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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 Bowdoinham (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 Bowdoinham. 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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

Bowdoinham is located in Sagadahoc County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Sagadahoc County: Androscoggin, Cumberland, Kennebec & Lincoln.

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

  • Sagadahoc County     (The home county of Bowdoinham)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bowdoinham, with the one closest to Bowdoinham listed first.
    • Harwards
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Harwards. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harwards
      • Harwards is located in Sagadahoc County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Harwards
      • From Bowdoinham to Harwards
    • Bowdoin
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bowdoin have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowdoin
      • Bowdoin is located in Sagadahoc County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,222 people
    • Richmond Corner
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Days Ferry
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Pejepscot
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Topsham
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Topsham have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Topsham
      • Topsham is located in Sagadahoc County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,942 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Topsham <3>
    • Richmond
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Bath
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Woolwich
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Woolwich have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woolwich
      • Woolwich is located in Sagadahoc County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,218 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Woolwich <3>
    • West Bath
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Bath have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Bath
      • West Bath is located in Sagadahoc County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,932 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for West Bath <3>
    • Murphys Corner
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Sabino
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Androscoggin County
  • Cumberland County
  • Kennebec County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bowdoinham, with the one closest to Bowdoinham listed first.
    • Litchfield Corners
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Litchfield
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Batchelders Crossing
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • South Monmouth
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • South Gardiner
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Gardiner have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Gardiner
      • South Gardiner is located in Kennebec County
    • West Gardiner
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Gardiner have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Gardiner
      • West Gardiner is located in Kennebec County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,376 people
    • East Monmouth
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Gardiner
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • East Pittston
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Pittston
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Pittston. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pittston
      • Pittston is located in Kennebec County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,819 people
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Pittston
      • From Bowdoinham to Pittston
    • Randolph
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Randolph have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Randolph
      • Randolph is located in Kennebec County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,710 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Randolph <3>
    • Farmingdale
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Farmingdale have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmingdale
      • Farmingdale is located in Kennebec County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,925 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Farmingdale <3>
  • Knox County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bowdoinham, with the one closest to Bowdoinham listed first.
    • Friendship
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Friendship have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friendship
      • Friendship is located in Knox County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,143 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Friendship <3>
    • Globe
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Globe. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Globe
      • Globe is located in Knox County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Globe
      • From Bowdoinham to Globe
    • Pleasant Point
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
    • South Cushing
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
    • Stickney Corner
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Lincoln County
  • Oxford County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bowdoinham, with the one closest to Bowdoinham listed first.
    • Hebron
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Buckfield
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Oxford
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oxford have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oxford
      • Oxford is located in Oxford County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,102 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oxford <3>

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

Cemeteries Near Bowdoinham ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Bowdoinham.

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.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Bowdoinham, with the one closest to Bowdoinham listed first.

  • Bay View Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bay View Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bay View Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Randall Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Randall Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Randall Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Brown Point Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Brown Point Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Brown Point Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Dinsmore Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Dinsmore Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Dinsmore Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Coombs Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Coombs Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Coombs Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • South Bowdoin Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the South Bowdoin Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the South Bowdoin Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Rogers Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rogers Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rogers Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Topsham Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Partridge Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Maxwell Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Maxwell Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Maxwell Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hix Small Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hix Small Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hix Small Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Blanchard Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Blanchard Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Blanchard Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (368 more) ...
    • Starbird Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Starbird Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Starbird Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Riverside Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Riverside Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Riverside Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Elmlawn Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Elmlawn Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Elmlawn Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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.<6>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Bowdoinham had a population of 768 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Bowdoinham had a population of 3,091 people.

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

  • Cathance
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cathance have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cathance
    • Cathance is located in Sagadahoc County
  • Harwards
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Harwards. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harwards
    • Harwards is located in Sagadahoc County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Harwards
    • From Bowdoinham to Harwards
  • Bowdoin Center
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bowdoin Center have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowdoin Center
    • Bowdoin Center is located in Sagadahoc County
  • Topsham
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Topsham have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Topsham
    • Topsham is located in Sagadahoc County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,942 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Topsham <3>
  • Harding
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • North Bath
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Bath have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Bath
    • North Bath is located in Sagadahoc County
  • South Dresden
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Richmond Corner
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • West Bowdoin
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Bowdoin have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Bowdoin
    • West Bowdoin is located in Sagadahoc County
  • Brunswick
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Bath
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Woolwich
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Woolwich have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woolwich
    • Woolwich is located in Sagadahoc County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,218 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Woolwich <3>
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...
    • Nequasset
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nequasset have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nequasset
      • Nequasset is located in Sagadahoc County
    • Richmond
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • West Dresden
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Dresden have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Dresden
      • West Dresden is located in Lincoln County

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Bowdoinham ...

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 46 newspapers that have been published in the area around Bowdoinham.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Bowdoinham. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Bowdoinham and those printed in the larger area surrounding Bowdoinham.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 17 miles [27.4 km]<5> of Bowdoinham.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin 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 Bowdoinham:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Bowdoinham. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for State of Maine: https://www.maine.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<2>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>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.
<5>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Bowdoinham) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Bowdoinham. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.0098, Longitude: -69.8984    
<6>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 Bowdoinham, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025