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 Opening (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 Opening. 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 Opening ...
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 Opening: W. Opening
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 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 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 Opening is located in Dukes 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 Dukes County: Barnstable, Bristol, Nantucket & Plymouth.
Below are the counties that are near West Opening. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to West Opening:
- Dukes County (The home county of West Opening)
- The following are listed by their distance from West Opening, with the one closest to West Opening listed first.
- Katama
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Katama is located in Dukes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Katama
- Edgartown
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Edgartown is located in Dukes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgartown
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,383 people
- Oak Bluffs
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Oak Bluffs is located in Dukes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Bluffs
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,696 people
- Tisbury
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Tisbury is located in Dukes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tisbury
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,128 people
- Vineyard Haven
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Vineyard Haven is located in Dukes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vineyard Haven
- West Tisbury
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- West Tisbury is located in Dukes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Tisbury
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,927 people
- North Tisbury
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- North Tisbury is located in Dukes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Tisbury
- West Chop
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- West Chop is located in Dukes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Chop
- Christian Town
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Christian Town is located in Dukes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Christian Town
- Chilmark
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Chilmark is located in Dukes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chilmark
- Population from the 2020 Census: 930 people
- Menemsha
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Menemsha is located in Dukes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Menemsha
- Squibnocket
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Squibnocket is located in Dukes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Squibnocket
- Barnstable County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Opening, with the one closest to West Opening listed first.
- Acapesket
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Acapesket is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acapesket
- Maushop Village
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Maushop Village is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maushop Village
- Monomoscoy Island
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Monomoscoy Island is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monomoscoy Island
- New Seabury
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- New Seabury is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Seabury
- Popponesset
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Popponesset is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Popponesset
- Seconsett Island
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Seconsett Island is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seconsett Island
- Teaticket
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Teaticket is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Teaticket
- Falmouth
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Falmouth is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falmouth
- Population from the 2020 Census: 31,107 people
- Woods Hole
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Woods Hole is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woods Hole
- East Falmouth
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- East Falmouth is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Falmouth
- Popponesset Island
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Popponesset Island is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Popponesset Island
- Seabrook
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Seabrook is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seabrook
- Bristol County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Opening, with the one closest to West Opening listed first.
- Nonquitt
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Nonquitt is located in Bristol County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nonquitt
- South Dartmouth
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- South Dartmouth is located in Bristol County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Dartmouth
- Apponagansett
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Apponagansett is located in Bristol County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Apponagansett
- Bliss Corner
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Bliss Corner is located in Bristol County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bliss Corner
- Fairhaven
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Fairhaven is located in Bristol County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairhaven
- Population from the 2020 Census: 16,103 people
- New Bedford
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- New Bedford is located in Bristol County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Bedford
- Population from the 2020 Census: 95,517 people
- Nantucket County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Opening, with the one closest to West Opening listed first.
- Nantucket
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Nantucket is located in Nantucket County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nantucket
- Population from the 2020 Census: 11,376 people
- Pocomo
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Pocomo is located in Nantucket County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pocomo
- Siasconset
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Siasconset is located in Nantucket County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Siasconset
- Plymouth County
- The following are listed by their distance from West Opening, with the one closest to West Opening listed first.
- Marion
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Marion is located in Plymouth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marion
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,189 people
- Mattapoisett
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Mattapoisett is located in Plymouth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mattapoisett
- Population from the 2020 Census: 6,427 people
- Onset
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Onset is located in Plymouth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Onset
- East Wareham
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- East Wareham is located in Plymouth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Wareham
- Onset Station
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Onset Station is located in Plymouth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Onset Station
- Briarwood Beach
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Briarwood Beach is located in Plymouth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Briarwood Beach
- Weweantic
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Weweantic is located in Plymouth County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weweantic
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to West Opening, see our County-by-County Page for West Opening.
Cemeteries Near West Opening ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of West Opening.
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 Opening - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for West Opening covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from West Opening, with the one closest to West Opening listed first.
- Town Hill Burying Ground
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Westside Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- New Westside Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Oak Grove Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Sacred Heart Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- West Chop Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- South End Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Tisbury Village Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Oak Grove Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- West Tisbury Village Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Christiantown Memorial Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Lambert's Cove Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lambert's Cove Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Lambert's Cove Cemetery is located 4 miles [6.4 km]<2> to the north of West Tisbury.
- The Lambert's Cove Cemetery has also been known as:
- Lamberts Cove Road Cemetery
- Jump to the Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System: MACRIS ID #WTI.804 <1>
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #91158 <3>
- Continue List (100 more) ...
- Abel's Hill Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Methodist Society Burying Ground
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Old Town Cemetery
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
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 West Opening in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of West Opening.
These communities are listed based on their distance from West Opening, with the one closest to West Opening listed first.
- Katama
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Katama is located in Dukes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Katama
- Edgartown
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Edgartown is located in Dukes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgartown
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,383 people
- Oak Bluffs
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Oak Bluffs is located in Dukes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Bluffs
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,696 people
- Vineyard Highlands
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Vineyard Highlands is located in Dukes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vineyard Highlands
- Vineyard Haven
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Vineyard Haven is located in Dukes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vineyard Haven
- West Tisbury
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- West Tisbury is located in Dukes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Tisbury
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,927 people
- West Chop
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- West Chop is located in Dukes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Chop
- North Tisbury
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- North Tisbury is located in Dukes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Tisbury
- Chilmark
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Chilmark is located in Dukes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chilmark
- Population from the 2020 Census: 930 people
- Falmouth Heights
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Falmouth Heights is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falmouth Heights
- Squibnocket
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Squibnocket is located in Dukes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Squibnocket
- Teaticket
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Teaticket is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Teaticket
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- Falmouth
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Falmouth is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falmouth
- Population from the 2020 Census: 31,107 people
- East Falmouth
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- East Falmouth is located in Barnstable County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Falmouth
- Aquinnah
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Aquinnah is located in Dukes County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aquinnah
- Population from the 2020 Census: 322 people
- Former name for Aquinnah:
- Gay Head
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around West Opening. See our List of 1890's Communities around West Opening.
Newspapers Published in West Opening ...
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 35 newspapers that have been published in the area around West Opening.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of West Opening, there are papers which were published within 26 miles [41.8 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for West Opening.
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 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 Opening:
- Websites specific to Massachusetts
- Pages specific to Dukes County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Barnstable County
- Bristol County
- Nantucket County
- Plymouth County
- 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> | 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 from Point A (ie- West Opening) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <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 West Opening, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |