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 Willows (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 Willows. 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.
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.
Willows is located in Middlesex 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 Middlesex County : Essex , Norfolk , Suffolk , Worcester & Hillsborough (NH) .
Below are the counties that are near Willows. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Willows:
Middlesex County (The home county of Willows)
The following are listed by their distance from Willows, with the one closest to Willows listed first.
Littleton (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
Littleton is located in Middlesex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Littleton Population from the 2020 Census: 10,253 people
Ayer (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
Ayer is located in Middlesex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ayer Population from the 2020 Census: 8,211 people
Littleton Common (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
Littleton Common is located in Middlesex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Littleton Common Forge Village (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
Forge Village is located in Middlesex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forge Village Groton (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
Groton is located in Middlesex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Groton Population from the 2020 Census: 11,256 people
Centre Village ‑ Historic(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
Centre Village is located in Middlesex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centre Village Devens (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
Devens is located in Middlesex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Devens East Littleton (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
East Littleton is located in Middlesex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Littleton New Town ‑ Historic(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
New Town is located in Middlesex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Town Paper Mill Village (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
Paper Mill Village is located in Middlesex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paper Mill Village Boxborough (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
Boxborough is located in Middlesex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boxborough Population from the 2020 Census: 5,752 people
Shaker Village (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
Shaker Village is located in Middlesex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shaker Village Shirley (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
Shirley is located in Middlesex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shirley Population from the 2020 Census: 7,554 people
Essex County
The following are listed by their distance from Willows, with the one closest to Willows listed first.
Haggetts (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
Haggetts is located in Essex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haggetts Lowell Junction (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
Lowell Junction is located in Essex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lowell Junction West Andover (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
West Andover is located in Essex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Andover Andover (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
Andover is located in Essex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Andover Population from the 2020 Census: 36,554 people
Shawsheen Village (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
Shawsheen Village is located in Essex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shawsheen Village Lawrence (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
Lawrence is located in Essex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawrence Population from the 2020 Census: 80,007 people
Methuen (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
Methuen is located in Essex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Methuen Population from the 2020 Census: 50,910 people
North Andover (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
North Andover is located in Essex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Andover Population from the 2020 Census: 31,460 people
Tozier Corner (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
Tozier Corner is located in Essex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tozier Corner Ayers Village (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
Ayers Village is located in Essex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ayers Village Lynnfield (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
Lynnfield is located in Essex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lynnfield Population from the 2020 Census: 13,040 people
Ward Hill (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
Ward Hill is located in Essex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ward Hill Brigadoon Village (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
Brigadoon Village is located in Essex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brigadoon Village Norfolk County
The following are listed by their distance from Willows, with the one closest to Willows listed first.
Wellesley Farms (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
Wellesley Farms is located in Norfolk County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellesley Farms Wellesley Hills (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
Wellesley Hills is located in Norfolk County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellesley Hills Wellesley (21 miles [33.8 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 (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
Babson Park is located in Norfolk County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Babson Park Needham Heights (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
Needham Heights is located in Norfolk County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Needham Heights Needham (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
Needham is located in Norfolk County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Needham Population from the 2020 Census: 31,537 people
Charles River Village (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
Dover (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
Dover is located in Norfolk County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dover Population from the 2020 Census: 6,119 people
Brookline Village (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
Brookline Village is located in Norfolk County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookline Village Brookline (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
Brookline is located in Norfolk County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookline Population from the 2020 Census: 59,022 people
Westbrook Village (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
Westbrook Village is located in Norfolk County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westbrook Village Dedham (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
Dedham is located in Norfolk County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dedham Population from the 2020 Census: 25,345 people
Medfield (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
Medfield is located in Norfolk County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Medfield Population from the 2020 Census: 13,011 people
Suffolk County
The following are listed by their distance from Willows, with the one closest to Willows listed first.
Brighton (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
Brighton is located in Suffolk County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brighton Allston (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
Allston is located in Suffolk County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allston Franklin Park (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
Franklin Park is located in Suffolk County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin Park Bay Village (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
Bay Village is located in Suffolk County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bay Village Charlestown (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
Charlestown is located in Suffolk County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charlestown Highland (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
Highland is located in Suffolk County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland Jamaica Plain (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
Jamaica Plain is located in Suffolk County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamaica Plain West Roxbury (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
West Roxbury is located in Suffolk County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Roxbury Revere (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
Revere is located in Suffolk County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Revere Population from the 2020 Census: 52,375 people
Boston (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
Boston is located in Suffolk County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boston Population from the 2020 Census: 691,531 people
Chelsea (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
Chelsea is located in Suffolk County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chelsea Population from the 2020 Census: 39,230 people
East Boston (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
East Boston is located in Suffolk County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Boston Roslindale (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
Roslindale is located in Suffolk County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roslindale Worcester County
The following are listed by their distance from Willows, with the one closest to Willows listed first.
Shaker Village (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
Shaker Village is located in Worcester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shaker Village Harvard (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
Harvard is located in Worcester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harvard Population from the 2020 Census: 6,618 people
Still River (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
Still River is located in Worcester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Still River Lunenburg Station (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
Lunenburg Station is located in Worcester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lunenburg Station Bolton (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
Bolton is located in Worcester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bolton Population from the 2020 Census: 5,476 people
Lancaster (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
Lancaster is located in Worcester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lancaster Population from the 2020 Census: 7,857 people
North Village (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
North Village is located in Worcester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Village Lunenburg (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
Lunenburg is located in Worcester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lunenburg Population from the 2020 Census: 11,810 people
Seventh Day Adventist Village (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
South Lancaster (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
South Lancaster is located in Worcester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Lancaster Pratts Junction (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
Pratts Junction is located in Worcester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pratts Junction Leominster (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
Leominster is located in Worcester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leominster Population from the 2020 Census: 41,548 people
Carterville (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
Carterville is located in Worcester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carterville Cheshire County (NH)
The following are listed by their distance from Willows, with the one closest to Willows listed first.
Rindge (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
West Rindge (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
West Rindge is located in Cheshire County (NH) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Rindge Jaffrey (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
Hillsborough County (NH)
The following are listed by their distance from Willows, with the one closest to Willows listed first.
Hollis Depot (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
Hollis Depot is located in Hillsborough County (NH) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hollis Depot Hollis (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
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>
Brookline (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
Nashua (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
Nashua is located in Hillsborough County (NH) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nashua Population from the 2020 Census: 89,167 people
Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Nashua <1>
Hudson (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
Hudson is located in Hillsborough County (NH) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hudson Population from the 2020 Census: 25,620 people
Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hudson <1>
South Merrimack (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
South Merrimack is located in Hillsborough County (NH) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Merrimack Pelham (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
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>
Mason (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
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>
East Milford (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
East Milford is located in Hillsborough County (NH) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Milford Litchfield (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
Milford (19 miles [30.6 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>
Greenville (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
New Ipswich (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
Rockingham County (NH)
The following are listed by their distance from Willows, with the one closest to Willows listed first.
Windham (20 miles [32.2 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>
Londonderry (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
Salem (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
Salem is located in Rockingham County (NH) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salem Population from the 2020 Census: 30,641 people
Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Salem <1>
Derry (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
Derry is located in Rockingham County (NH) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Derry Population from the 2020 Census: 33,442 people
Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Derry <1>
Wilson Corners (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
Wilson Corners is located in Rockingham County (NH) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilson Corners Derry Village (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
Derry Village is located in Rockingham County (NH) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Derry Village North Salem (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
Wilson (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
Wilson is located in Rockingham County (NH) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilson Hubbard (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
Hubbard is located in Rockingham County (NH) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hubbard Atkinson (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
Hampstead (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
Westville (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
Westville is located in Rockingham County (NH) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westville Plaistow (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Willows, see our County-by-County Page for Willows .
Cemeteries Near Willows ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Willows.
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 Willows - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Willows covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Willows, with the one closest to Willows listed first.
Woodlawn Cemetery (Less than 2 miles to the west)
Westlawn Cemetery (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
Marys Cemetery (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
St. Marys Cemetery (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
Jump to our Gazetteer entry for St. Marys Cemetery To give a relative sense of its location, the St. Marys Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located in Ayer . Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #91633 <2>
Westlawn Cemetery (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
Russian Cemetery (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
Center Cemetery (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
Harvard Center Cemetery (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
Groton Cemetery (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
North Cemetery (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Cemetery The North Cemetery has also been known as:
Hill Cemetery - North Burying Ground Hill Cemetery North Burying Ground Old North Cemetery Jump to the Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System: MACRIS ID #BXB.801 <3>
Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2251970 <2>
St. Catherine of Alexanderia Cemetery (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
Jump to our Gazetteer entry for St. Catherine of Alexanderia Cemetery To give a relative sense of its location, the St. Catherine of Alexanderia Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located less than 2 miles<4> Westford . The St. Catherine of Alexanderia Cemetery has also been known as:
St. Catherine Cemetery St. Catherine Cemetery Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2207403 <2>
Polish Cemetery (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
Continue List (588 more) ...
Village Cemetery (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
St. Anthonys Cemetery (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
Bellevue Cemetery (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
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>
While we didn't find Willows in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Willows.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Willows, with the one closest to Willows listed first.
Littleton (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
Littleton is located in Middlesex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Littleton Population from the 2020 Census: 10,253 people
Ayer (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
Ayer is located in Middlesex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ayer Population from the 2020 Census: 8,211 people
Harvard Station (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
Harvard Station is located in Worcester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harvard Station Littleton Common (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
Littleton Common is located in Middlesex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Littleton Common Groton (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
Groton is located in Middlesex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Groton Population from the 2020 Census: 11,256 people
Forge Village (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
Forge Village is located in Middlesex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forge Village Harvard (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
Harvard is located in Worcester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harvard Population from the 2020 Census: 6,618 people
East Littleton (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
East Littleton is located in Middlesex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Littleton Graniteville (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
Graniteville is located in Middlesex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graniteville Shirley (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
Shirley is located in Middlesex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shirley Population from the 2020 Census: 7,554 people
Boxborough (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
Boxborough is located in Middlesex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boxborough Population from the 2020 Census: 5,752 people
Westford (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
Westford is located in Middlesex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westford Population from the 2020 Census: 25,276 people
Continue List (17 more) ...
Westford Station (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
Westford Station is located in Middlesex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westford Station West Groton (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
West Groton is located in Middlesex County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Groton Still River (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
Still River is located in Worcester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Still River
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Willows. See our List of 1890's Communities around Willows .
Newspapers Published in Willows ...
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 169 newspapers that have been published in the area around Willows.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Willows, there are papers which were published within 13 miles [20.9 km]<4> Extended Newspaper List for Willows.
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 Willows:
Websites specific to Massachusetts Pages specific to Middlesex County Genealogy information for nearby counties
Essex County Norfolk County Suffolk County Worcester County Cheshire County Hillsborough County Rockingham County Cemetery Information and Directories for Massachusetts Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Willows. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page .
The official website for State of Massachusetts: https://www.mass.gov/
Footnotes ...
<1> While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. 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 . 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 . Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Willows) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. 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 Willows, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.