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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 Patapsco (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 Patapsco. 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 northeast 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 north.

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 north 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.

Patapsco is located in Anne Arundel County.

To see how the shape of Maryland's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Anne Arundel County: Baltimore City, Baltimore, Calvert, Howard, Kent, Prince George's, Queen Anne's & Talbot.

Below are the counties that are near Patapsco. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Patapsco:

  • Anne Arundel County     (The home county of Patapsco)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Patapsco, with the one closest to Patapsco listed first.
    • Linthicum Heights
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Linthicum
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Linthicum is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Linthicum
    • Pumphrey
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Pumphrey is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pumphrey
    • Brooklyn Park
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Harmans
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Harmans is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harmans
    • Ferndale
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Dorsey
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Dorsey is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dorsey
    • Arundel Village
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Arundel Village is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arundel Village
    • Danza Village
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Danza Village is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Danza Village
    • Lake Village
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Lake Village is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Village
    • Severn Village
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Severn Village is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Severn Village
    • Cohansey Village
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Cohansey Village is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cohansey Village
    • Glen Burnie
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Baltimore City
    • The following are listed by their distance from Patapsco, with the one closest to Patapsco listed first.
    • Oaklee Village
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Oaklee Village is located in Baltimore City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oaklee Village
    • Violetville
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Brooklyn
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Brooklyn is located in Baltimore City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brooklyn
    • Beechfield
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Carroll
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Carroll is located in Baltimore City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carroll
    • Curtis Bay
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Curtis Bay is located in Baltimore City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Curtis Bay
    • Edmondson Village
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Edmondson Village is located in Baltimore City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edmondson Village
    • Baltimore
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Old Town
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Old Town is located in Baltimore City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Town
    • Gwynn Oak
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Hampden
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Woodberry
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Woodberry is located in Baltimore City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodberry
    • Charles Village
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Charles Village is located in Baltimore City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charles Village
  • Baltimore County
  • Carroll County
  • Frederick County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Patapsco, with the one closest to Patapsco listed first.
    • Mount Airy Village West
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Sams Creek
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Sams Creek is located in Frederick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sams Creek
    • Smith Village
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Smith Village is located in Frederick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smith Village
  • Harford County
  • Howard County
  • Kent County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Patapsco, with the one closest to Patapsco listed first.
    • Rock Hall
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Edesville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Cliffs City
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Cliffs City is located in Kent County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cliffs City
  • Montgomery County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Patapsco, with the one closest to Patapsco listed first.
    • Blackburn Village
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Blackburn Village is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackburn Village
    • Burtonsville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Fairland
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Spencerville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Spencerville is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spencerville
    • Ashton
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Brinklow
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Brinklow is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brinklow
    • Cloverly
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Cloverly is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cloverly
    • Old Salem Village
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Old Salem Village is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Salem Village
    • Paint Branch Farms
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Brighton
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Sandy Spring
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Bonifant Village
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Bonifant Village is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonifant Village
    • Brookeville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
  • Prince George's County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Patapsco, with the one closest to Patapsco listed first.
    • Laurel
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • South Laurel
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • South Laurel is located in Prince George's County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Laurel
    • West Laurel
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • West Laurel is located in Prince George's County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Laurel
    • Collington
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Beltsville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Boxwood Village
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Boxwood Village is located in Prince George's County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boxwood Village
    • Glenn Dale
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Goddard
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Goddard is located in Prince George's County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goddard
    • Bowie
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Pin Oak Village
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Pin Oak Village is located in Prince George's County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pin Oak Village
    • Greenbelt
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Greenbelt is located in Prince George's County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenbelt
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 23,229 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Greenbelt <1>
    • Berwyn Heights
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Berwyn Heights is located in Prince George's County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berwyn Heights
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,249 people
    • Berwyn
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Berwyn is located in Prince George's County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berwyn
  • Queen Anne's County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Patapsco, with the one closest to Patapsco listed first.
    • Bay City
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Bay City is located in Queen Anne's County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bay City
    • Stevensville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Chester
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Cheslou Village
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Cheslou Village is located in Queen Anne's County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cheslou Village
    • Mattapex
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Kent Narrows
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Kent Narrows is located in Queen Anne's County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kent Narrows
  • Arlington County (VA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Patapsco, with the one closest to Patapsco listed first.
    • Colonial Village
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Colonial Village is located in Arlington County (VA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colonial Village
    • Riverwood
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Patapsco ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Patapsco.

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 Patapsco - one of the links might be able to help.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Patapsco, with the one closest to Patapsco 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.<4>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Patapsco had railroad service and no post office.

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

  • Winans ‑ Historic
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Winans is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winans
  • Linthicum
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Linthicum is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Linthicum
  • Halethorpe
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Saint Denis
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Saint Denis is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Denis
  • Elkridge
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Hanover
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Arbutus
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Wellham Crossroads ‑ Historic
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Wellham Crossroads is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wellham Crossroads
  • Shipley
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Shipley is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shipley
  • Pumphrey
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Pumphrey is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pumphrey
  • Dorsey
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Dorsey is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dorsey
  • Harmans
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Harmans is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harmans
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Cromwell ‑ Historic
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Cromwell is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cromwell
    • Clifford
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Clifford is located in Baltimore City
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clifford
    • Paradise
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Paradise is located in Baltimore County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paradise

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

Newspapers Published in Patapsco ...

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 8 newspapers that have been published in the area around Patapsco.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Patapsco, there are papers which were published within 4 miles [6.4 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Patapsco.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 Patapsco:

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 Maryland Historical Trust (MHT) has created and maintains a database of historic properties that is called MIHP (for the Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties). More information about the MHT and MIHP can be found on their website: mht.maryland.gov.
<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 Patapsco, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<5>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- Patapsco) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.