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 Leominster (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 Leominster. 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 Leominster ...
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 Leominster: W. Leominster
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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most 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.
West Leominster is located in Worcester 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 Worcester County: Tolland (CT), Windham (CT), Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire, Middlesex, Norfolk, Cheshire (NH), Hillsborough (NH) & Providence (RI).
Below are the counties that are near West Leominster. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to West Leominster:
- Worcester County (The home county of West Leominster)
- The following are listed by their distance from West Leominster, with the one closest to West Leominster listed first.
- South Fitchburg
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- South Fitchburg is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Fitchburg
- Leominster
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Leominster is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leominster
- Population from the 2020 Census: 41,548 people
- Lunenburg Station
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Lunenburg Station is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lunenburg Station
- Fitchburg
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Fitchburg is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fitchburg
- Population from the 2020 Census: 40,310 people
- Lunenburg
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Lunenburg is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lunenburg
- Population from the 2020 Census: 11,810 people
- Pratts Junction
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Pratts Junction is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pratts Junction
- North Village
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- North Village is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Village
- East Princeton
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- East Princeton is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Princeton
- West Sterling
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- West Sterling is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Sterling
- Sterling
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Sterling is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sterling
- Population from the 2020 Census: 8,166 people
- Lancaster
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Lancaster is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lancaster
- Population from the 2020 Census: 7,857 people
- Westminster
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Westminster is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westminster
- Population from the 2020 Census: 8,091 people
- Blackburn Village
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Blackburn Village is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackburn Village
- Essex County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Leominster, with the one closest to West Leominster listed first.
- Haggetts
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Haggetts is located in Essex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haggetts
- Lowell Junction
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Lowell Junction is located in Essex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lowell Junction
- Franklin County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Leominster, with the one closest to West Leominster listed first.
- Tully
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Tully is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tully
- North Orange
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- North Orange is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Orange
- Millington ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Millington is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millington
- Orange
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Orange is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orange
- Population from the 2020 Census: 7,581 people
- Mayo Corners
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Mayo Corners is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayo Corners
- Morse Village
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Morse Village is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morse Village
- New Salem
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- New Salem is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Salem
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,034 people
- Warwick
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Warwick is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warwick
- Population from the 2020 Census: 768 people
- Wendell Depot
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Wendell Depot is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wendell Depot
- Middlesex County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Leominster, with the one closest to West Leominster listed first.
- Shaker Village
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Shaker Village is located in Middlesex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shaker Village
- Shirley
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Shirley is located in Middlesex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shirley
- Population from the 2020 Census: 7,554 people
- Old City
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Old City is located in Middlesex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old City
- Devens
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Devens is located in Middlesex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Devens
- Ayer
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Ayer is located in Middlesex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ayer
- Population from the 2020 Census: 8,211 people
- South Village
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- South Village is located in Middlesex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Village
- Townsend
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Townsend is located in Middlesex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Townsend
- Population from the 2020 Census: 9,448 people
- Townsend Harbor
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Townsend Harbor is located in Middlesex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Townsend Harbor
- West Groton
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- West Groton is located in Middlesex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Groton
- Ashby
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Ashby is located in Middlesex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashby
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,204 people
- West Townsend
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- West Townsend is located in Middlesex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Townsend
- Groton
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Groton is located in Middlesex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Groton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 11,256 people
- Paper Mill Village
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Paper Mill Village is located in Middlesex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paper Mill Village
- Norfolk County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Leominster, with the one closest to West Leominster listed first.
- Wellesley Farms
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Wellesley Farms is located in Norfolk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellesley Farms
- Wellesley Hills
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Wellesley Hills is located in Norfolk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellesley Hills
- Wellesley
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Wellesley is located in Norfolk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellesley
- Population from the 2020 Census: 28,684 people
- Babson Park
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Babson Park is located in Norfolk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Babson Park
- Cheshire County (NH)
- The following are listed by their distance from West Leominster, with the one closest to West Leominster listed first.
- Rindge
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- West Rindge
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- West Rindge is located in Cheshire County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Rindge
- Jaffrey
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Fitzwilliam Depot
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Fitzwilliam Depot is located in Cheshire County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fitzwilliam Depot
- Fitzwilliam
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Bonds Corner
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Bonds Corner is located in Cheshire County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonds Corner
- Troy
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Troy is located in Cheshire County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Troy
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,117 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Troy <1>
- Dublin
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Richmond
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Eastview
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Eastview is located in Cheshire County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastview
- Hillsborough County (NH)
- The following are listed by their distance from West Leominster, with the one closest to West Leominster listed first.
- Mason
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Mason is located in Hillsborough County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mason
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,433 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mason <1>
- Brookline
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- New Ipswich
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Greenville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Hollis Depot
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Hollis Depot is located in Hillsborough County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollis Depot
- Hollis
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Hollis is located in Hillsborough County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollis
- Population from the 2020 Census: 8,123 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hollis <1>
- Temple
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Temple is located in Hillsborough County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Temple
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,434 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Temple <1>
- West Wilton
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- West Wilton is located in Hillsborough County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Wilton
- East Milford
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- East Milford is located in Hillsborough County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Milford
- Milford
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Milford is located in Hillsborough County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milford
- Population from the 2020 Census: 16,515 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Milford <1>
- Wilton
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Wilton is located in Hillsborough County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,838 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wilton <1>
- South Merrimack
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- South Merrimack is located in Hillsborough County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Merrimack
- Sharon
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Sharon is located in Hillsborough County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sharon
- Population from the 2020 Census: 370 people
- Rockingham County (NH)
- The following are listed by their distance from West Leominster, with the one closest to West Leominster listed first.
- Londonderry
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Windham
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Windham is located in Rockingham County (NH)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windham
- Population from the 2020 Census: 14,865 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Windham <1>
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to West Leominster, see our County-by-County Page for West Leominster.
Cemeteries Near West Leominster ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of West Leominster.
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 Leominster - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for West Leominster covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from West Leominster, with the one closest to West Leominster listed first.
- Evergreen Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Pine Grove Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Evergreen Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- St. Bernards Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- St. Leo Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- St. Cecilias Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for St. Cecilias Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the St. Cecilias Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the southeast of Leominster.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1111015 <3>
- Forest Hill Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Hill Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Forest Hill Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located less than 2 miles<4> to the southwest of Fitchburg.
- Be careful not to confuse this cemetery with another one that is also named Forest Hill Cemetery (located 63 miles to the north).
- Jump to the Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System: MACRIS ID #FIT.804 <2>
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #90989 <3>
- South Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the South Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located less than 2 miles<4> to the southeast of Lunenburg.
- Jump to the Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System: MACRIS ID #LUN.801 <2>
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #91720 <3>
- Laurel Hill Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- St. Joseph Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for St. Joseph Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the St. Joseph Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located less than 2 miles<4> to the southwest of Fitchburg.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #91584 <3>
- North Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- North Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Continue List (461 more) ...
- Village Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- St. Anthonys Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Village 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.<5>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, West Leominster had railroad service and no post office.
These communities are listed based on their distance from West Leominster, with the one closest to West Leominster listed first.
- Leominster
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Leominster is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leominster
- Population from the 2020 Census: 41,548 people
- North Leominster
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- North Leominster is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Leominster
- South Fitchburg
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- South Fitchburg is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Fitchburg
- Gates Crossing
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Gates Crossing is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gates Crossing
- Lunenburg Station
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Lunenburg Station is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lunenburg Station
- Fitchburg
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Fitchburg is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fitchburg
- Population from the 2020 Census: 40,310 people
- Lunenburg
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Lunenburg is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lunenburg
- Population from the 2020 Census: 11,810 people
- West Fitchburg
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- West Fitchburg is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Fitchburg
- Shirley
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Shirley is located in Middlesex County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shirley
- Population from the 2020 Census: 7,554 people
- Wachusett
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Wachusett is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wachusett
- East Princeton
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- East Princeton is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Princeton
- West Sterling
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- West Sterling is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Sterling
- Continue List (19 more) ...
- North Village
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- North Village is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Village
- Sterling
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Sterling is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sterling
- Population from the 2020 Census: 8,166 people
- Lancaster
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Lancaster is located in Worcester County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lancaster
- Population from the 2020 Census: 7,857 people
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around West Leominster. See our List of 1890's Communities around West Leominster.
Newspapers Published in West Leominster ...
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 97 newspapers that have been published in the area around West Leominster.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of West Leominster, there are papers which were published within 14 miles [22.5 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for West Leominster.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to 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 West Leominster:
- Websites specific to Massachusetts
- Pages specific to Worcester County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Essex County
- Franklin County
- Middlesex County
- Norfolk County
- Cheshire County
- Hillsborough County
- Rockingham County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Massachusetts
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> | 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- West Leominster) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <5> | 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 Leominster, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |