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 West Harwich (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 West Harwich. 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 West Harwich ...
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 West Harwich: W. Harwich
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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.
West Harwich 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 West Harwich. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to West Harwich:
- Barnstable County (The home county of West Harwich)
- The following are listed by their distance from West Harwich, with the one closest to West Harwich listed first.
- Dennis Port
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Dennis Port is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dennis Port
- North Harwich
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- North Harwich is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Harwich
- Harwich Port
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Harwich Port is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harwich Port
- Harwich
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Harwich is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harwich
- Population from the 2020 Census: 12,144 people
- South Dennis
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- South Dennis is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Dennis
- West Dennis
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- West Dennis is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Dennis
- South Harwich
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- South Harwich is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Harwich
- South Yarmouth
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- South Yarmouth is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Yarmouth
- South Chatham
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- South Chatham is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Chatham
- Bass River
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Bass River is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bass River
- West Brewster
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- West Brewster is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Brewster
- East Harwich
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- East Harwich is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Harwich
- East Dennis
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- East Dennis is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Dennis
- Dukes County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Harwich, with the one closest to West Harwich listed first.
- Edgartown
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Edgartown is located in Dukes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgartown
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,383 people
- Oak Bluffs
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Oak Bluffs is located in Dukes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Bluffs
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,696 people
- West Chop
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- West Chop is located in Dukes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Chop
- Katama
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Katama is located in Dukes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Katama
- Tisbury
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Tisbury is located in Dukes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tisbury
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,128 people
- Vineyard Haven
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Vineyard Haven is located in Dukes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vineyard Haven
- Nantucket County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Harwich, with the one closest to West Harwich listed first.
- Pocomo
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Pocomo is located in Nantucket County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pocomo
- Nantucket
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Nantucket is located in Nantucket County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nantucket
- Population from the 2020 Census: 11,376 people
- Siasconset
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Siasconset is located in Nantucket County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Siasconset
- Plymouth County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Harwich, with the one closest to West Harwich listed first.
- Manomet
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Manomet is located in Plymouth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manomet
- Onset
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Onset is located in Plymouth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Onset
- White Island Shores
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- White Island Shores is located in Plymouth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Island Shores
- White Horse Beach
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- White Horse Beach is located in Plymouth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Horse Beach
- East Wareham
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- East Wareham is located in Plymouth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Wareham
- Onset Station
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Onset Station is located in Plymouth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Onset Station
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to West Harwich, see our County-by-County Page for West Harwich.
Cemeteries Near West Harwich ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of West Harwich.
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 West Harwich - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for West Harwich covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from West Harwich, with the one closest to West Harwich listed first.
- Holy Trinity Memorial Wall
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Pine Grove Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Swan Lake Cemetery Annex
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Swan Lake Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Mt. Pleasant Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Baker Family Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Island Pond Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Holy Trinity Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Kelley Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Old South Dennis Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- South Dennis Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Oak Ridge Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Continue List (133 more) ...
- Georgetown Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Pine Grove Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Harding Ryder Gravesite
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
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, West Harwich had a post office and no railroad service.
These communities are listed based on their distance from West Harwich, with the one closest to West Harwich listed first.
- Dennis Port
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Dennis Port is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dennis Port
- North Harwich
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- North Harwich is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Harwich
- Harwich Port
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Harwich Port is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harwich Port
- Harwich
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Harwich is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harwich
- Population from the 2020 Census: 12,144 people
- South Dennis
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- South Dennis is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Dennis
- West Dennis
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- West Dennis is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Dennis
- South Harwich
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- South Harwich is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Harwich
- Pleasant Lake
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Pleasant Lake is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Lake
- South Yarmouth
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- South Yarmouth is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Yarmouth
- South Chatham
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- South Chatham is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Chatham
- East Dennis
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- East Dennis is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Dennis
- East Harwich
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- East Harwich is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Harwich
- Continue List (16 more) ...
- West Brewster
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- West Brewster is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Brewster
- West Chatham
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- West Chatham is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Chatham
- South Brewster
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- South Brewster is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Brewster
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around West Harwich. See our List of 1890's Communities around West Harwich.
Newspapers Published in West Harwich ...
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 25 newspapers that have been published in the area around West Harwich.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of West Harwich, there are papers which were published within 25 miles [40.2 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for West Harwich.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we like to 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 West Harwich:
- Websites specific to Massachusetts
- Pages specific to Barnstable County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Dukes County
- Nantucket County
- Plymouth County
- 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> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- West Harwich) 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 West Harwich, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |