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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 Woods Hole (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 Woods Hole. 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 Woods Hole ...

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.

While the name of this community is Woods Hole, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Woods Hole may originally have been Wood's Hole.

Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Woods Hole might be written as Wood Hole.

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 hospitals 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.

Woods Hole 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 Woods Hole. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Woods Hole:

  • Barnstable County     (The home county of Woods Hole)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Woods Hole, with the one closest to Woods Hole listed first.
    • Falmouth
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Teaticket
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Teaticket is located in Barnstable County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Teaticket
    • Acapesket
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • West Falmouth
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • West Falmouth is located in Barnstable County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Falmouth
    • East Falmouth
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Seconsett Island
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Seconsett Island is located in Barnstable County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seconsett Island
    • North Falmouth
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • North Falmouth is located in Barnstable County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Falmouth
    • Silver Beach
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Silver Beach is located in Barnstable County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Beach
    • Monomoscoy Island
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Monomoscoy Island is located in Barnstable County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monomoscoy Island
    • Hatchville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Seabrook
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Seabrook is located in Barnstable County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seabrook
    • Cataumet
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Cataumet is located in Barnstable County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cataumet
  • Bristol County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Woods Hole, with the one closest to Woods Hole listed first.
    • Nonquitt
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Bliss Corner
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Bliss Corner is located in Bristol County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bliss Corner
    • Fairhaven
      (14 miles [22.5 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
    • South Dartmouth
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • South Dartmouth is located in Bristol County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Dartmouth
    • New Bedford
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Apponagansett
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Acushnet Center
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Acushnet
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Acushnet is located in Bristol County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acushnet
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,673 people
    • Acushnet Station ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Acushnet Station is located in Bristol County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acushnet Station
    • North Dartmouth
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • North Dartmouth is located in Bristol County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Dartmouth
    • Dartmouth
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Dartmouth is located in Bristol County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dartmouth
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 33,926 people
    • Long Plain
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
  • Dukes County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Woods Hole, with the one closest to Woods Hole listed first.
    • West Chop
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • West Chop is located in Dukes County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Chop
    • Tisbury
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Vineyard Haven
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Christian Town
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Christian Town is located in Dukes County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Christian Town
    • Oak Bluffs
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Gosnold
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Gosnold is located in Dukes County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gosnold
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 75 people
    • North Tisbury
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • West Tisbury
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Menemsha
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Menemsha is located in Dukes County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Menemsha
    • Edgartown
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Chilmark
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Aquinnah
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Plymouth County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Woods Hole, with the one closest to Woods Hole listed first.
    • Mattapoisett
      (11 miles [17.7 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
    • Marion
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Onset
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Weweantic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Weweantic is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weweantic
    • Briarwood Beach
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • East Wareham
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • East Wareham is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Wareham
    • Onset Station
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Wareham Center
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Wareham Center is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wareham Center
    • Wareham
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Wareham is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wareham
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 22,778 people
    • Rochester
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • West Wareham
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • West Wareham is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Wareham
    • White Island Shores
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • White Island Shores is located in Plymouth County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Island Shores
  • Newport County (RI)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Woods Hole, with the one closest to Woods Hole listed first.
    • Adamsville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Bliss Corners
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Little Compton
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Little Compton is located in Newport County (RI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Compton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,462 people
    • Little Compton
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Tiverton
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Tiverton is located in Newport County (RI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tiverton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 15,569 people
    • Tiverton Four Corners
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Sakonnet
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Tiverton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Tiverton is located in Newport County (RI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tiverton
    • Middletown
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Middletown is located in Newport County (RI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middletown
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 15,803 people
    • Portsmouth
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Portsmouth is located in Newport County (RI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Portsmouth
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 17,108 people
    • Portsmouth
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)

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

Cemeteries Near Woods Hole ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Woods Hole.

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 Woods Hole - one of the links might be able to help.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Woods Hole, with the one closest to Woods Hole 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.<5>

While we didn't find Woods Hole in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Woods Hole.

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

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

Newspapers Published in Woods Hole ...

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 92 newspapers that have been published in the area around Woods Hole.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Woods Hole, there are papers which were published within 16 miles [25.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Woods Hole.

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 helpful 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 Woods Hole:

Footnotes ...

<1>It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties).
<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' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Woods Hole) 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 Woods Hole, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.