • Hudson
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Rockingham County (NH)

For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Saugus, see our County-by-County Page for Saugus.

Cemeteries Near Saugus ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Saugus.

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 Saugus - one of the links might be able to help.

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Saugus covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Saugus, with the one closest to Saugus listed first.

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 in 1895, Saugus had railroad service and no post office. In 2020, Saugus had a population of 28,542 people.

These communities are listed based on their distance from Saugus, with the one closest to Saugus listed first.

  • Pleasant Hills
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Pleasant Hills is located in Essex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Hills
  • Franklin Park
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Franklin Park is located in Suffolk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin Park
  • Cliftondale
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • West Lynn
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Maplewood
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Maplewood is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maplewood
  • Linden
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Linden is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Linden
  • Oak Island
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Oak Island is located in Suffolk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Island
  • Greenwood
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Greenwood is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwood
  • Melrose Highlands
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Melrose Highlands is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melrose Highlands
  • Melrose
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Wyoming
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Fells
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Fells is located in Middlesex County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fells
  • Continue List   (18 more) ...
    • Oak Grove
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Oak Grove is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
    • Faulkner
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Faulkner is located in Middlesex County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Faulkner
    • Revere
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)

We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Saugus. See our List of 1890's Communities around Saugus.

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Saugus ...

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 46 newspapers that have been published in the area around Saugus.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Saugus. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Saugus and those printed in the larger area surrounding Saugus.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 9 miles [14.5 km]<5> of Saugus.

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 websites either 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 Saugus:

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 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>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.
<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 Saugus, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<5>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Saugus) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.